Our Heavenly Father is honored by love shown to those around us, for we are His children (Luke 6:35,38). If you have children, you have experienced the deep love and generosity of someone who gave your son or daughter a gift. Even if they didn’t bring you personally a gift, their gift to your child is still your gift. You receive it by proxy, your heart flooding with joy as you watch their eyes light up. So too our Heavenly Father receives our gifts given in His Spirit to those around us.
There is value in anything worth giving. David chose to only give a gift to the Lord if it cost him something (2 Samuel 24:24), so too we must embrace the cost of our gifts as a worthy display of our love for God. There are some who may balk at this suggestion, “gifts for others are not gifts to God,” they may suggest. Jesus admonished his followers that even a cup of cold water given was worthy of reward (Mark 9:41). I’m further reminded of Mary pouring out her oil on Jesus’ head, (John 12:3-8) “The poor you have always” was not instruction to ignore the poor but an acknowledgment of their need.
The gift of giving is offered in some measure to every child of God. There are those, however, that walk in it, flowing over in abundance of their giving to the deepest needs (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Those who walk in this gift have first given themselves fully to the Lord and are therefore able to give to others as if they were giving unto God. They sacrificially lay their offerings at God’s feet by handing it out to the people around them. Their gifts must be directed by God so that every need in the body will be supplied. (2 Cor 9:6-8)
Of course, every gift will be appreciated for all have some level of need: there are endless financial needs to which one can give. However, it is the yielding to God which calls forth the opportunities of the miraculous, whereby you can partner with God to birth His perfect plan into motion and supply the specific and exact needs that align with His heavenly vision. If you want your gifts to be invested with the wisdom and timeliness of God, you must yield to his timing, ways, and amount no matter the cost.
Yielding Prayer
Father in heaven, thank you for giving me so much. Please increase my faith! I yield my resources to you today because I want to participate in what you are doing on earth. I surrender to give gifts to the needs you direct, be willingly sacrificial, and show your love to those around me.