As a church, we are held to a high standard of responsibility for the resources at our disposal....
The Heart of Giving
The church provides regular updates on the current state of our finances. These updates are necessary so that you, as members, can stay informed on this important aspect of the church. As a church, we are held to a high standard of responsibility for the resources at our disposal. As you read and respond to these updates, it is good ask yourself what motivates your giving. Proverbs says that out of the heart flows the wellspring of life. What is your heart when you give?
King David offers a great example of a proper attitude in our giving. As David prepared to begin building the temple of the Lord, which was to be “famous and glorious throughout the land,” he raised funds for the project through the gifts of the people of Israel. While David’s natural response to the successful fundraising that would allow God’s temple for worship to be built could easily have led him to take credit for himself, he instead responds with this prayer:
Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You;
The current economic crisis has revealed much about the hearts of those in the world. David recognized that the people’s giving was an issue of the heart. This principal is reflected the New Testament story of the rich young ruler as well as the story of the widow and her two mites. God desires that our heart trust him with our finances and realize that all we have is from him. May He be granting us the joy that David experienced as we do this.
-Dan Englert, VBC Assistant Treasurer
I Chronicles 29
14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. 15 For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope.