Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do

“In any case, there shouldn't be any poor people among you, because Yahweh your Elohim will certainly bless you in the land he is giving you as your own possession.” (Deuteronomy 15:4)

Deuteronomy 14:28-29

“At the end of every third year bring a tenth of that year's crop, and store it in your cities. Foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come to eat all they want. The Levites may also come because they have no land of their own as you have. Then Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in whatever work you do.”

Deuteronomy 15:1-2

“At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. This is what you will do: If' you've made a loan, don't collect payment on the dept your neighbor still owes you. Don't demand that your neighbor or relative pay you, because the time for suspending payments on debts has been proclaimed in Yahweh's honor.”

Deuteronomy 15:7-8

“This is what you must do whenever there are poor Israelites in one of your cities in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. Be generous to these poor people, and freely lend them as much as they need. Never be hard-hearted and tight-fisted with them.”

Deuteronomy 15:9-10

“When the seventh year -the year when payment son debts are canceled- is near, you might be stingy toward poor Israelites and give them nothing. Be careful not to think thees worthless thoughts. The poor will complain to Yahweh about you, and you will be condemned for your sin. Be sure to give to them without any hesitation. When you do this, Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in everything you work for and set out to do.”

Deuteronomy 15:11

“There will always be poor people in the land. That's why I command you to be generous to other Israelites who are poor and needy.”

With all the recent headlines in news about suicides, war, starvation, and acts of violence, it is hard to not see that we live in a world where darkness and poverty are all around. It can feel overwhelming. I recently read a report that 20,000 people starve to death each day. In many cases, these are children who are dying from malnutrition. And besides the violence and death, statistics say one million children are being sold into sex trafficking annually.

Sometimes we can not do the good we are able to because we feel overwhelmed by the needs and suffering around us. It feels like too much to make any difference. We think we have to make a huge difference to act and we just don't know how.

Mother Teresa once said "We can do no great things--only small things with great love." We are not going to blot out poverty in one action. But as Mother Teresa would say, “Do good anyways.” Every small act of kindness matters.

Another place we get stuck is we make excuses and put it off. We know the good we should do but we don't do it. We get busy in our day to day activities and close our eyes to the pain and suffering around us. We get caught in the world and it's problems.

Noticing the person on the side of the road who needs help takes time and energy. It will cost us and be inconvenient. They will mess up our agenda, schedule, and plans. People's problems are messy. And often we don't feel qualified to be any help. We can feel totally inadequate for the job.

Being hands and feet for bringing His justice to those around it who need it sounds wonderful from a distance. We romanticize how it is going to be. We sometimes even look for it to actually fill us as we think of ourselves as 'good people' and image others being appreciative.

Isaiah 58:12 says, “You will be called the Rebuilder of the Broken Walls and the Restorer of Streets Where People Live.” To actually join Jesus in this work sounds wonderful.

However, getting our hands into the work of helping others is messy, time consuming and painful. Just as it did the Good Samaritan who took the time for the man laying on the side of the road, it will cost us time, sometimes our own transportation, convenience, and often our own funds.

Sometimes people do not appreciate the help they are given or they misunderstand your intentions. In their own pain they may lash out you as you reach out to help. Or they look to take advantage or use you as opportunity presents itself.

We expect that when the Good Samaritan helped the man who was laying on the side of the road, that he was grateful. But what the story is about is the man who helped and not the response of the man needing help. It may well have been that when the man who needed help got to the hotel, he ordered the most expensive food and charged up an immense bill, staying there as long as he could.

“This is my offering to you God, I will give you my life, for it's all I have to give, because You gave Your life for me” sings.

I remember speaking with a man once who felt totally disillusioned by helping the poor. He had taken his retirement savings and invested it in decent rental housing for the poor. Only to then find that many renters took advantage of his goodness and didn't care for the property. He ended up losing most of what he invested.

He expected those he was renting to would be appreciative and care for the property. He anticipated eventually not only making back his investment, but to have a profit he could then use for his retirement. He felt totally disillusioned and disappointed when this did not happen.

I have tasted a little of this kind of disappointment myself. I have a wise friend I go to for advice and I once told her how frustrated I was for helping someone when they didn't appreciate it. They were not grateful at all about what I did for them. 

When I told my friend about it because I was reluctant to continue to invest in them or others, my friend turned and asked me, “Do you help people because it is who you are and what is in your heart or for some benefit you expect in return?” I realized that I was really helping others with the expectation of something in return and I needed to let this go. I had hooks (expecting appreciation) in my giving to others. If I really loved and was passionate about helping people, it needed to be without expectation of return.

Isaiah 50:6 says, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” Isaiah was a forerunner to what Jesus would do for us in going to the cross for us even in the midst of mocking and spitting.

Job's friends were also examples example of people who gave in the face of sarcasm and being unappreciated for trying to help. When they had heard of the terrible things that had happened to Job, they immediately set out from their home to be with him.

They dropped all of their own responsibilities and priorities, walking a distance to be with him in their pain. When they saw him from a distance and didn't even recognize him, they cried out load wept, and tore their clothes in grief.

For seven days and nights Jobs friends sat on the ground with him not saying a word, because they knew his pain was great. When Job finally spoke, it was not words of gratitude or appreciation for the friends he had left, it was an outburst of pain, impatience, blame, cursing the day he was born and wanting to die.

Then when his friends tried the best the knew how to comfort him and fumbled a great deal, Job lashed out at them in pain. He told them that they were unkind, deceptive and seasonal friends. He called them unreliable. As conversations went on, words in both directions became more harsh, heated and inpatient.

Mother Theresa wrote in a poem, “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.”

Sometimes our own hardships can harden our hearts towards helping our brothers and sisters. Like Job, we may respond in our pain and take it out on others who we consider safe. We are no longer in a position to give to others because we cannot see beyond our own pain.

Or bitterness can arise out of unforgiveness over hardships resulting in hardheartedness towards someone that comes out in unexpected ways. It is difficult to be generous with someone when we are angry towards them or bitter.

For the Macedonia church, rather than becoming hardhearted in their suffering, they overflowed in generosity. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:2-3, “While they were being severely tested by suffering, their overflowing joy, along with their extreme poverty, has made them even more generous. I assure you that by their own free will they have given all they could, even more than they could afford.”

Sometimes we just decide to be stingy rather than generous towards people. Stinginess towards others is part of the curse. In Deuteronomy 28:54, Moses says under the curses of God, “Even the most tender and sensitive man among you will become stingy toward his brother, the wife he loves, and the children he still has left.”

Stinginess often has to do with a lack of gratitude. When we are not grateful for what we have, complaining and craving more, we become stingy with others. Proverbs 30:15 says, “The bloodsucking leech has two daughters- 'Give!' and 'Give!'”

Or, as one article notes, we are stingy because we are law-living. Living by a set of rules rather than relationship, our giving becomes strained. We give because we want to be seen and want something out of it. We have hooks in it and it lacks love.

Matthew 6:2 says, “"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

Real unconditional generosity flows from an attitude of gratitude for all God has done for us. It overflows from a relationship with God and the overabundance we realize we have in Him. Rather than spending our energies on getting more, when we are content and fulfilled in Him. In this place of fulfillment, we are set free to give to others.

As an example, Deuteronomy 15:14-15 says, “Generously give them [former slaves] provisions -sheep from your flocks, grain from your threshing floor, and wine from your winepress. Be as generous to them as Yahweh your Elohim has been to you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and Yahweh your Elohim freed you. That's why I'm giving you this command today.”

Generosity is worship to God. Deuteronomy 16:16-17 says, “Three times a year all your men must come into the presence of Yahweh your Elohim at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. But no one may come into the presence of Yahweh without an offering. Each man must bring a gift in proportion to the blessings Yahweh your Elohim has given him.”

It is towards God and in honor of Him that we are actually giving. Malachi confronted the Israelites for their giving because it lacked true worship. Rather than giving Him the best out of heart's that desired to honor and worship Him, they were being stingy with God and holding back from Him.

It was not that God needed their tithes and offerings, but that God wanted their hearts to be generous towards Him. And in actually giving to honor Him, God promised to bless them. Generosity from the heart is the way God would have us to do everything in life and brings blessings back on us when it comes from the heart.

2 Corinthians 9:6-13 says, “Remember this: The farmer who plants a few seeds will have a very small harvest. But the farmer who plants because he has received God's blessing will receive a harvest of God's blessing in return. Each of you should give whatever you have decided. You shouldn't be sorry that you gave or feel forced to give, since God loves a cheerful giver.

Besides, God will give you his constantly overflowing kindness. Then, when you always have everything you need, you can do more and more good things. Scriptures says, 'The righteous person gives freely to the poor. His righteousness continues forever.'

God gives seed to the farmer and food to those who need to eat. God will also give you seed and multiply it. In your lives he will increase the things you do that have his approval. God will make you rich enough so that you can always be generous.

Your generosity will produce thanksgiving to God because of us. What you do to serve others not only provides for the needs of God's people, but also produces more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God. You will honor God through this genuine act of service because of your commitment to spread the Good News of Christ and because of your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.”

Lord, I realize there are still many hooks in my giving. I sometimes can hold back from giving towards your kingdom because of my own expectations not being met. I want to love you wholeheartedly. I want to give my all to Your kingdom purposes without expectations tied to it or holding back out if disappointment. Forgive me.

Give us generous hearts that overflow in gratitude and giving for all You have done. You are worthy of all our honor and all we have to give!