We Should Give Our Lives.
The apostle Paul tells us in, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, that "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." In light of the gracious gift of salvation bestowed to us in Jesus, we are to live lives wholly devoted to the work of God. Further more the apostles tell us in Philippians 1:20-21, that it was his desire the "Christ would be magnified in his body whether by life or by death." He stated that for him, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." In other word Paul saw that the overarching priority of his life was to live in such a way that he would shine a spotlight on the worth of Jesus. Thus as a follower of Christ we must understand that God want us to give all of who we are to him even before we think of giving our money and possessions.
We Should Give Our Gifts.
We learn in 1 Corinthians 12 that the church is the body of Jesus and that as a body each one of us play a vital role in the growth of that body. Furthermore we learn that God has given each and every believer, gifts to help the growth of the church. These gifts are purposefully diverse in function but equal in importance for the building of the body of Jesus. Each follower of Jesus is commanded in Romans 12 to discover and utilize the gifts that have been given to use for the furthermost of the kingdom of God. Additionally the use of our gift is not optional but central to the growth of the church. We are told in Ephesians 4 that God infuses the church with leaders (apostles, prophets, evangelist, and pastor-teachers) to utilize their gifts in the context of local church ministry. Thus we must as the people of God, respond by grace to God’s command in the page of Scripture to give our time to develop and exercise our spiritual gifts in the context of the local church.
We Should Give Our Resources.
Followers of Jesus are to give "according to their ability" (Acts 11:29). There are seasons to economic life and there are economic responsibilities to our families and to our debts. In many cases, good planning over time will be necessary to move our giving into proportions that reflect our eternal priorities without reneging on legal and personal financial obligations. When the bible talks about the "tithe" it is are referring to the followers of Jesus' regular giving to the church. In the Old Testament believers were required to give a tenth of their income to the support of the ministry and the needs of the poor. However, if you were to include what believers were to give for feasts, sacrifices, gleanings for the poor, and special offerings... it would amount to 23%-25% of gross income. The New Testament does not specifically mention the tithe, but since we are far more blessed and indebted to God than Old Testament believers, we assume that we are held more responsible for generosity, not less. Thus the tithe (10%) is a kind of minimum guideline for giving.
