God loves a cheerful giver, no doubt. But not all offerings are pleasing to Him. Some are manipulated or coerced to give, some give expecting instant monetary rewards. If you are not careful, these things can bring you poverty. Learn what offerings are unacceptable by God and how you can correct your ways if you are ignorant of these.
When you want to be recognized before you give; you want to be announced for your contribution, your blessing become the praise and accolades you receive from men.
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)
You oppress the poor, you underpay your workers, yet you give fat offerings in church. You are deceiving yourself. Why not pay your workers well, support their welfare, give them housing allowances, encourage their career development, and support them in difficult times. These will bring lasting blessing to you.
Similarly, when your primary source of income is fraud, you steal from people, you take bribe to perverse justice, students block you to pass exams, yet you give lavishly to the church, you could be heaping curses on yourself, the people you steal from also pray to God, and it may return to you as curses. Wash your hands clean; only give to God what is honorable.
One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.(Proverbs 22:16)
Your neighbor cannot feed well, has no good clothes, unable to afford school fees or pay medical bills, yet you lavish pastors, celebrities (those who are already rich) with expensive gifts, exotic birthday presents. This is both wicked and foolish.
If you are manipulated to give because you could be reward as the ‘best giver’ or ‘best contributor’ to your church program, know that this is deceit; they are stealing your money.
Clue: If you attend a church that recognizes or awards ‘best givers’, ‘best contributors’ or the likes, it’s a clear sign you are under a false preacher. It is time to leave, know the word of God for yourself and see the amount of money you could save.
When you give and are calculating the ‘doubled amount’ you could get in return, you are seeing God as a ‘money doubler‘; you have the wrong image of God. Is it not better to look for legitimate investment programs with good returns?
What is acceptable?
If you have and can give, do it willingly, don’t be force or manipulated, don’t expect anything in return, simply leave it in God’s hand. Also, don’t blow your trumpet to allow people to notice how much you are contributing.
Advice: Give to those who have no means of paying you back; support those who cannot even give back to you. Also, giving is not only in the church.
'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.'(James 1:27)