Giving And Its Relationship To The Heart
To the ends of the earth - acts 4:32-37 (esv) - Pastor Tim Kroeker
1 John 3:17-18:
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
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A wallet chain is a fashion accessory with a clasp or hook on each end; one fastens to a wallet’s grommet and the other to a belt loop on your pants. It was originally used by bikers to keep wallets from falling out while riding.
But did you know there is an invisible chain that attaches your wallet to your heart? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
When a daughter looks longingly into her daddy’s eyes and asks for money to buy a prom dress, his heart melts and he opens the wallet. When an insurance provider raises their already extravagant premiums while simultaneously reducing their coverage the customer’s heart is enraged and pledges to never do business with that company ever again. The wallet is closed.
As we continue in the book of Acts we read that how the believers in the early church handled money revealed a lot about their hearts. In Luke’s summary statement at the end of chapter 2, he wrote that they were generous, selling their possessions and distributing the proceeds to anyone among them who had need. Now, at the end of chapter 4, he gives even more insight into what exactly that looked like and what motivated them.
Those early believers gave generously because their hearts had been changed. Luke holds up one man as a prime example: Barnabas. Barnabas’ generosity prepared him for the work that the Spirit would later send him out to do. Generous giving not only comes from a changed heart, we also practice generous giving for a changed heart. It shapes us and prepares us as people. So we see the relationship, an invisible chain, that giving has to our heart.
