In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: He says the right attitude here is to be a cheerful giver because, you see, grace doesn't just involve my receiving from God, grace also involves my giving for God. It's two ways. That's the way God operates. That's the way God intends for people's needs to be met: sowing, reaping, joyfully, cheerfully giving. And what happens? God in turn blesses us.

But ask yourself the question: How do you see your giving? And how do you see God operating in your life?

Guest (Male): Money is extremely important. So today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll see how God will use our finances to get our attention and develop spiritual maturity. Take a fresh look at the place money has in your life as scripture teaches us about the grace of God and our finances.

Dr. Charles Stanley: According to the scriptures, what strong desire which motivates millions of people every day, if attained, will bring about the following consequences? It will tempt people to fall into sin. They will be tempted to fall into a trap. They will probably be mastered by some foolish desires. They will engage in harmful desires that will eat away at their character.

It could plunge them into moral ruin. It could ultimately destroy them. It would cause them to wander from their faith. And it could cause many griefs to pierce their soul. What kind of desire would cause all of that to happen? In fact, it's the desire that motivates millions of people. You know what it is? The desire to get rich.

The desire to get rich. 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verses 9 and 10, lists all of those things which he says are dangerous for those whose desire in life is to get rich. Now, there's nothing wrong with being wealthy because there are some very, very godly people who are wealthy, very, very generous people who are wealthy. And there's nothing in the Bible that says that God takes great pleasure in poverty or keeping people poor. The problem is the issue of balance.

And that is, it's one thing to be wealthy and trust God. It's something else to be wealthy and the wealth be your God. So we're talking about the fact that when wealth is out of control, when it is out of sync with God's word and his way, then there are going to be problems. And so what we're saying in this passage is simply this: that here are eight dangers for those whose driving desire in life is to get rich. Well, what does all this have to do with the grace of God?

Well, the Bible says we're saved by grace, we're to live by grace. In fact, if that's true, then there's not a single area of our life in which grace is not to have an overwhelming effect. And that is true in our finances as well as in every single area of our life. So the title of this message is "The Grace of God and Our Finances." And I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 8.

And in this chapter, there are two chapters here that Paul spends almost entire chapters dealing with this matter of giving to the poor who were in Jerusalem, there in Judea, who were going through difficulty and hardship. And in this passage of scripture in 2 Corinthians, he lays out some principles for us, but he also explains to us what it means to be graced by God in our giving. Listen, beginning in verse 6.

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he's purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written in the Psalms, 'He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness abides forever.'"

"Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for the food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God." Now, one thing that's very evident in this passage here is this: that it is God's desire to bless, to grace his children financially. Look at these verses.

First of all, he gives us the pattern in verse 6 about the sowing and reaping. Secondly, he says he loves a cheerful giver. Well, how are we going to give? In order to give, we have to have something to give. Who gives us what we have to give? God gives us what we have to give. So if God wants me to be a cheerful giver, God must provide something for me to give. So he's certainly for that and he desires to do that.

He says in verse 8 that he's able to make all grace abound to us: always, all sufficiency, everything, for an abundance for every good deed. So not only here, but go back, if you will, to Proverbs, chapter 3 for a moment. In the Proverbs, chapter 3, notice what he says here. And if a farmer back in those days were to read this, I mean, he'd be jumping up and down with joy. But what is true of farmers is true in every single occupation, in every work.

Listen to what he says in Proverbs 3, verse 9: "Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce." You say, "But I'm not wealthy." Well, wealth is whatever you have. So when we talk about wealth, we're just talking about whatever God has given us. He says, "Honor the Lord from your wealth, from the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine," which is his way of saying God desires to grace his children, to grace those who are willing to abide by his principles.

And so what he's saying in this passage is, first of all, God desires to do it. Secondly, he's able. Look at what he says. He says in this particular passage in verse 8, "God is able to make what?" Listen to this now. "He's able to make all grace," that means all favor, no limitations on the favor of God. "God is able to make all grace abound." That means just overflowing.

"Abound to you, that," look at these words: "always," not sometimes; "having all sufficiency," not a little bit; "in everything," not some things; "you may have an abundance," not some, "an abundance for every good deed." God in his omnipotence can take your financial situation, no matter what it is. And if you will abide by his principle, God will grace, favor you financially. He says he's able to make "all grace abound toward us financially."

Now, when we put his principle to work, which we're going to talk about in just a moment, he says several things are going to happen. Verse 8, he says we're going to have sufficiency. We're going to have enough. He says not only that, you're going to have enough to give away. That's what he means when he says in this particular verse, "you may have an abundance for every good deed," that is the good deeds of giving and helping people in need.

You're going to have enough to give away. He says not only that, he says all the other areas of your life are going to be enriched. Look at this, if you will, in verse 11: "You will be enriched in everything for all your liberality." He says God isn't going to limit his blessing just to financial blessings; he's going to also enrich you in other ways. He desires, he's able, he says when you abide by the principle, "here's what I'm going to do."

Now, what's man's part? Well, man's part is very simple. And what he says here is that there are two parts to man's part: man's actions and man's attitude. Now, what is man's action here? Well, let's look, if you will, at this sixth verse. "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully." Now listen to me carefully. I don't know how God could have made this any simpler.

If you want to reap bountifully, you've got to sow the same way. And so the whole idea of sowing and reaping is man's part. You see, God says, "now here's my part." God says, "I want to grace you financially. I'm able to do it. And if you'll allow me, here's what I'll do." But if you don't allow me, I can't. Now listen very carefully to this. Here is the big problem people do not understand.

If you think that you're going to be able to give God stingily, drop a dollar or two in an offering plate somewhere once a week, or give only when you come to church, or never give to anybody, never help anybody—if you think you're going to be able to do that and you're going to get on your knees and you say, "Now Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, I just want to ask you to bless me financially. God, you know I have needs in my family and I have needs here and there." I'm here to tell you you're wasting your time.

Now let me tell you why you're wasting your time. Because what you're asking God to do is to do something he can't do. You say, "Well, God can do everything." No, he can't. God can't violate his own nature. He can't violate his own principles. Now look at this. If I give sparingly, chinchily, and then I ask God to bless me bountifully, I'm asking God to violate his own principle.

Now, if he violated his principle by blessing me bountifully from my stingy giving, then he's not adhering to his own principles. And if he doesn't adhere to this principle, how do I know that he's going to adhere to another one I need? God can't violate his own principle. And the reason people get in financial problems and the reason they don't have enough is because they violate the principle.

Then they want to cry out to God, "Oh God, I want you to bless me financially." And God is saying, "Hey, I want to, I want to, I'd like to. I'm able to. I can't." "Why can't you, God?" "Because you violate my principle." "Well, do it anyway!" "I can't do that. I can't violate my own principles." So God cannot violate his principle. He couldn't have made it any simpler.

The problem is our unbelief. Now listen to what he says. He says, "Let each one do just as he's purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves cheerful givers." He loves cheerful givers. Listen, if he loves cheerful givers, he's just itching to grace those givers. What we have to get over is unbelief or thinking, "well, is this going to apply to my particular circumstance?"

So man's part is to practice the principle, but secondly, man's part is to have the right attitude. And what's the right attitude? He says the right attitude here is to be a cheerful giver. Because you see, grace doesn't just involve my receiving from God; grace also involves my giving for God. It's two ways. That's the way God operates. That's the way God intends for people's needs to be met.

Listen, how many of you have ever received anything in a package that came straight from heaven? Anybody? No. You may have received many things; they all came through somebody. God blessed you through somebody. It may have been a job or it may have been something financially or some gift, but it came through somebody. And what he's saying is, this is the way God operates: he operates through somebody.

And so he says: sowing, reaping, joyfully, cheerfully giving, and what happens? God in turn blesses us. But ask yourself the question: How do you see your giving? And how do you see God operating in your life? Now look at this. First of all, God's plan is that he would grace us financially. It's his desire to do it. He's able to do it. Man's part: practice the principle and have the right attitude, that is, one who is a cheerful giver.

Now, that's the first part. But secondly, what is God's purpose in gracing us financially? That is, what does God really have in mind when he financially blesses someone? What does he have in mind? Well, it certainly isn't simply to make us prosperous. But two things are going to happen, he says in this passage, when you and I begin to practice the principle and allow God to grace us financially.

He says, first of all, our needs are going to be met. That's what he says here in this verse. He said, "having all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything." First thing that's going to happen is that our needs are going to be met. Now listen, if your needs aren't being met, I ask you a question: Are you practicing the principle of sowing and reaping?

Are you giving and trusting God to multiply that? Now here's the problem; I want you to watch this. Here's the way most people operate. They say, "God, here's my reservoir. Oh Heavenly Father, you know I have needs." And so they pray for God to fill their reservoir before the bills come in under pressure, living like this. "Here's my reservoir, God. I want you to bless it." And sometimes you look at that and it's about an inch deep and about a foot wide and you think, "God, I don't have all my needs."

You know what God's trying to get us to do? And you have to watch this. What God wants us to do is to take this reservoir and change it. He wants us to turn it up like a channel. So a reservoir may be an inch deep; a channel can be a thousand miles long. What God wants to do, he wants to grace our finances, but listen, as long as I have the reservoir attitude—"God, this is for me, I need to be prosperous, I need to build up my security"—and "Lord, you know how much I need and God, my needs: me, myself, and I and my family and all the things that I want to do and my goals and my purposes in life."

You know what God's waiting for? He's waiting for you to turn that little reservoir that's about an inch deep into something big enough for him to run a whole load through. And as long as I see it as mine, I limit what God's going to do. You see, he says in all of those verses, what did he talk about? He talked about us being a channel. He talked about us giving. He talked about other people being blessed through us, other people being ministered through us.

And that is we turn our reservoir into a channel through which God can bless other people. Now, he says he loves cheerful givers. Why? Because that's what he is. God is a cheerful giver. Everything you and I have came from him. And listen, we don't have what we have because we deserve it. We have what we have by the grace of God. And he doesn't give us anything to reservoir.

He gives us everything to channel. Your understanding, your knowledge of the word of God, the experiences that God has given you in your life, all the rich things that God has poured into your life—listen, if it's there, it's going to get stagnant. You know what happens after a while? It gets so molded, it is so slimy, nobody wants it. God wants you to turn everything into a channel so that he can bless other people. Here's what God says.

God says you want to be graced? Be generous. You want to be blessed? Be generous. You want me to pour it into your life? Become a channel. As long as you're a reservoir, there's a limitation. When you become a channel, I am going to pour out the blessing on you. It's a choice we make. Listen, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone hearing the principle and knowing that it comes from God's word.

If you don't apply it, you cannot complain to God. It is simply a principle we live by in every other area of our life. And I want to say this again: he can't violate his own principle. And his principle is not reservoir, but channel. Look at these verses. He says God loves the cheerful giver, having abundance for every good need, he scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, multiply your seed for sowing, enrich you in everything for your generosity, for your liberality. You see, the key word there is generosity.

Now, how am I going to know when I am really giving in the spirit of grace and it's grace-giving? Well, if you took the eighth chapter of this same book, 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, if you took the eighth chapter and you outlined it, this is what you would find. So I want to give you five statements here that really is an outline of chapter 8, but it's all about how you can know when you are really giving grace-giving.

That is, I mean, this is just a favor of God. This is just a spirit of generosity. Listen to this. Number one: we're going to give in spite of our circumstances. That's the first sign that's grace-giving. I'm not checking to see how much I have and how much I'm going to have left and be sure that I'm going to be able to do all the things I want to do, but, Lord, in spite of my circumstances, I'm going to give.

That's when the grace of God really begins to work in a person's heart financially and the flow begins. I give, first of all, in spite of my circumstances. Secondly, I'm going to give enthusiastically. I'm going to be excited about it. He says God loves a cheerful giver. We're talking about being excited about something. And you think about, here's somebody in need or the work of the ministry or something, and you have the privilege of being a part of that.

He says not grudgingly, not under compulsion, but he said cheerfully, joyfully, enthusiastically. Now here's the reason that I can get enthusiastic about giving to God. Here's the reason: not for what I'm going to see accomplished, but you know the thing that so motivates me personally and stirs my own heart, and the thing that makes me, even those times when I think, "now Lord, can I give so and so?" Just trust me.

Here's the thing that makes it exciting to me. The thing that makes it exciting to me is I'm going to find out what God's going to do. All right, enthusiastically. Thirdly, to give as Jesus gave: sacrificially. And that's how I'll know when I'm giving with grace-giving. I'm going to give in spite of my circumstance, I'm going to give enthusiastically, and I'm going to be willing to give sacrificially.

And the fourth thing is I'm going to give it willingly, generously, cheerfully. I want to do it. And fifthly, I'm going to do it by faith. "God, I can't see my way clear of this, but I'm going to do it anyway because that's what you said do." My friend, there are no exceptions. You just have to decide, do I want God to grace my finances or do I not? It's just that simple.

Now I just simply ask you a question. You want God's best? You want God to grace you financially? You want to be debt-free? You want the best God has to offer? You want to be a blessing to lots of folks? You want to be a channel, and you'll never be able to measure how far that channel goes? You want to bring glory to God and exalt the Son of God?

You want to be more like Jesus? You want to have more enthusiasm and excitement in your life? You want to have more joy in your life and more cheerfulness? You enjoy—listen, you enjoy the spirit of generosity. That's something you enjoy. Well, friend, all of that is yours for one decision: Lord God, by faith, I will.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. To maintain the proper perspective on our finances, it's important to remember that God owns it all; we're simply stewards of a portion of his possessions. When we have his point of view, we'll have the proper attitude toward our resources.

For further study on being a wise manager of the things God has given you, visit intouch.org. And to hear this lesson again, follow the link to "Today on Radio." Head over to the bookstore page to order a copy of today's complete message, "The Grace of God and Our Finances." It's also included in our teaching set, "Grace for Today." Again, that's intouch.org. To call or text, it's 1-800-IN-TOUCH. You can write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

Dr. Charles Stanley: When do you think believers are the most like Jesus? Keep listening for today's moment with Charles Stanley. Listen, he says he loves generous folks. Why? Because they're acting like Jesus. When are you and the most like him? When we're giving ourselves or what we have away. That's what he did. You see, Jesus didn't walk around trying to be prosperous.

And that's what we're to be like: not reservoirs, but channels, giving what we know, giving what we have to give, giving of ourselves. That's the way God operates. That's the way he wants us to operate. Listen, he said that he predestined you and me to be conformed to his likeness. What was he like? He was a giver.

Let me ask you a question. Do you have the courage to be generous? Do you have the courage to walk up to somebody with a big smile and give them a warm handshake and tell them your name? God wants to grace your life. He wants to make your life a channel of blessing to someone else.

Guest (Male): Learn more about how God can use you to bless others. Look for free resources at intouch.org. Is there someone who needs the truth you heard today? Share it with them and then tell us what happened. On our next program, we'll continue our series to see how grace is the lifestyle that God intends for all of his children.

I hope you'll join us again for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.