HOW TO BE BLESSED
Because people are so touchy about money, ministers are frequently reluctant to preach about giving. However, by not teaching the important subject of stewardship, they can cause their congregations to miss out on great blessings. One definition of a “steward” is someone who has been given responsibility over something, or someone. Christian stewardship involves your utilization of what you have been given, whether talent, time or money.
Since I am not currently raising money for a Building Fund or a Mission project, I am free to point out a basic principle of the Lord. That principle is “What and how much you reap, or receive, is directly proportional to what you sow and how much you sow.”
If you sow one pound of corn seed, do not expect to reap acres and acres of corn. But whatever you sow, such as murder and hatred or love and joy, you will receive the same. If you are generous, you will receive the same. This is true in agriculture; it is true in your behavior; and it is true in Christian stewardship.
Here is what the Word says about this subject.
Psalms 37:25-26 - I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.
Psalms 112:5 - Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
Proverbs 11:24-25 - One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Proverbs 14:21 - He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
Proverbs 22:9 - A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
Malachi 3:10 - “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Acts 20:35 - . . . remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Luke 6:38 - “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
This last verse is my favorite, spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself, confirming the principle expressed in the second paragraph above. This is how to be blessed. Praise the name of Jesus.