”Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Malachi 3:10
There are so many incredible results of living generously.
· We become less selfish
· We pay attention to the needs around us
· We loosen our grip on things that do not matter
· We get a better reign on our finances
· We bless the people around us through our generosity
We can add to this list so many more. As we read Scripture, one of the results of living generously toward God and others is that God honors our generosity.
God wants His people to know that He honors generosity. He told the people of Israel this through the prophet Malachi, “’Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!’” (Malachi 3:10). This verse is fascinating. God not only called His people to give; He told them to test it out to see how He would provide for them if they gave. If they tithed, God told them that He would bless them in incredible ways. Now, to be clear, God did not promise to give them everything they wanted or make them rich. He promised blessings, which you and I know can come in many ways. Additionally, you and I know that God always takes care of His people. We can trust Him.
God does not call us to give as an act of mindless duty. Instead, He has a deeper purpose. The true meaning behind our giving and generosity is to reflect God’s true nature as the provider and source of life. He is the one who gives us every perfect gift so we can establish our family and share it with others. With this in mind, generosity comes down to trusting in God. Do we trust Him to provide for us? If so, we can certainly live generous lives.
When we are struggling to give, we often miss out on an opportunity to trust God. Giving will always be a little scary, so we need to remember that God honors our generosity. Take some time to memorize Malachi 3:10. As you think about generosity and prepare to live generously, let this verse come to mind to remind you that God honors those who live generously.
Malachi 3:10-15 (NLT)
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord.
“But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said against you?’
“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins? From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’ ”
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