THE TEST OF GIVING.
QUESTION: Are You Ready To Sacrifice Or Be Inconvenienced To Give As Expected Of You?
Giving Is Not Just About Money.
The hymn below is an old song of consecration which is relevant to our discussion in this chapter. For you to pass the test of giving, you must be able to sing this song and mean every word of it. To make a mark for God, giving must be part of your lifestyle as a pastor’s wife. Usually when we hear about giving, what immediately comes to mind is money. We often forget that there are other areas of our life we are to give, without which the gift of our money would be meaningless:
Take My Life And Let It Be
- Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise, - Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee, - Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee, - Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose, - Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne, - Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
We are going to look at some areas in which God expects you to give. They are: i. Your Heart ii. Your Time iii. Your Talent and iv. Your Treasure (Money)
Giving Your Heart To God.
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways (Pro.23:26)
As a pastor’s wife, you must first of all give your heart to God. In fact without giving your heart to God, it will be very difficult for you to give any other thing to God. It is a heart that is surrendered to God that will be able to realize that he doesn’t actually possess anything outside God. The submission of your heart is so important to God that He actually demands that you surrender it to Him. A heart that is not surrendered to God can actually become a fertile ground for activities that will go against the will of God. There is an interesting scripture that I love to use to illustrate this point :
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer.17:9)
That description of a heart that is not submitted to God makes me to be afraid of man. When you are with a man (and woman too) and you see him smiling, you don’t know what is actually going on within him. The word of God says that a heart that is not surrendered to God is dangerous. Such heart is not just wicked but desperately so! A heart that is not given to God can device unimaginable mischievous plans. God needs your heart because you will find it difficult to serve Him, if it is not submitted to Him. Any heart that is not given to God cannot love, follow Him or keep His word. In fact, a heart that is not surrendered to God can also not be able to give any other thing to God. The question now is, have you given your heart to God? It is possible to accept Jesus as your saviour and still hold on to your heart. But your heart is so important because where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be.
So, if you are going to pass the test of giving, you must go to God and submit your heart to Him.
Giving Your Time To God
Another area you will need to be able to give, if you must pass the test of giving, is your time. For anyone to make a mark in the things of God, that person must be ready to give his time freely to God. Having quality quiet time, prayers, retreats, serving Him and carrying out assignments for God require a considerable part of your time. The quality of the time you spend with God determines a lot about the impact you will make in ministry. Consequently, it is of vital importance that you are generous in giving your time to God. There is a challenge in stanza one of the hymn above as from line three for you; “take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.” The challenge is that of unending life of praise. It doesn’t mean singing every moment. The implication is that you spend every moment only in things that will glorify God in your thoughts, words and actions. That means if you have been offended and you are thinking of how to retaliate, you should quickly check yourself that you are supposed to be spending every moment of your day on wholesome thoughts. Giving your time may also include creating time to counsel and visit those who may need such; it goes a long way in alleviating the problems in the life of numerous people.
A sister who was a matron met a man of God as he came on visitation to the hospital where she worked and told him that she needed his attention on an issue. However, the man of God told her that she should have come to the office to see him. The woman appealed to the pastor that it was an urgent matter for which she needed counsel but the man of God insisted on giving her appointment for the following day and left. Early the following day, he heard the news that a woman committed suicide. Guess who committed suicide! It was the woman who sought the attention of the man of God! Although, there are a lot of time wasters out there, you must seek discernment, so that you don’t because of inability to sacrifice your time send another person to an early grave or to take a step he or she will regret for life.
Giving Your Talent To God
Your talent here refers to your natural abilities or gifts which are unique to you to serve God with. You must be ready to use such to serve God and through it be an example to others in ministry. As noted earlier, even if you are not endowed to sing, preach, or teach, there is something God has placed in you for the edification of the church. Let it be evident that you are giving it to God. When you are not around, let it be felt that the pastor’s wife is not around.
Giving Your Treasure To God.
Then comes the most difficult part for most people; giving money. The level to which you can release your money for God is a major measure of your love for God. For most people, they are not doing it right in this area of giving. If you are at the counter in the bank and several people are bringing money to the cashier, you may not need to be told when the church treasurer arrives. The bulk of the money he brings is most likely to comprise of the lowest denominations of the money in use. Beyond tithes and offerings, you must give in support of the project and programmes of the church. You must also be involved in the welfare of the needy in the church and beyond. Apart from demonstrating where your heart is, it also demonstrates your support for your husband’s ministry.
God is always interested in those who can give to Him without looking back. In fact, He often demands something so vital and impossible for you to give, except you have first surrendered your heart to Him. Take Abraham for instance. He was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It takes a heart that has been surrendered to God to respond to such demand.
Giving is a vital part of what is expected of you as a pastor’s wife. A lot of times many pastor’s wives are not giving because of offences. Your husband has offended you, making you to be reluctant to give your time, talent or treasure through the ministry. Apart from lack of giving not being in the will of God, it also demonstrates lack of commitment to the ministry in which you have a role to fulfil as a help. Undoubtedly, it is often difficult and inconvenient, but God will never forget your labour of love.
Are you ready to sacrifice and be inconvenienced to give as expected of you?
