In my talks, I would always teach that God's desire for us is that we become fruitful like a plant. In order to achieve this, He wants us to use whatever we have in our hands and continually grow them so that we can someday have more than enough for ourselves. When that day comes, God wants us to use our overflows to bless others. I would encourage people to give from abundance and never from need; I tell them that when a plant tries to give out fruits before the proper season, it dies prematurely.
One day I received a text from a dear friend who got bothered by what I taught. She asked, "Does this mean, Dong, you do not believe in sacrificial giving?" I was taken aback and felt embarrassed by her question. Kasi while I had given even when it hurts, I did not feel I ever gave sacrificially in the past. So I spent a whole week contemplating my motives, and after a week I went back to my friend to answer her question.
I told her, "You are right, I do not believe in sacrificial giving! Because whatever I give away is not mine, it is the Lord's. The resources I use and the strength I have, they all came from the Lord! Therefore, the fruits that I produce and the things that I share are not mine. So I have no need to give sacrificially"
I believe "giving" becomes sacrificial when we give from what we own. But if we bear in mind that everything we have is the Lord's then giving becomes just a part of our responsibilities as His stewards. This holds true even with the idea of tithing. People struggle to tithe because they feel they are giving to the Lord. When the truth of the matter is, it was God who gave them the resources to become fruitful and the opportunity to be a blessing to others. He asks us to tithe to constantly remind us that He owns everything we have and that we are His channel of blessings to the world that needs Him.
May you all remain faithful, so that God can continue to make you fruitful.
