Give to show your love for God

In Luke 7:36-40, we read about a sinful woman who heard that Jesus was in town, having dinner at one of the Pharisee’s house. She went to Jesus with an alabaster jar of perfume. the woman wept at the feet of Jesus to a point where she wet his feet with her tears. The woman then began wiping the feet of Jesus with her hair, and kissed his feet and then poured the perfume on his feet. The Pharisee then said to himself “if this man were a prophet, He would know what manner of woman this is that is kissing him”.

In verse 44-50 Jesus begins to explain the conduct of the woman and says “ her many sins have been forgiven because she has showed great love.” In those days women were not allowed to enter a house where men were having dinner, but this woman, because of her love for Jesus, she took the risk and entered the house, she went straight to Jesus.

In those days when a visitor entered your house, you were supposed to offer them a bowl to wash their hands and feet and if you had oil, you gave them the oil to anoint themselves. Jesus had previously been to Simons house, and he never showed the measure of love that the sinful woman showed to Jesus. Even the Pharisee in whose house Jesus was, he did not show the love that the sinful woman showed. Because of her great love, the woman’s sins were forgiven.

You are here, you say you love God, how do you demonstrate your love for God? You cannot say you give your life, your soul and your heart to God while you are not a giver. This would means that while every part of you is in God, your finance are not in God. We need to learn from the sinful woman today. The sinful woman never counted the value of the perfume, but she counted her love for Jesus.

Many of us wonder why we come to church, we pray we fast and we do everything else but our finances remain stagnant. Many wonder why they do not testify. The answer is in what you give to God as an expression of your love. This is why a new convert comes in, from a sinful life, and they give their all to God, and they show their love and repentance by giving without counting, then they get immediate breakthrough and testify. This is because when they gave, they gave with love.

You need to give much in order to show much love to God. Because Jesus says “he who loves much, will be forgiven much”. Jesus does not look at the kind of sin or the number of sins you have when you come to him, but He looks at the measure of love with which you come. When you come to Jesus with all your heart and surrender your all to Him, there is no way He will not forgive you. Jesus is able to forgive all sins.

Sometimes you might be thinking what you have to give is too small, but when you give with love and from and your heart, it will make a difference in the Kingdom of God. Look at yourself, when you receive something good, do you not thank God for it? When you thank God for any good thing that you have received, you are praying and blessing the one who gave it to you.

So it is with your giving, when you give with love, and that gift goes to changing someone’s life, then you become come blessed as the person appreciates that gift. This is why the Bible says “blessed is the hand that gives than the hand that receives”. Listen to the testimonies of those who receive groceries from the giving ministry. This is all your giving, when you brought that one tin of fish, it might not have been much to you, but to someone it changed a life. And God will surely bless you for that.

I want to encourage you this morning that no matter how small you think your offering might be, to God it will be great when you give it with love. Some of your blessings don’t need prayer, or they don’t need you to be delivered, they just need you to open your heart and give. Sometimes giving might not make sense to you, but trust God, who directed you to give through His Spirit.

Whenever God tells you to give, it is always to bless you more than ever. You might be thinking I’m giving my last R100, not knowing that by giving that, you are releasing even a bigger blessing. You will just be surprised when you get home your stingiest relative giving you R1000. Not knowing that it’s that gift that you released. Holding back your gift can cost you your greatest blessing. If the sinful woman had not poured her expensive perfume on Jesus, her sins would still not have been forgiven even today.

I want to encourage you as you give today, give with a heart full of love, this God will surely bless you and reward you. Your giving will never be in vain. I want to also encourage you also not to get tired of bringing non-perishables into the giving ministry. You have seen how they change lives. You also must be a solution to someone else’s life.

God bless you as you give.