The Motivational Gifts of God - Giving

​By now, if you’ve been following my series here, many of you have already learned so much about the behaviors of others and hopefully much about yourself.
This next gift is on giving. You might say well giving is just giving, but it’s not. There are some who are born to give and to be a blessing to others and that’s the gift we’re talking about today.
     A.  The person gifted in giving has the ability to make money and they like to give. They are motivated to give to the gospel.
           God takes a natural ability to make money and the joy of living to bless the body of Christ.
     B.  Characteristics
           1. Ability to make wise purchases and investments.
           2. Desire to give quietly to effective projects and ministries
           3. Attempts to use his giving to motivate others to give.
           4. Alertness to valid needs he feels others might overlook
           5. A joy when his giving is answer to specific prayer.
          6. A joy when they meet someone’s needs without pressure of appeals
          7. A  dependency for partners counsel to confirm amount of gift. Wants joint witness.
          8. Wants gift to be high quality. He is giving to Jesus. Doesn’t want to give sloppy gift to Him.
          9. Wants to feel a part of ministry to give to.
     C.  Misunderstandings
           1. The need to deal with large sums of money may appear to be focus on temporal things.
          2. The desire to increase effectiveness of a ministry may appear to be an attempt to control ministry of person.
          3. Lack of response to pressure appeals may appear to be lack of generosity.
          4. The personal frugality in which he lives may appear to his family as selfishness in not meeting their wants.
              They may live as if they don’t have money.
     D.  Scriptural basis for giving.  Giving in the Greek is the word Metadidomi which means to share.
           1. Luke 3:11 – the giving of material things
           2. Romans 1: 11 - the giving of spiritual things
           3. Ephesians 4:8 – discusses finances
           4. 1 Thessalonians 2: 8 – is on self
     E.  Example of a Giver – Abraham
          He was entrusted with much goods and assets. Gen 13 says, “He blessed him in all things”. He gave Lot the choice of land. He tithes liberally.
          He wanted God to be glorified in his giving. He always said it was God who blessed him. He was ready to give his own son and did it without fanfare or complaining.
Your comments and questions are always welcome. I'm here to help you grow in the Lord.
Be Blessed,
Doc Sharp