Essay Sample on Giving for Christians

Introduction

Giving is an act of generosity, whereby a person feels compelled to help out another person or another group people, out of their own free will. However, many people mistake giving with the act sharing one's wealth with the less fortunate. Giving involves more than money, it encompasses giving people your time, wisdom and knowledge, love and material things. This is why Christians are always encouraged to provide because it entails more than just material giving. Acts of giving such as showing love and kindness as demonstrated by the church go a long way for an individual, as compared to the simple provision of food or clothing. The following essay, therefore, seeks to explain giving by Christians as drawn out from examples illustrated in the bible from the book of 2nd Corinthians Chapter 8 and 9.

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First of all, according to the 2nd Corinthians Chapter 9, giving should not be forced, but instead, it should be something that is done voluntarily. According to this scripture, God loves the people who give willingly and not forcefully. Many Christians feel compelled to give because they are Christians, and it is something that they are supposed to do.

However, giving should come from a person's heart and something that is self-taught. Learning to carry out of the kindness of one's heart earns one more, and God truly appreciates Christians who give willingly. It is said that from the pocket that provides, so shall it receive. This means that God is always kind enough to give to the people who are generous enough to give others (Betz, MacRae, George, 1985).

Secondly, Christians learn that giving is about understanding that every person regardless of their stature in society, should learn how to give because they might need some help at some point in their lives. Giving is a matter of providing today and receiving tomorrow. Hence if one has plenty today, then they should be kind enough to share with those who do not have plenty to share. Therefore, when the day comes, that one is in limited supply, then they would also receive the same help that they offered to others. With this in mind, lacking will never be a vocabulary in any Christians mouth because of the constant act of giving and receiving.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the best example when it comes to giving. Christians are always encouraged to live and follow in the footsteps of the Lord. Jesus Christ rich as he was, gave everything up to save humanity and delivered humanity from damnation. He demonstrates the most significant act of kindness and giving as he gave his own life to redeem the lives of so many people. If Jesus had been selfish, then everyone would have been damned, but instead, he gave everything he had including his own life to save the world. This clearly shows that giving is a very selfless act and one should give wholly without expecting anything in return.

In addition to that, the two chapters elaborate that giving is not about money, but something more than money and that is individual giving. This means that people need to understand that when you want to give, you don't necessarily have to have the money or material things to provide for it to be called giving. So many Christians today do not offer because they say that they do not have enough money to give people, however as the example set by Macedonians, giving begins by giving yourself and being there to assist in whatever way. It shows that the greatest gift is giving yourself to help other people (Bultmann, 1985).

Furthermore, giving is not something that someone wakes up one day and decides to do. Giving comes from the grace of God manifesting itself in our lives and coming out in the form of the act of giving. This shows that the grace of God is what drives people to give to others.

Another lesson learnt is that giving should be done with the right motive. So many people give today because they want to impress people or they believe that when they do, they will gain favour from God. Giving should be something done with a pure heart and with pure intentions of helping someone who is needed. This is evident with many Christians today; some people give to the church, and they ensure that everyone in the congregation gets to hear about it. This is very wrong because when one decides to give, they should do this in secrecy and not boast about how they are givers to the whole world. The Macedonians did not give their hearts just to be recognised, but instead, they gave because they were moved by the grace of God (Talbert, 2002).Moreover, these two chapters also teach Christians that giving is not about sharing with people what you have in surplus or giving something that you do not feel. For example, if you can give 10 dollars and not feel the impact of it, then you should add the amount to something that you will feel. As demonstrated by the Macedonians, they gave everything they had, without being selfish and they even gave beyond their means. They ensured that they gave to the maximum of their ability and this indeed demonstrates a lot of grace, love and selflessness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all Christians are always encouraged to give. This example was set by Jesus Christ himself when he offered his only life as a sacrifice to save humanity. God also showed the greatest act of giving when he gave up his only son as a sacrifice to the world. Hence Christians should always ensure that they emulate God and Jesus Christ when it comes to giving. As written in Chapter 8 and 9, the hand that gives is the one that receives, that means that whenever one volunteer to give what they have, God is always faithful to ensure that they shall never lack.

References

Betz, H. D., MacRae, S. J., & George, W. (1985). 2 Corinthians 8 and 9: A commentary on two official letters of the Apostle Paul. Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Bultmann, R. (1985). The second letter to the Corinthians. Augsburg Fortress Pub.

Talbert, C. H. (2002). Reading Corinthians: a literary and theological commentary. Chicago Review Press.