Giving Up, In And Over
Luke 6:36-37
Message #1
I’d like to spend some time talking about one of the most significant words in the Christian Life – GIVING. The word “Giving” has always been at the center of the true peace and joy of the abundant life. Follow me and grasp how big, how all-encompassing the word giving is.
I’m going to be using the word “Giving” today and how central, how vital, how crucial it is to the abundant life Jesus came to give us. In fact, giving, in the forms that I’m going to share with you today, is actually the path to the abundant life.
In John 10, verse 10, Jesus said,
John 10:10 (ESV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
In the NLT, this verse says,
John 10:10 (NLT)
10 . . . My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life
My true prayer for each of us is two things; that we would begin to:
1). Understand more of what Jesus means by the abundant life and less what we mean. What Jesus is really offering us is a rich and satisfying (Abundant) Life
2). That we would move toward the life Jesus died to give us that we would actually get on the path towards that abundant life
The single phase of Christianity is to follow Jesus Christ on the path to the abundant life, and the core is giving. But what if I told you that the rich and satisfying (Abundant) life Jesus Christ died to give you wasn’t about you getting, having, attaining, or holding on to all the things you desire? What if that’s exactly the opposite of the true abundant life?
What if the radically abundant life Jesus came to give you is actually centered around the word giving? Now what? Not just giving your money, but giving up, giving in, and giving over.
Understand this; the Christian life is like finding buried treasure. I have never found a Christian who has grasped this overall concept of giving and who is not actually experiencing in some proportion the true abundant life. Many of them that are don’t have the stuff that you think is the abundant life. It’s easier to live the abundant life without slavery to all that stuff.
Now how many of you think I’m talking only about your money? The more tightly you’re holding on to your money right now, the more of an indicator as to the extent of your love for your money. Right? Don’t be nervous about God talking about his money. If he wants to talk to you about it, let him. I’m not just really talking about money.
Some years ago, I read a book by Jack Hayford that I highly recommend called “The Key to Everything.” Here’s the question the book asks us to consider; is it possible that the key that unlocks everything in the Christian life involves giving? What if that’s the case? What if the key that unlocks the treasure of the Christian life involves giving and not just financially?
Not just giving financially, but the full concept of giving, like giving up, giving in, and giving over. I believe, personally, that it is impossible to live the true Christian life to any extent without grasping how centrally crucial the concept of giving is to the Christian life.
So, I’d like to do an overview of giving up, giving in, and giving over.
Again, this message is inspired by the book “The Key to Everything” by Jack Hayford. (If you’d like us to get this book, we will allow you to pay for it, and we will ship it right to your door.)
Everything in our relationship with God began with God giving, didn’t it? Everything we have, everything we are in Christ, both for now and for eternity; it all came because God gave. He gave immeasurably!
The greatest gift of all that has ever been given is described in John 3, verse 16.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That phrase For God SO LOVED has been interpreted two ways. It’s been interpreted as the extent of God’s love, For God SO Loved; this is the extent, THAT HE GAVE his Only Son, the grand extent, the immeasurable extent of his giving.
It’s also been interpreted as the way God loved. He loved in this way THAT HE GAVE (himself) his Only Son. How much did God love? He gave. How did God love? He gave. All that we have comes from God giving.
Without God giving, freely giving, we would be hopeless, helpless, and lost for eternity. All that we have that matters came from God giving. God gave not only for our eternity but gave for our life today.
Romans 8:32 (NLT)
32 Since [God] did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
It’s rhetorical. Of course, he will! He’s already given us everything in Christ, all that we need is in Christ, and God’s given us his only Son. Of course, he’ll give us everything – he already has. Our entire relationship with God is based one hundred percent on God freely giving.
The question we have to ask ourselves is, how then should we respond? How should we respond once we begin to grasp the immeasurable extent to which God has given to us? How should we respond once we understand how great and eternal God’s giving is to us? How, then, should we respond?
Is it really the right response when we begin to understand how much God has given us to demand more? “God, I know, I know you’ve given me everything, but Lord, you left out all that worldly stuff that serves my flesh. I want that stuff! I know you’ve given me all that, but I want something else. I don’t want that. I want this. In fact, I demand it.” Our only response should be to give as God has given us.
Grasping the concept of giving in the Christian life is the evidence that we understand how much God has given us. Our only right response should be to give as God has given us. The more we demand of God, the less we understand how much he has given. The more we question God, the less we know God. We have received all from God. The only appropriate response is Romans 12:1 that says our reasonable service, our reasonable worship is to give back to him, to be a living sacrifice. That’s the only reasonable response. To demand more from God after all he has given us is unreasonable. It is unreasonable.
All transformation in the Christian life comes from some form of “GIVING.” In “The Key To Everything,” I believe there are seven areas of giving that lead to the abundant life. I can’t do all seven; I just want to do three in a survey fashion. Three critical areas that will help you understand that giving is the core of Christian life, not receiving.
1). We must GIVE UP. It means we must surrender to God. We’ve got to give up.
2). We must GIVE IN. It means we must obey. It means we must give in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Really, the Abundant Life is giving in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must actually give in to making Jesus Christ Lord of our life.
3). We must GIVE OVER, meaning to release control to God. We must release control to God. We are terrible managers of things. God is a really great Shepherd.
We must GIVE UP, GIVE IN, and GIVE OVER. These three crucial “Giving” areas are the core of the Christian life.
I promise if you are refusing to do any of these three giving lifestyles, giving up (surrendering), giving in, or giving over, your growth with Christ is stunted. Stunted. Stopped. You are on hold until you get over it. It can easily bring our Christian life to a standstill. Fortunately, God is long-suffering.
First, we must Give Up. We must surrender to God. What are we talking about? We are talking about pride. “Why start with pride, Dave?” Because it’s the number one sin. Pride is the blackest, darkest life-controlling sin that every single one of us struggles with. We must give up our pride, give up our self-focus, and give up our self-interest. We must give up being the top dog in our life.
I’ve always thought the greatest way to illustrate the need for us to give up our pride, to surrender to God, is by looking at the reason Lucifer got thrown out of Heaven. If we can grasp why Lucifer got thrown out of Heaven, it should be a pretty practical lesson on what we don’t want to do. Look at Isaiah 14. Here’s the point – don’t do what Satan did.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (ESV)
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! (NKJV puts ‘Lucifer’ here) How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13 you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Pride says, “I will rise.” God says you will be brought down. There’s no better encouragement to continue to crucify the pride in our lives. If we are going to start living the giving life, the abundant life, the first thing we have to give up is the “I Will’s” of our life, the “I will” of pride.
It’s pride that’s exalting yourself over God. It’s you being top dog. Meaning that you call the shots, you make the decisions. Listen, I have learned this from hard and painful experiences. You seldom, if ever, see the sin of pride in your own life. Because your pride has blinded you, other people have to point out your pride to you. You can’t see it; pride has blinded you. When someone points it out to you, whatever you do, don’t hate them and tell them it’s all their fault. Say, “Oh, you might be right. It does kind of look like pride, doesn’t it? Thank you for pointing that out to me.”
Quick review of the sometimes faulty “hard drives” in my mind. I don’t recall anyone ever thanking me for pointing out the sin of pride in their lives. I’m pretty sure that has never occurred.
We’ve got to allow God to crush it. How? We give up; we surrender to him, surrender to him on a daily basis and remind ourselves that pride comes before a fall at all times.
Consider the Pharisees, right actions – but all the wrong heart. Jesus doesn’t want your right actions. He wants your right heart. If your heart is not right, then your actions are impeding the cause of Christ, not helping it. The Pharisees had all the right actions; they were teachers of the right actions. Here’s how Jesus addressed them in Matthew 23, verse 27.
Matthew 23:27-28 (NLT)
27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside [all the right actions] but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.
28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The pride of the “I WILL” got Lucifer thrown out of heaven, and pride got the Pharisees lost in their religious actions. And pride will do the same thing to us. Be afraid, give up, give up to God, surrender to God. The Christian life is about giving up our pride and our self-focus.
We just did a message in “James,” “What To Do With Pride?” and really, we should all watch and or listen to that message again. To begin to live the Christian life, we have got to give up our pride and surrender to God.
Second, we must GIVE IN. Obey Jesus as Lord. We must give in to Jesus as our Lord; this means we have to actually obey him. We have to give in to obedience to the Lord.
We can’t follow our “self” and Jesus at the same time. Here’s the problem. It’s a one-seat throne, not a bench seat. Jesus is so gracious that if you demand, require, and insist on being lord of your own life, he will allow you to be lord of your life right up to your destruction. He will only get on a throne that’s empty, so he can’t get on until you get off. We must give in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
To be a disciple is to be one who follows Jesus, meaning I go where Jesus goes, I do what he says, he is Lord. I’m a bondservant, a slave by choice, which means simply, I obey the Lord. When he says forgive, I forgive. When he says cleanse my heart of wickedness, I cleanse. When he says give, I give. Why? Because he’s actually in charge. Remember, I’m giving you the path to the true abundant life. You might say, “It doesn’t sound like it.” Yeah, because you’re a slave to your “self” and to sin and to the world. So, this sounds really painful, but it’s actually “freeing.”
God wants your heart. Here’s what Samuel said to Saul, right at the crucial moment that God rejects Saul as king. 1 Samuel 15, Samuel is addressing Saul.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NLT)
22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. . .
Why am I so hard on you? It’s not just because I’m a jerk. I promise. It’s because I really want you to change, for God to transform your lives. Really, and truly and visibly transform your lives. And when it happens, you’re like, “This is so cool! God has transformed my life.”
King David repeats the same thing, talking about your heart in Psalm 51. You really need to know and understand Psalm 51, really grasp it. You need to embrace it. You need to know where David was when he wrote it, and you need to apply it to your life, the whole chapter. Write it down, and dig into it.
God wants obedience from the heart. It puts you on the path of the true abundant life. Giving up to God, surrendering to God, puts you on the path to abundant life, to giving in to Jesus Christ as your Lord, and obeying him as Lord puts you on the path to true abundant life.
True freedom comes from being a different slave. Here’s how Romans describes your freedom.
Romans 6:20-22 (NLT)
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.
21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
Listen. If you’re saying, “Hey, hey, hey! Sounds to me like you’re taking away all my fun. You’re taking away all my self-fulfillment; you’re taking away all my pleasure in the world.” No, see. God wants to take away the pain from the slavery in your sin; he wants to take away the misery from that slavery, the death from that slavery. The way to do it is to become a new slave instead of being enslaved to sin. Be a slave to Jesus Christ. In that is freedom, in that is healing, in that is abundant life. And if you’re struggling with it, you can’t know it until you live it. Believe it by faith, live it, and you’ll see. Being a slave to Jesus Christ is true, abundant life.
Is there an area in your life that you haven’t given in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? If there is an area of your life that you refuse to give over to Jesus Christ, if you’re protecting some sin in your life, then you cannot be on the path to true abundant life. Can’t do it. Not going to happen. If you’re protecting some sin in your life, don’t ever think you’re going to get on the path to true abundant life.
We must give up, we must give in, and we must give over. We must release the things in our life that hold us. We must release the things in our life that bind us. There are so many areas that we have to give over to the Lord constantly. But we only have time to touch on three.
We must give over what we can’t handle; we have to release to God what we can’t handle.
We must give over what we can’t fix.
We must give over what we can’t keep.
It’s a life of just giving over to God. I can’t handle this, I can’t fix this, and I can’t keep this, so I’m giving it all over to you, God. You’re the Good Shepherd. I can trust you with all the things that I can’t handle.
We must Giver Over – What we Can’t Handle
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
God gave you his Son, and he gave you all that you need in Christ. All he asks in return is that we give as he gave, including all your cares and worries and things you can’t handle.
He’s the Good Shepherd. He says you give it back to me, and I’ll lead you beside still waters; I’ll make you to lie down in the green pastures. I’ll restore your soul. But as long as you’re holding on to it, you can’t be dependent on God. As long as you’re holding on to it, and you’re like, “No, God, don’t trust you. I don’t think you’ve proven yourself. You’re not big enough. I’m gonna have to handle this myself.” He’s like, “Oh, you silly lamb.” Sometimes the most loving shepherds will take the rod (they carry a rod and a staff), and sometimes they’ll gently break the leg of a sheep to help the sheep know they need to be dependent on the Shepherd.
We need to give over what we can’t handle. Give all your cares and worries to God because he cares for you. He’s a Good Shepherd. Let him care for you.
In Philippians 4, verses 6-7, you don’t automatically get the peace that passes understanding. It comes when you, instead of worrying, give to God what you can’t handle. These verses sat for seven years on our refrigerator while we prayed and were waiting to have a child until the paper became brittle. When you release to him what you can’t handle in prayer, supplication with thanksgiving, then the peace comes.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Your job is to give over to God and live in Christ. God’s job is to give you peace that passes understanding. Is giving over the path to abundant life? Yes. Because abundant life is peace that passes understanding and a joy unspeakable from a knowledge of Jesus Christ. And the way you get there is by giving over the things that you can’t handle to him. Why is it so hard for us to understand? Because we have to go back to step one and give up our pride first. You surrender, and God will gently pulverize that pride out of you.
We must Give Over – What we Can’t FIX
What we’re talking about here is forgiveness; we have to give over what we can’t fix. The devil uses regret in so many of our lives. Regret and anger. Regret at what we’ve done, anger at what other people have done to us. God says you have to give over what you can’t fix, and you have to forgive.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
The Lord gave to you, so you must give to others. When God says, you must forgive. Is it for your benefit or the other person’s? Yes, for your good.
How serious is it? How much does God want to impress on you the need to forgive? Here’s an idea, in Matthew 6, Jesus was speaking just after the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus gives commentary on one part of the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT)
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Spoken for emphasis on the subject of forgiveness. Jesus is talking about relational forgiveness, not judicial or positional forgiveness. Jesus says if you refuse to forgive others, your relationship with God will be broken, and he will refuse to forgive you until you forgive others. It’s written for motivation; it’s written to explain how crucial forgiveness is. We must forgive in the same way.
Lastly, we must Give Over – What we Can’t Keep
We have got to stop fighting to hold on to stuff that’s going to burn. There’s an attitude of life that is so refreshing in our culture that’s so Christ-like of giving over what we can’t keep anyway. Everything we can’t keep, we say, “Lord, you gave, and you can take away. I’m here for you and will do what you call me to do with whatever you give me.”
In Matthew 10:8 (NKJV), Jesus says to his Disciples, 8 … Freely you have received, freely give.
The Heavenly principle taught throughout the New Testament is that we are to give as we have been given to. The only extent by which God expects you to give is the same extent by which he has given to you. That is the path to the abundant life.
“That doesn’t seem like the way to abundant life, Dave.” It is, it is. It’s a perspective problem. If you’re looking at the abundant life through the perspective of self and sin and the world, God’s way doesn’t seem to line up. Why? Because God knows best. He’s like, “Come around the eternity line, son. And look at it from my perspective. And you’ll see that the abundant life comes from this lifestyle of giving.”
Every person I’ve ever met who has learned this lesson confirms exactly what the Bible says. There is a direct connection between how we give and how we receive from God. The more you give, the more abundantly you receive true blessing. God wants to give you eternal value. Here’s the truth, there is a direct connection between how we give and how we receive from God.
The perfect picture is in Luke Chapter 6.
Luke 6:37-38 (NLT) (Jesus speaking)
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
Every area of the abundant Christian life has to do with giving. Giving up, giving in, and giving over. All of those areas and the others, the amount you give will determine the amount you get back. GIVING.
Now, is Jesus talking about money? Yes, he is. But is Jesus only talking about money? No, he is not! Because Jesus sees money for what it is. Kindling for the fire or investment for eternity. He sees it for what it is. Jesus is talking about every area of the abundant Christian life. What you give and how you give will determine what you receive and how you receive it.
The picture here is of an apron-type garment used for sowing seed in the field. The garment would be put on, and the person wearing it would make a kind of bowl with it in one hand, and they would walk and throw the seed out that they had. The more seed spread or thrown out, the greater the harvest. The greater the seed is thrown out, the greater the return. Do you see where it says Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap? That’s talking about the apron.
Here’s the picture. The apron’s full. And you’re giving it out, giving it out. You’re like, “It’s been six hours, and my apron’s not empty. How can my apron keep being full?” Because as you’re giving it out, God’s pouring it in. And so, we’re just like, “I can’t keep up with you, God; I’m trying to give it out as much as I can. As soon as I give it out, you just keep pouring it in.” I’m telling you; it happens. That’s what happens. That’s what God promises. That’s what I’ve seen. I’ve seen it in my own life and the lives of my children, and I’ve seen it in your lives. As we give out, God pours in. We will be rewarded in the harvest in direct measure to how we give out what we have.
He is rewarded in full, as it says in Luke, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The more he puts out, God is pouring it back in. We can’t keep up with God. Don’t just think money. God has so much more blessing for you than money.
Your ability to receive from God is directly related to your capacity to give away.
The Bible is also very clear that what we try to hold onto, we will lose, and what we give away will be returned to us.
In God’s economy, the key to everything is giving. Giving up your pride and self-interest, giving in to obedience to Jesus Christ, and giving over, releasing to God what you can’t handle, what you can’t fix, and what you can’t keep.
The goal is to stay at the Cross, stay at the foot of the Cross. Know him, know Jesus. That’s the goal, that’s the abundant life, knowing him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering. Forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. That’s the abundant life.
I’m going to be using the word “Giving” today and how central, how vital, how crucial it is to the abundant life Jesus came to give us. In fact, giving, in the forms that I’m going to share with you today, is actually the path to the abundant life.
In John 10, verse 10, Jesus said,
John 10:10 (ESV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
In the NLT, this verse says,
John 10:10 (NLT)
10 . . . My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life
My true prayer for each of us is two things; that we would begin to:
1). Understand more of what Jesus means by the abundant life and less what we mean. What Jesus is really offering us is a rich and satisfying (Abundant) Life
2). That we would move toward the life Jesus died to give us that we would actually get on the path towards that abundant life
The single phase of Christianity is to follow Jesus Christ on the path to the abundant life, and the core is giving. But what if I told you that the rich and satisfying (Abundant) life Jesus Christ died to give you wasn’t about you getting, having, attaining, or holding on to all the things you desire? What if that’s exactly the opposite of the true abundant life?
What if the radically abundant life Jesus came to give you is actually centered around the word giving? Now what? Not just giving your money, but giving up, giving in, and giving over.
Understand this; the Christian life is like finding buried treasure. I have never found a Christian who has grasped this overall concept of giving and who is not actually experiencing in some proportion the true abundant life. Many of them that are don’t have the stuff that you think is the abundant life. It’s easier to live the abundant life without slavery to all that stuff.
Now how many of you think I’m talking only about your money? The more tightly you’re holding on to your money right now, the more of an indicator as to the extent of your love for your money. Right? Don’t be nervous about God talking about his money. If he wants to talk to you about it, let him. I’m not just really talking about money.
Some years ago, I read a book by Jack Hayford that I highly recommend called “The Key to Everything.” Here’s the question the book asks us to consider; is it possible that the key that unlocks everything in the Christian life involves giving? What if that’s the case? What if the key that unlocks the treasure of the Christian life involves giving and not just financially?
Not just giving financially, but the full concept of giving, like giving up, giving in, and giving over. I believe, personally, that it is impossible to live the true Christian life to any extent without grasping how centrally crucial the concept of giving is to the Christian life.
So, I’d like to do an overview of giving up, giving in, and giving over.
Again, this message is inspired by the book “The Key to Everything” by Jack Hayford. (If you’d like us to get this book, we will allow you to pay for it, and we will ship it right to your door.)
Everything in our relationship with God began with God giving, didn’t it? Everything we have, everything we are in Christ, both for now and for eternity; it all came because God gave. He gave immeasurably!
The greatest gift of all that has ever been given is described in John 3, verse 16.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That phrase For God SO LOVED has been interpreted two ways. It’s been interpreted as the extent of God’s love, For God SO Loved; this is the extent, THAT HE GAVE his Only Son, the grand extent, the immeasurable extent of his giving.
It’s also been interpreted as the way God loved. He loved in this way THAT HE GAVE (himself) his Only Son. How much did God love? He gave. How did God love? He gave. All that we have comes from God giving.
Without God giving, freely giving, we would be hopeless, helpless, and lost for eternity. All that we have that matters came from God giving. God gave not only for our eternity but gave for our life today.
Romans 8:32 (NLT)
32 Since [God] did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
It’s rhetorical. Of course, he will! He’s already given us everything in Christ, all that we need is in Christ, and God’s given us his only Son. Of course, he’ll give us everything – he already has. Our entire relationship with God is based one hundred percent on God freely giving.
The question we have to ask ourselves is, how then should we respond? How should we respond once we begin to grasp the immeasurable extent to which God has given to us? How should we respond once we understand how great and eternal God’s giving is to us? How, then, should we respond?
Is it really the right response when we begin to understand how much God has given us to demand more? “God, I know, I know you’ve given me everything, but Lord, you left out all that worldly stuff that serves my flesh. I want that stuff! I know you’ve given me all that, but I want something else. I don’t want that. I want this. In fact, I demand it.” Our only response should be to give as God has given us.
Grasping the concept of giving in the Christian life is the evidence that we understand how much God has given us. Our only right response should be to give as God has given us. The more we demand of God, the less we understand how much he has given. The more we question God, the less we know God. We have received all from God. The only appropriate response is Romans 12:1 that says our reasonable service, our reasonable worship is to give back to him, to be a living sacrifice. That’s the only reasonable response. To demand more from God after all he has given us is unreasonable. It is unreasonable.
All transformation in the Christian life comes from some form of “GIVING.” In “The Key To Everything,” I believe there are seven areas of giving that lead to the abundant life. I can’t do all seven; I just want to do three in a survey fashion. Three critical areas that will help you understand that giving is the core of Christian life, not receiving.
1). We must GIVE UP. It means we must surrender to God. We’ve got to give up.
2). We must GIVE IN. It means we must obey. It means we must give in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Really, the Abundant Life is giving in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must actually give in to making Jesus Christ Lord of our life.
3). We must GIVE OVER, meaning to release control to God. We must release control to God. We are terrible managers of things. God is a really great Shepherd.
We must GIVE UP, GIVE IN, and GIVE OVER. These three crucial “Giving” areas are the core of the Christian life.
I promise if you are refusing to do any of these three giving lifestyles, giving up (surrendering), giving in, or giving over, your growth with Christ is stunted. Stunted. Stopped. You are on hold until you get over it. It can easily bring our Christian life to a standstill. Fortunately, God is long-suffering.
First, we must Give Up. We must surrender to God. What are we talking about? We are talking about pride. “Why start with pride, Dave?” Because it’s the number one sin. Pride is the blackest, darkest life-controlling sin that every single one of us struggles with. We must give up our pride, give up our self-focus, and give up our self-interest. We must give up being the top dog in our life.
I’ve always thought the greatest way to illustrate the need for us to give up our pride, to surrender to God, is by looking at the reason Lucifer got thrown out of Heaven. If we can grasp why Lucifer got thrown out of Heaven, it should be a pretty practical lesson on what we don’t want to do. Look at Isaiah 14. Here’s the point – don’t do what Satan did.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (ESV)
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! (NKJV puts ‘Lucifer’ here) How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13 you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Pride says, “I will rise.” God says you will be brought down. There’s no better encouragement to continue to crucify the pride in our lives. If we are going to start living the giving life, the abundant life, the first thing we have to give up is the “I Will’s” of our life, the “I will” of pride.
It’s pride that’s exalting yourself over God. It’s you being top dog. Meaning that you call the shots, you make the decisions. Listen, I have learned this from hard and painful experiences. You seldom, if ever, see the sin of pride in your own life. Because your pride has blinded you, other people have to point out your pride to you. You can’t see it; pride has blinded you. When someone points it out to you, whatever you do, don’t hate them and tell them it’s all their fault. Say, “Oh, you might be right. It does kind of look like pride, doesn’t it? Thank you for pointing that out to me.”
Quick review of the sometimes faulty “hard drives” in my mind. I don’t recall anyone ever thanking me for pointing out the sin of pride in their lives. I’m pretty sure that has never occurred.
We’ve got to allow God to crush it. How? We give up; we surrender to him, surrender to him on a daily basis and remind ourselves that pride comes before a fall at all times.
Consider the Pharisees, right actions – but all the wrong heart. Jesus doesn’t want your right actions. He wants your right heart. If your heart is not right, then your actions are impeding the cause of Christ, not helping it. The Pharisees had all the right actions; they were teachers of the right actions. Here’s how Jesus addressed them in Matthew 23, verse 27.
Matthew 23:27-28 (NLT)
27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside [all the right actions] but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.
28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The pride of the “I WILL” got Lucifer thrown out of heaven, and pride got the Pharisees lost in their religious actions. And pride will do the same thing to us. Be afraid, give up, give up to God, surrender to God. The Christian life is about giving up our pride and our self-focus.
We just did a message in “James,” “What To Do With Pride?” and really, we should all watch and or listen to that message again. To begin to live the Christian life, we have got to give up our pride and surrender to God.
Second, we must GIVE IN. Obey Jesus as Lord. We must give in to Jesus as our Lord; this means we have to actually obey him. We have to give in to obedience to the Lord.
We can’t follow our “self” and Jesus at the same time. Here’s the problem. It’s a one-seat throne, not a bench seat. Jesus is so gracious that if you demand, require, and insist on being lord of your own life, he will allow you to be lord of your life right up to your destruction. He will only get on a throne that’s empty, so he can’t get on until you get off. We must give in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
To be a disciple is to be one who follows Jesus, meaning I go where Jesus goes, I do what he says, he is Lord. I’m a bondservant, a slave by choice, which means simply, I obey the Lord. When he says forgive, I forgive. When he says cleanse my heart of wickedness, I cleanse. When he says give, I give. Why? Because he’s actually in charge. Remember, I’m giving you the path to the true abundant life. You might say, “It doesn’t sound like it.” Yeah, because you’re a slave to your “self” and to sin and to the world. So, this sounds really painful, but it’s actually “freeing.”
God wants your heart. Here’s what Samuel said to Saul, right at the crucial moment that God rejects Saul as king. 1 Samuel 15, Samuel is addressing Saul.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NLT)
22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. . .
Why am I so hard on you? It’s not just because I’m a jerk. I promise. It’s because I really want you to change, for God to transform your lives. Really, and truly and visibly transform your lives. And when it happens, you’re like, “This is so cool! God has transformed my life.”
King David repeats the same thing, talking about your heart in Psalm 51. You really need to know and understand Psalm 51, really grasp it. You need to embrace it. You need to know where David was when he wrote it, and you need to apply it to your life, the whole chapter. Write it down, and dig into it.
God wants obedience from the heart. It puts you on the path of the true abundant life. Giving up to God, surrendering to God, puts you on the path to abundant life, to giving in to Jesus Christ as your Lord, and obeying him as Lord puts you on the path to true abundant life.
True freedom comes from being a different slave. Here’s how Romans describes your freedom.
Romans 6:20-22 (NLT)
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.
21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
Listen. If you’re saying, “Hey, hey, hey! Sounds to me like you’re taking away all my fun. You’re taking away all my self-fulfillment; you’re taking away all my pleasure in the world.” No, see. God wants to take away the pain from the slavery in your sin; he wants to take away the misery from that slavery, the death from that slavery. The way to do it is to become a new slave instead of being enslaved to sin. Be a slave to Jesus Christ. In that is freedom, in that is healing, in that is abundant life. And if you’re struggling with it, you can’t know it until you live it. Believe it by faith, live it, and you’ll see. Being a slave to Jesus Christ is true, abundant life.
Is there an area in your life that you haven’t given in to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? If there is an area of your life that you refuse to give over to Jesus Christ, if you’re protecting some sin in your life, then you cannot be on the path to true abundant life. Can’t do it. Not going to happen. If you’re protecting some sin in your life, don’t ever think you’re going to get on the path to true abundant life.
We must give up, we must give in, and we must give over. We must release the things in our life that hold us. We must release the things in our life that bind us. There are so many areas that we have to give over to the Lord constantly. But we only have time to touch on three.
We must give over what we can’t handle; we have to release to God what we can’t handle.
We must give over what we can’t fix.
We must give over what we can’t keep.
It’s a life of just giving over to God. I can’t handle this, I can’t fix this, and I can’t keep this, so I’m giving it all over to you, God. You’re the Good Shepherd. I can trust you with all the things that I can’t handle.
We must Giver Over – What we Can’t Handle
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
God gave you his Son, and he gave you all that you need in Christ. All he asks in return is that we give as he gave, including all your cares and worries and things you can’t handle.
He’s the Good Shepherd. He says you give it back to me, and I’ll lead you beside still waters; I’ll make you to lie down in the green pastures. I’ll restore your soul. But as long as you’re holding on to it, you can’t be dependent on God. As long as you’re holding on to it, and you’re like, “No, God, don’t trust you. I don’t think you’ve proven yourself. You’re not big enough. I’m gonna have to handle this myself.” He’s like, “Oh, you silly lamb.” Sometimes the most loving shepherds will take the rod (they carry a rod and a staff), and sometimes they’ll gently break the leg of a sheep to help the sheep know they need to be dependent on the Shepherd.
We need to give over what we can’t handle. Give all your cares and worries to God because he cares for you. He’s a Good Shepherd. Let him care for you.
In Philippians 4, verses 6-7, you don’t automatically get the peace that passes understanding. It comes when you, instead of worrying, give to God what you can’t handle. These verses sat for seven years on our refrigerator while we prayed and were waiting to have a child until the paper became brittle. When you release to him what you can’t handle in prayer, supplication with thanksgiving, then the peace comes.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Your job is to give over to God and live in Christ. God’s job is to give you peace that passes understanding. Is giving over the path to abundant life? Yes. Because abundant life is peace that passes understanding and a joy unspeakable from a knowledge of Jesus Christ. And the way you get there is by giving over the things that you can’t handle to him. Why is it so hard for us to understand? Because we have to go back to step one and give up our pride first. You surrender, and God will gently pulverize that pride out of you.
We must Give Over – What we Can’t FIX
What we’re talking about here is forgiveness; we have to give over what we can’t fix. The devil uses regret in so many of our lives. Regret and anger. Regret at what we’ve done, anger at what other people have done to us. God says you have to give over what you can’t fix, and you have to forgive.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
The Lord gave to you, so you must give to others. When God says, you must forgive. Is it for your benefit or the other person’s? Yes, for your good.
How serious is it? How much does God want to impress on you the need to forgive? Here’s an idea, in Matthew 6, Jesus was speaking just after the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus gives commentary on one part of the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT)
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Spoken for emphasis on the subject of forgiveness. Jesus is talking about relational forgiveness, not judicial or positional forgiveness. Jesus says if you refuse to forgive others, your relationship with God will be broken, and he will refuse to forgive you until you forgive others. It’s written for motivation; it’s written to explain how crucial forgiveness is. We must forgive in the same way.
Lastly, we must Give Over – What we Can’t Keep
We have got to stop fighting to hold on to stuff that’s going to burn. There’s an attitude of life that is so refreshing in our culture that’s so Christ-like of giving over what we can’t keep anyway. Everything we can’t keep, we say, “Lord, you gave, and you can take away. I’m here for you and will do what you call me to do with whatever you give me.”
In Matthew 10:8 (NKJV), Jesus says to his Disciples, 8 … Freely you have received, freely give.
The Heavenly principle taught throughout the New Testament is that we are to give as we have been given to. The only extent by which God expects you to give is the same extent by which he has given to you. That is the path to the abundant life.
“That doesn’t seem like the way to abundant life, Dave.” It is, it is. It’s a perspective problem. If you’re looking at the abundant life through the perspective of self and sin and the world, God’s way doesn’t seem to line up. Why? Because God knows best. He’s like, “Come around the eternity line, son. And look at it from my perspective. And you’ll see that the abundant life comes from this lifestyle of giving.”
Every person I’ve ever met who has learned this lesson confirms exactly what the Bible says. There is a direct connection between how we give and how we receive from God. The more you give, the more abundantly you receive true blessing. God wants to give you eternal value. Here’s the truth, there is a direct connection between how we give and how we receive from God.
The perfect picture is in Luke Chapter 6.
Luke 6:37-38 (NLT) (Jesus speaking)
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
Every area of the abundant Christian life has to do with giving. Giving up, giving in, and giving over. All of those areas and the others, the amount you give will determine the amount you get back. GIVING.
Now, is Jesus talking about money? Yes, he is. But is Jesus only talking about money? No, he is not! Because Jesus sees money for what it is. Kindling for the fire or investment for eternity. He sees it for what it is. Jesus is talking about every area of the abundant Christian life. What you give and how you give will determine what you receive and how you receive it.
The picture here is of an apron-type garment used for sowing seed in the field. The garment would be put on, and the person wearing it would make a kind of bowl with it in one hand, and they would walk and throw the seed out that they had. The more seed spread or thrown out, the greater the harvest. The greater the seed is thrown out, the greater the return. Do you see where it says Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap? That’s talking about the apron.
Here’s the picture. The apron’s full. And you’re giving it out, giving it out. You’re like, “It’s been six hours, and my apron’s not empty. How can my apron keep being full?” Because as you’re giving it out, God’s pouring it in. And so, we’re just like, “I can’t keep up with you, God; I’m trying to give it out as much as I can. As soon as I give it out, you just keep pouring it in.” I’m telling you; it happens. That’s what happens. That’s what God promises. That’s what I’ve seen. I’ve seen it in my own life and the lives of my children, and I’ve seen it in your lives. As we give out, God pours in. We will be rewarded in the harvest in direct measure to how we give out what we have.
He is rewarded in full, as it says in Luke, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The more he puts out, God is pouring it back in. We can’t keep up with God. Don’t just think money. God has so much more blessing for you than money.
Your ability to receive from God is directly related to your capacity to give away.
The Bible is also very clear that what we try to hold onto, we will lose, and what we give away will be returned to us.
In God’s economy, the key to everything is giving. Giving up your pride and self-interest, giving in to obedience to Jesus Christ, and giving over, releasing to God what you can’t handle, what you can’t fix, and what you can’t keep.
The goal is to stay at the Cross, stay at the foot of the Cross. Know him, know Jesus. That’s the goal, that’s the abundant life, knowing him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering. Forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. That’s the abundant life.