Supporting the Work of God: From a Willing Heart
Money can be a difficult subject to discuss in the church. Throughout the years, giving has sometimes been used to pressure people, place burdens upon them, or make them feel that their relationship with God is somehow measured by an amount. Because of that history, this week's Bible study approached the subject carefully, asking a simple question: What does the Bible actually teach about supporting the work of God?
Rather than beginning with an amount or a requirement, the study began in Exodus, where one of the earliest examples of God's people supporting His work reveals something important about His heart.
When the children of Israel left Egypt, God caused them to leave with silver, gold, clothing, and other possessions. Later, when it was time to build the tabernacle, those same resources could be used for the work God had commanded. There was an undertaking before them. Materials were needed. Skilled labor was needed. There was real work to be done. But when God instructed Moses to receive an offering from the people, He included an important qualification: "Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it an offering of the Lord."
That willing heart became one of the central themes of the study.
Moses did not assign each person an amount. He did not tell one person to bring a certain weight of gold and another to bring a particular amount of silver. Instead, the people whose hearts were stirred came and gave. Some brought gold, silver, linen, skins, wood, oil, or other materials. Others had skills and gave their labor toward building the tabernacle. What each person brought was different, but the common thread was that their hearts moved them to participate in what God was doing.
And then something remarkable happened: they had enough.
In fact, they had more than enough.
The craftsmen came to Moses and told him that the people were bringing more than was necessary to complete the work. Moses responded by telling the people to stop giving. The offering had a purpose, that purpose had been met, and there was no reason to continue taking from the people simply because they were willing to give.
It is a beautiful picture of both generosity and responsible leadership. God's people willingly supported His work, and those overseeing that work recognized when enough had been provided.
The study then looked at another pattern of giving found in Scripture: firstfruits. When Israel entered the land God had promised them, they were instructed to take the first of their harvest and bring it before the Lord. But what makes the passage in Deuteronomy 26 especially meaningful is what accompanied the offering.
They remembered.
They remembered where they had come from. They remembered their bondage in Egypt. They remembered crying unto the Lord. They remembered how He heard them, delivered them with a mighty hand, and brought them into the land He had promised.
Then they brought the firstfruits of that land before Him.
Their giving became a testimony. In essence, they were saying, "Lord, the only reason I have this to give is because You gave it to me in the first place."
That changes the way giving is viewed. It is not a transaction designed to get something from God. It is an expression of gratitude for what He has already done.
Proverbs says, "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase." The study was careful, however, not to turn that passage into a promise of financial return. Supporting God's work is not a transaction where we give a certain amount and God becomes obligated to give us more in return. God is not indebted to us. Everything we have already comes by His grace. Giving simply becomes another opportunity to acknowledge Him and say, "Lord, I know where my blessings came from."
As the study moved into the New Testament, another purpose for giving became clear: caring for one another.
Acts describes a remarkable community among the earliest followers of Christ. They continued together in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. They also cared deeply about the needs of those around them. Those who had resources willingly shared so that others would not be left without necessities.
The point was not that every Christian must sell everything they own or that believers are commanded to live communally. Rather, Scripture reveals the heart that existed among them. They saw themselves as a family in Christ. If one brother or sister genuinely lacked food, clothing, or another basic necessity, those who had the ability wanted to help.
That same heart appears again in Paul's letters.
When believers in Jerusalem were experiencing need, Paul encouraged churches in other areas to contribute toward helping them. His concern was not financing a lavish lifestyle for himself. He was gathering resources for saints who were struggling to meet their daily needs.
Even then, Paul remained careful about how he asked them to give.
In 2 Corinthians 8, he says plainly, "I speak not by commandment." He speaks about a "willing mind" and explains that what a person gives is accepted "according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."
That distinction matters.
Paul was not asking believers to put themselves into hardship so someone else could live comfortably. He specifically says, "I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened." His desire was that abundance in one place could help meet genuine need in another.
Jesus also showed that God's attention is not fixed on the size of an offering.
In Luke 21, He watched wealthy individuals place their gifts into the treasury and then saw a poor widow give two mites. In monetary value, her offering was small compared with what others had given. Yet Jesus drew attention to her.
Why?
Because He saw something no one else could measure. He saw her heart.
The lesson was not that believers should give away money needed for food, shelter, or basic responsibilities in hopes that God will miraculously replace it. Rather, the widow illustrates that God does not evaluate giving the way people often do. People see an amount. God sees the heart, the motive, and the sacrifice behind it.
All of these passages eventually brought the study to perhaps the clearest New Testament instruction on giving, found in 2 Corinthians 9.
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give."
Paul does not stop there.
"Not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
Those words capture the heart of the entire study. Giving to support God's work is biblical. There are real needs involved in ministry. There are places to gather, resources needed to share the gospel, opportunities to help those who are lacking, and sometimes particular projects that require God's people to come together.
But Scripture continually brings the matter back to the heart.
Giving should not come because someone has been pressured. It should not come grudgingly. It should not come because someone has been made to feel that a particular amount determines their faithfulness to God. And it should never become a transaction where we believe God owes us something in return.
It is personal.
It is between the believer and the Lord.
The same principle seen when the tabernacle was built continues into Paul's instruction to the church: let each person give according as he has purposed in his own heart.
That is what makes supporting God's work an act of worship. Whether someone gives toward a particular need, helps another believer, offers their skills and time, or gives from the resources with which God has blessed them, the value of the offering is not found simply in its size. It is found in a heart that says, "Lord, everything I have came from You, and I want to use what You have given me for Your glory."
In the end, the question is not, "How much am I required to give?"
The better question is, "Lord, how are You dealing with my heart?"
And when the answer to that question remains between the believer and God, giving can become what Scripture intended it to be: not a burden, not an obligation, but a willing expression of gratitude, love, and worship toward the One who gave us everything.
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