The Disciplines

Moses, the friend of God, delivered his farewell message to the nation of Israel in what we call the Book of Deuteronomy. He laid out his hopes and fears for his people, and he reminded them of the core issue – their relationship with God. More than once he told them the following:

And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness. -- Deut. 6:25

But… that’s a big “if.”

That “if” defines the very problem that God explains through the writings of Paul in a letter to the Romans. The condition that follows the “if” could never be met.

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his (God’s) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. – Romans 3:20

The standard set by the Law demonstrated that only One is righteous and that is God. Righteousness is essential since it is always tied to life. “The righteous will live by faith.” If we were ever to have righteousness – have life – we would need to be granted God’s righteousness. We can’t produce our own. Of this the Law has convinced us.

And so, the Law proves the case for grace. If God does not give to us the righteousness we have not demonstrated and the eternal life that we have not earned, then we will never have them and we are dead in our sins.

But God made him who had no sin (Christ) to be sin for us, so that in him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Cor. 5:21

God gives to us what we cannot earn. We call this grace. And to be God-like, Christ-like, is to live in relationships of grace – continually giving to others those things they lack and could never produce from their own stores – things neither earned nor deserved.

For a boy gang member, who has never had a father in his life, to aspire and attain to the goal of someday having a wife, family and a home of peace and love; someone who has the knowledge of what those things are and how they are attained must GIVE that knowledge and experience to the boy. He will never produce it from within his empty self. His behavior will certainly not earn it. Someone, in grace, must give him what he has not earned.

And in this way our fundamental relationship with God, the relationship of grace, filters through all of our practical relationships with people. We who HAVE decide to give to those who HAVE NOT, things of great value that they would never have nor deserve, were they not gifts. This is love. This way of living is a choice and a discipline.

The Discipline of Giving

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What is our treasure in life?

Author and pastor A.W. Tozer suggested we may discover the answer by responding to four key questions:

1. What do we value most?
2. What would we most hate to lose?
3. What do our thoughts turn to most frequently when we are free to think of what we will?
4. What affords us the greatest pleasure?

Based on those four probing questions, what is your treasure? Jesus talked about two treasures in his Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Jesus identifies the importance of our decision on where to store our treasure. Our response makes a difference for eternity. Many would classify the relationships with special people in their lives as a treasure but Jesus is contrasting a decision on where we place our money and possessions in this passage. Our use of money and possessions is of great interest to God. The key to the discipline of giving, which will transform us and the world around us, is to see all that we have—time, talents, and treasures—as valuables on loan from our Creator. We are stewards of these resources, and our assignment is to invest them in the people God places in our lives.

Had you thought of the practice of giving as a spiritual discipline? Many people think of giving as a religious obligation. However, the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian church that “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7b) Practicing the discipline of giving changes your perspective and gives you a joyful spirit. You realize how much you have. You experience the satisfaction of soul knowing you are obeying Jesus’ admonition that “it is more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 20:35b) When we give, we get a special glimpse of the abundance of God. When we hoard out of fear, we live in a mindset of scarcity that robs us of intimacy with God.

In the midst of today's economic climate, practicing giving as a spiritual discipline will have a radical impact on those around you. The world praises those with large financial reserves as signs that a person is intelligent, diligent and prosperous. But Jesus praises a poor widow who gave her last two pennies to honor God (Luke 21:1-4). Not that God desires all men to give away their resources (think of Job, Abraham, Joseph of Arimathea). But He does ask us to give all that we are and all that we have to Him in service. God will direct us individually to respond to needs around us.

Asking God to enable you to be faithful in practicing the spiritual discipline of giving will result in an abundance of grace towards you and those in your life. The Apostle Paul writes that you will “enlarge the harvest of your righteousness (2 Cor 9:10b) as you rely on “God (who) is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor 9:8)

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