Righteousness - Session 13
Whenever we present an offering or tithe to God, it is not an offering of the money that we have earned, but it is a placing of a representation of our actions before him. God receives or rejects such an offering based on the condition of our hearts.
In this session Pastor Thamo speaks about the practical aspects of righteousness, in particular the focus of this session is righteousness in the area of your finances.
To understand righteousness in the way we view and manage our financial resources, we must first know that God did not create money, or the various currencies as we know it today. God created wealth. And wealth is not measured by money. Wealth is measured by everything God has created to sustain your spirit, your soul, and your flesh. In every area of our creative being, God has created sufficient provisions to sustain us. It is only when you are sustained in your spirit, soul, and body that you are wealthy. Whilst we need money in every facet of our lives, we also need to have a paradigm shift regarding our view of money and of wealth. In our present world, we are surrounded by resources like money, assets, businesses entities, etc. but in terms of Kingdom thinking these resources are for the sole purpose of stewardship. Stewardship is the ability to manage these resources without allowing it to consume you.
Our offerings are a substitute of us physically standing in the offering basket. It represents our lives to God. Share on X
The world system is opposite to the Kingdom of God. The most important thing in the world system today is the concept of the survival of the fittest. This ideology teaches you to be self-centered, and it is a mentality that must be deconstructed in our lives. We, as the sons of God, must come to the place of dying to ourselves so that Christ is always on the throne in our lives. Thus it is important that everything that we do must be compliant to His standards. It is equally important to understand that we were born to live for another. This means that we have to die to the pattern of what regulates our lives so that Christ can live in us. It should be that wherever we are, Christ is present. Unfortunately, the intent of the world that we live in is to deter us from representing Christ.
In the various vocations of life, our labour has a value placed on it, and according to that value we are remunerated. In other words, the money that we earn represents the work that we do, how we serve, how we represent Christ, etc. Your remuneration is the fruit of your labour and of your representation of Christ in your vocation. The actual money that you earn is peripheral and is just a benefit of representing Christ in your vocation. Money is not the fruit of righteousness, it is a representation of it.
Therefore, whenever we present an offering or tithe to God, it is not an offering of the money that we have earned, but it is a placing of a representation of our actions before him. God receives or rejects such an offering based on the condition of our hearts. An example of this is that of Cain and Abel. Cain was self-centered and built his career based on his own strengths, whereas Abel built his career centered around doing the will of God. Because of his heart condition, Abel’s offering was accepted, but Cain’s offering was rejected. In the same manner, God looks upon our offerings He judges whether our own image is seen in the offering, or if the offering bears the image of Christ. In other words, does the offering show a true reflection of Christ in our lives? Our offerings are basically a substitute of us physically standing in the offering basket, it represents our lives to God.
Giving is one of the most explicit demonstrations of the principle of righteousness. Share on X
Abraham was one of the greatest tests of Righteousness. Righteousness was accounted to him for his belief. It is easy to say that we will believe God, but it is another thing to believe God when we are asked to do the impossible. Abraham understood that everything he had belonged to God. He disconnected from everything that he owned, including the son promised to him as an heir. We too, must learn how to lay down our Isaac on the alter. In our walk of faith, and on the journey to developing a culture of believing God, there will be constant testings.
Giving is one of the most explicit demonstrations of the principle of righteousness. Righteous giving is a declaration that what we have belongs to the Lord and not to us. 2 Corinthians 1:5 explains the basis of giving and that is, you must first give yourself to the Lord, and then to give yourself to people. Our giving should be sacrificial, and generally speaking sacrifices tend to hurt the most.
We must come to the place of knowing and believing that it is more blessed to give than to receive, not just money but ourselves.
