Why do we give to the church?

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When you read the Old Testament, you might be appalled by the bloodiness of the offerings that are made before God. It seems like animals were being killed right and left as a regular part of the worship of God! Why? God required that the people take the very best of their possessions and make an offering to God as a part of their worship. The offering is a way of saying, “All things come of you, and of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14).

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What does that mean for us today? While we do not offer animal sacrifices as a part of our religion, the idea of offering is still central to our worship. When the offering plate is passed, it is not an interruption of our worship, but an essential component of our praise to God. All that we have and all that we are comes from God! God has withheld no good thing from us – giving us even the gift of God’s own Son – and we respond in kind.

As we begin to understand the spiritual nature of our giving, we might become less concerned with how much the church needs, and more concerned with how we can adequately express our gratitude to God. That realization is the beginning of worship.

 

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