Skip to main content

Giving and Receiving

Giving and Receiving
 
"Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account" (Phil 4:17).

The apostle Paul had a tent-making business. However, over time, it was evident that more and more of his time was being given to vocational ministry activities. That required him to receive income from those to whom he invested his life. It became increasingly difficult to run a business and travel and minister.

His letter to the Philippians gives us a perspective on giving. Although Paul appreciated the support financially, his real joy came in the fact that their gift was being credited to their Heavenly account.

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:14-19 emphasis mine).

Paul had a confidence that God would always provide what he needed. Sometimes it came from his business. Sometimes it came through others. He was not overly concerned with where his provision would come from. His confidence was in God, his provider. So, his attitude was in affirming the benefit that came to the giver from a Kingdom perspective.

Paul learned that it wasn't a church or a business that was his provider. It was God. These were merely tools God used to support him.

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

apocalyptic ---->> Obama ???

Cardinal Says Future With Obama Is Gethsemane Affirms That Life Cannot be Controlled by Government WASHINGTON , D.C. , NOV. 19, 2008 ( Zenit.org ).- The decline in respect for human life has had “catastrophic effects” on the unity and integrity of the United States, which are evidenced by the presidential election, says a Vatican official. Baltimore-native Cardinal James Stafford, major penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, affirmed this in a lecture on "Humanae Vitae" last Thursday at the Catholic University of America. His lecture, “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul,” pointed out the need for Catholics to return to the true values of marriage and human dignity faced to the current challenges. “Because man is a sacred ! element of secular life,” the cardinal said, “[…] a person’s life cannot ultimately be controlled by government.” "On Nov. 4, 2008, America suffered ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Seven Needs

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor 10:3-5). Jerry had grown up with a father who was a successful workaholic. Although he lacked for nothing materially, he never sensed much warmth or compassion from his parents. Then, when Jerry was still in his early teens, his father died very suddenly. His large family was left with little support, and insecurity and fear became the dominating factors in the young man's life. Vowing to himself that he would never lack financial need again, Jerry worked hard at his business. A stronghold of idolatry brought reliance on the wealth he had accumulated rather than a prayerful dependency on God. Arguments over money dominated his marriage. Distrust and greed permeated his home and business relationships. No one could "stand in his face" and tell him what to do. Finally, as his ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bioethics and the Myth of Relativism

Interview with Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk By Giovanni Patriarca PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, JUNE 17, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- A neuroscientist and ethicist is underlining the need to base bioethics in moral principles, and is affirming that even people who profess relativism count on certain absolutes in life. Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk is the director of education at the Philadelphia-based National Catholic Bioethics Center . He writes a monthly column for The Catholic Herald titled "Making Sense out of Bioethics." In this interview with ZENIT, he discusses some of the need to base bioethics in absolute moral principles in light of recent events related to his field. ZENIT: In recent years bioethics seems to have become a battleground where many interest groups try to impose their political views separated from any consideration of the field's moral foundations. The 2005 U.N. Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights could be considered a starting po...
Post a Comment
Read more