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Study Section 15: A Disciple’s Commitment to Giving

“Be not anxious! Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking
that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are
the very source of all anxiety.”― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

15.1 Connect

Life seems to be a quest for survival …. to provide food and clothing for our family, to keep
everyone healthy, and to minister to others in need. Life’s activities can become enormous
burdens and keep us under constant pressure daily. They press down on us. However, God
does not want it to be that way. He has a special desire to care for us and meet our daily
needs. Rather than trust Him, we pick up the burdens ourselves.

When I was a young believer, my pastor and other believers told me that 10% of what I received
belonged to God and 90% was for my personal expenses. So, for years, I practiced that kind of giving.
God got his portion, and I spent the rest on me. As I was further discipled, I came to find out that 100%
of what God gives me is His, not just 10%. I was accountable to him for how I spent HIS money. This
was a big adjustment in my thinking. A part of true discipleship is learning to give to God and others.

In this lesson, we want to get a new perspective on how to manage our time, money, and resources.
We want to see how to live life as God plans it for us.

15.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain why all of what we possess belongs to God. We are His
caretakes or stewards of His resources.

2. The student should be able to explain six ways a believer can faithfully manage God’s
resources.

15.3 A Disciple’s Commitment to Giving

In business it is necessary to properly manage finances and other resources if it is to prosper.
The same is true in the Christian life. Money is just one of the many resources Christians
have to work with.

There are other resources such as your mind which should be surrendered to Christ who in
His sovereign central position provides mental guidance……your body which is the temple of
the Holy Spirit and which is to be presented to the Lord as a living sacrifice for His use (Rom. 12:1,2).
There is your emotional makeup. You possess personality….your unique strengths and weaknesses that
God can use for His glory. We could spend a good deal of time learning a little more about each of
these. But for simplicity we will concentrate on “finances” since the basic principles of managing them
carry over and can be applied in various forms to the other resources Christians have.

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