Jesus' teaching on giving

Jesus' teaching on giving:

Jesus' teaching on giving is a vital part of christianity. In this regard, the concept of 'giving' must be taught to every child. This is true because an early and thorough knowledge on this subject (giving) will serve as a light and guide to children, especially in these perilous times.

You can read on the early years of Jesus here.

Jesus Himself taught us the concept of giving when He said:

• Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

  Matthew 6:1-4

Notice that Jesus began by stating that we should be 'careful' not to showcase our righteous acts before men. In this light, let's take a moment to ponder on the question below:

Why would an individual dwell often on telling you how he/she gave food or money to another person who was in need?

Please read on your responsibilities, duties and obligations as a citizen here.

Let me categorically state that helping the poor, needy and despondent is an excellent act of goodness; but my point is - 'do we have to frequently broadcast our good acts to others?'

From the above question, giving food or money to a person who sincerely needs it is an act of goodness. Let's not also forget that pride can also creep into such good act. For this reason, pride is considered by many as deadliest of all sins. This is true because the sin of pride can even be committed during an act of doing good. Pride can creep in slowly into one's life, and this is attributed whenever we want people to praise us during our acts of giving. In short, the devil is who he is today simply because of pride.

Please read on the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience here.

Pride can become so dangerous to an extent that it stealthy enters our good actions, thus depriving us of the rewards we ought to get from such good actions. Once again, it is very important to reiterate that the act of giving (or generosity) is very good. In fact, God loves a cheerful giver. In this regard, the act of giving is often considered a virtue. However, we ought to be wise in giving.

Unfortunately, one reason why some people (not everyone though) broadcast their good act of giving is because they want others to praise them, see them and consider them as good and generous. This is exactly what Jesus warned against in Matthew 6:1 when he said - 'We should be careful not to do our acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them'.

You can read on values in civic education here.

It is important to state that there are certain good works that may be done in secret but they become exposed after some time. For instance, philanthropists are known to always help people. One reason attributing to their popularity is because the people whom had been helped go about broadcasting their names and actions. This even happened to Jesus himself. As an instance, whenever Jesus cures the sick and physically challenged, he tells them not to tell anyone what he has done (Luke 8:56). Interestingly, the reverse is the case because they always end up broadcasting his name and actions. For this reason, Jesus is always described as a man who goes about doing good.

Please read on the attributes of God here.

One truth about life is the fact that our good works may be broadcasted by others. However, let us be careful not to announce it ourselves nor boast about it nor pay others to trumpet it on our behalf.

We need to understand that we don't necessarily need to be wealthy before we can always render help to others. Some of the ways through which we can give to others include:

1. Giving words of encouragement to the dejected.
   Please read on various motivational quotes here.

2. Visiting the sick and the prisoners, while also sharing food items or some positive words with them.
   You can read on the leadership qualities of Joseph that has transformed lives here.

3. Giving consolation to the sorrowful.
   Please read on the prodigal son here.

4. Showing respect to the poor and lowly in the society.
   You can read on gender equality and ways to achieve it here.

5. Sharing your educational and financial knowledge with others.
   You can attempt Len Academy questions and answers on various subjects here.

Jesus went further to say that when we give to the needy, we should not announce it before others like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets. Permit me to further on these words of Jesus through an experience of mine, as summarized below.

I attended a church for some few years. Within my period of service in this church, a massive physical structure worth millions of naira was erected. I discovered that I couldn't point out a specific amount of money donated by the members of the church at any point in time. This was so because the parishioners made their contributions into an envelope that had been given to them by the pastor. The envelopes were returned to the pastor after the parishioners had put in an amount they could afford. To this end, some may had put in millions of naira into the envelop (in the form of cheques) while others had probably put in their widow's mite, let's say 500 naira.

Note: Regardless the little amount that was put in by the poor, the point to note is - 'they also secretly gave their best financially'.

You can read on cheques as a form of payment here.

What amazed me most was the fact that the pastor sent the same letter of appreciation to those who had returned the envelopes, regardless the amount that was put in. This implied that those who had put in N1,000,000 got the same appreciation letter as those who gave N500.

• From the above summary, did you notice the simplicity of giving? What's even more interesting is the beauty of giving without any form of broadcast by each member of the church according to their financial capacity.
  You can read on the disadvantages of money here.

Conversely, after my relocation to another environment, I observed that some of the parishioners of my new church are delighted to come out (to be seen by all), before announcing their donations to the church. Eventually, they were applauded, recognized and praised for giving to the church.

Now, when we consider the very words of Jesus in Matthew 6:2, the question worth asking is:

Is this broadcasting action of giving inside the church right?

Please read on the biblical account of human disobedience here.

Recall that Jesus affirmed that this is how the hypocrites behave in the synagogue (Matthew 6:2).

In conclusion, we live in an era where social media has become the order of the day. As pupils, students, teachers and parents, we are encouraged to help others; but we should try not to deliberately broadcast whatever we have given to help others through the various media platforms. To put it in an idiomatic expression, 'our left hand should not know what our right hand has given'.

Please read more on idioms here.

Importantly, let us continue to render help to the needy in such a way that gives glory to God who sees and rewards all our good work.