Deleted Scenes: Intentional Giving Malachi 3:6-12

When I was a kid, I would receive a $20 allowance every month. My parents would also give me clear guidelines on how that money was to be used. $10 was for saving. I actually have no memory now of what it was being saved for. Maybe a longer-term goal of some sort, like a new bike? Or video games? I have no idea. $8 was to spend on whatever I wanted. Every month, I would estimate that approximately 100% of that $8 was used to buy hockey, baseball, and basketball cards. I still have those cards, thousands of cards in binders and shoeboxes in our basement. I’m still waiting for them to be worth something, but unfortunately the early to mid-90s was when sports cards were mass-produced and every millennial sports fan like me had the same idea of future wealth. In other words, they’re almost worthless, but I’ve still got ‘em! Finally, $2 was for giving, which meant putting it in the offering basket at church on a Sunday morning.

If you were with us on Sunday, we looked at Malachi 3:6-12 and what it teaches us regarding giving. The big point is that everything we have belongs to God, and that by withholding things from Him, including our finances, we are in fact robbing Him. As we made the application to our day, you’ll hopefully remember my point that a strict, literal tithe is no longer binding in the New Testament. I said that because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are changed and we want to give. We’re not given a law. Instead, we’re urged to make everything we have available to the Lord and to give generously and freely towards His Kingdom causes. We give freely and willingly, not under compulsion with a particular percentage being imposed.

However, you might read that and get the idea that giving is supposed to be entirely spontaneous. If you think that, I think you’re probably wrong! I believe that even though the New Testament does not uphold a literal “tithe”, it nevertheless encourages intentional giving. Regardless of the percentage or amount, that was the enduring lesson given to me through my parents’ guidelines about my allowance: intentionality.

We see this, for example, in Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians. He urges them to do the same thing as the Galatian churches: “on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made” (1 Cor. 16:2). In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes that “each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). Set aside a sum in advance. Give what you have decided in your heart to give. There’s an element of planning involved, a discernment about what and when to give. That doesn’t mean there’s no spontaneity, but that there is to be a thoughtfulness to our giving.

What if you set a goal this year to give a certain amount of your income each paycheck? It can be 10%, but it doesn’t need to be- for example, it can be a lot more! What if you set aside a certain amount every month that is to be given to a cause the Lord puts on your heart that month? If you have kids, are you able to teach them to give intentionally in a way like my parents did? As I said on Sunday, let us live with open hands rather than closed fists. But let us plan to live with open hands. Let’s create structures in our lives that facilitate Jesus-centred generosity, while leaving room for the spontaneous. I believe approaching giving this way honours the Lord who gave His all for us.