Our giving is measured by our heart and not by our wallet. God wants that our hearts be right for He to delight in our giving.
“15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” — Psalm 51:15-17 (ESV)
In the above verses I see that I can have all of the good movement and be giving continuously to those that are in need and I can be building up God all the way and providing offerings to Him, yet if/when my heart is not right, there is not delight. God does not take delight in those things that are not from our heart. I have to get right with God and do things as a show of my relationship with Him, regardless of the magnitude of the giving. God wants only from our heart and to give all we can from there.
“1Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” — Luke 21:1-4 (ESV)
In the above verses, I see that this woman gave all she had for the good of the LORD and not for everyone to see. She was not making a spectacle, she was simply giving from her heart and Jesus recognized it and called it out as being great. There was no correlation of a large amount to being greater, it was about what was in her heart that made the gift such and impact with Jesus.
God only wants from us that which will bring delight to Him. He works to build me up and provide for me and it is my duty to give back to Him and bring that delight to His face.
“18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.” — Psalm 51:18-19 (ESV)
What is your motivation for giving to God? Are you looking to bring delight to His face? What if you were to allow Him to build you up and then you give back to Him from the heart and look only to bring delight to Him through your obedience?
Trevor's Thoughts 