The Importance of Gifts XII

We are reaching the end of our series on the spiritual gifts, in fact we only have three more gifts to discuss. As we have seen recently, there are quite a few gifts that are overlooked by the body of Christ and the last three that we are discussing are no different. However, the gift that we are discussing today is one that not only gets overlooked but almost seems to be vilified.

“6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Romans 12:6-8

The gift that we are discussing is the gift of giving. You may be wondering why I say that this gift is often vilified, and that is because of the connotation that to have “excessive” amounts of money is often seen by others as loving money over God. Oftentimes they will misuse Matthew 6:24, “24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” But what they are often forgetting is that it is the motive behind the gift of giving that is important. You can be an individual with a limited budget who still devotes a portion to freely give to God like the woman found in Mark 12:43-44 who gave all that she had to God, or you can be an individual with unlimited funds who still freely gives to the Lord. The important thing about the gift of giving is that it is done to glorify God, not ourselves otherwise it is not a gift of the spirit.

I have a family member who wished to serve on the mission field, despite how often he tried to become a missionary he was always told no. So he made the decision that he was going to out give God, the more money he gave to missionaries the more God blessed him. God was not calling him to be a missionary, but instead was calling him to support those that He was calling to the mission field. There are countless individuals who have heard of Christ thanks to his gift of giving. A biblical example of someone who was very wealthy but kept Christ as their master was Job. Job was a man who sought the Lord with all of his heart, and the wealth and finances were something trivial to his pursuit of God.

Earlier I stated that those who misuse Matthew 6:24 are forgetting a very important part of the verse. Mankind cannot serve two masters. If an individual is continually seeking to grow their wealth, their master is money. However, if an individual has been blessed with wealth but seeks to give it all to God, then they are serving Him. It comes down to the motive and if they wish to glorify themselves or God.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex