Why Do You Give?

[497 words] “Isn’t it enough to give? As long as I’m giving, does it matter why? Does it really matter what my motivation is?” Think about this for a moment and consider what Scripture has to teach us. Much of the giving in the early church was done to help brethren who were in need (1 Cor. 16:1-2; 2 Cor. 8:16-24; Rom. 15:25-27). Giving was also done in order that preachers and elders who labored in the word might be financially supported (1 Cor. 9:1-14; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; Phil. 4:14-19). An early example of this kind of giving is in Acts 4:32-5:11, in which we read of a significant difference between givers in Acts 4 and givers in Acts 5. In Acts 4, the early church was “of one heart and one soul,” to the extent that no one would “say that any of the things he possessed was his…