(Pastor Chen)
I remember many years ago, the Lord began to reveal to me the principle of giving. At that time, I was in debt and had no steady income. I was a volunteer in a missionary organization. The Scriptures with reference to giving began to enlighten me. I remember I was so excited with the revelation and began to look for opportunities to give. During that time, an Indian missionary came to visit the organization. He asked me if he could borrow a pen from me. Without hesitation, I gave him the best pen that I had. During the same time frame, a minister came to our hometown to promote a new Christian television. An offering was already received for the minister at the beginning of the service. During the service, I remember my heart was pleading with the Lord to receive another offering. Have you ever begged the Lord to take up an offering? It sounded strange, but my heart was consumed with the desire to give. Sure enough, the Lord obliged. Another offering was received at the end of the service, and I emptied my wallet. Not long after that, I received a birthday card from my brother. It reads, "Dear Brother, I never done this before, but there is always first time in everything." Enclosed in the card was a three thousand dollar check. Immediately, my debt was paid plus extras. Since then, I have found that through giving, all my needs have been taken care of - plus extras. God is a God of extras!
There has been many teachings on giving and receiving, and rightfully so, because it is a principle of God. Luke 6:38 tells us, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." I have heard numerous teachings and preaching on giving and receiving. Often it was preached from the perspective of receiving. Now, I am not coming against any message on giving and receiving. I believe God does use the messengers to emphasis certain aspects of the principle. However, I see a key ingredient missing in most messages that I believe is crucial to its operation. The missing ingredient to the principle of giving and receiving is the right motivation behind it.
I often heard people say, "I am going to give this, so I can get that." Not quite the exact wording but in essence. My immediate reaction to this is, "Did the Lord tell you to do this?" So often we want to mimic others because we see their results. I have heard people give away old cars thinking that God will in turn give them new ones, but they ended up with no transportation. Faith begins where the will of God is known. When we act on what we have heard from the Lord, we will receive the desired result. We cannot act on someone else's revelation. This is all the reason why we need to stay in tune with the Lord through fellowshipping with Him. We need to have a hearing ear.
On the other hand, I do not believe that we always have to hear from the Lord in order for us to give because the Scripture has already told us to give. However, I believe the motivation of giving determines the outcome of our giving. Motivation in our giving is more important than giving itself because God looks on the heart. II Cor 9:7 tells us, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." I believe a cheerful giver is one that is motivated by love. I love to give, but I do not give so that I can get. I give simply because I want to bless someone. I believe this has been a stumbling block to those who do not fully understand the principle. We do not receive just because we give even though giving is involved in receiving. We receive because we give out of a pure heart. Love should be the motivation for our giving. The perfect example of the operation of giving and receiving is found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave..." I want you to notice the motivation of God's giving. And in this kind of giving, He received back many sons and daughters made in the image of Christ. This kind of giving will always bring result, for love never fails!