Time. Talent. TREASURE. (Part 3 of 3)
Brandon Sappington
Stewardship Team Member
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 KJV
This verse is really at the center of all Christian giving and sacrifice for the Lord. In previous blogs, we have covered two other ways to give back to God some of what He has given us: Time and Talent. The third, Treasure, is probably more familiar to people in the context of church. This is mainly due to the fact that almost every church has a call to give offerings every Sunday. Regular, congregational financial giving is the lifeblood of a church. It’s what makes church happen. Not just on Sundays, but the other six days a week that it takes to make Sunday services happen.
We are blessed at my church. We have both faithful givers and talented stewards and administrators of those gifts. Those regular gifts, and many individual ones, pay for the myriad of expenses it takes to keep our church running, much less all the giving we collectively do as a church for missions and other Christian causes and charities. Those are what tithes pay for. When it comes to each person’s giving, why is really a more important question.
I give to Trinity Baptist Church because it is a group of people, a cause, and a place that I believe in. It’s something I want to be a part of and that I’m proud to be a part of. I want to give. I need to. There are a lot of charities out there, but tithing is more than donating. It’s truly a spiritual two-way street where what I gladly put in, God will multiply for His will and for my good. It is an incredible part of the Christian experience that I didn’t fully grasp until later in my adult life.
We talk a lot about surrendering to God around my house. It’s giving in and giving problems and needs to Him. We struggle with it because it is against our nature and our current culture where we are constantly told to fix ourselves. We have brains and plans and ideas, and we want to do everything we can think of, but what He wants is for us to come to Him as we are with the heart of a child.
Tithing is a way, like praying, worshipping, and reading His Word, to deepen your faith and connection to God, because tithing is one of the ways we can openly surrender to God. Tithing is surrendering to His will and direction. God doesn’t need my money. God doesn’t need any money at all, but I’m so grateful that I get to put “skin in the game” and have the opportunity to both obey and try and show God that I am a grateful servant.
I hope that you feel as I do that your church is worth your Time, Talent, and Treasure. I’m so glad that you are a part of my Christian family and that we can serve together as brothers and sisters in Christ.