Every believer should be giving a portion of his or her finances to the Lord on a regular basis, but it should not be done in an ostentatious way or in a manner that would draw unnecessary attention. When people want to be noticed because of their giving, they want others to think they are more spiritual than they really are. This is hypocrisy.

When we give, when we pray, when we worship, or whatever we do, God is looking at our hearts. Motive is everything. When you give, realize that God is aware of it. It comes down to this: If we remember, God will forget. If we forget, God will remember. Leave the bookkeeping to God.

In the same chapter, Jesus addressed the subject of possessions: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . "(Matthew 6:19-20 NKJV).

The above phrase literally could be translated, "to lay up something horizontally, as in storing it permanently." This verse isn't saying that it is wrong to save or invest your money. What it is saying is that it is wrong to accumulate possessions for the sake of accumulating them and, more specifically, for the purpose of impressing others.

Jesus was not teaching against being blessed with material things. Of the many instructions He gave, only once did He tell an individual to sell his possessions and give them to the poor. This person was the rich, young ruler, and Jesus recognized that he was possessed by his possessions.

The point is, we are to keep things in perspective, recognizing that everything we have comes from God and that He provides it for us with a purpose in mind. Don't put your hope in material things. They will all be gone some day. If your primary ambition is material things and then you try to make your primary ambition the things of God, it won't work. You can't do both.

Click here to read Greg Laurie's Daily Devotion on Crosswalk.com.

 For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to  www.harvest.org. 

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Lost Boy
The Bible says, "If any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person. Old things have passed away. Everything becomes fresh and new." That is the truth I want you and everyone who reads this book to come away with. And it is a message not just of hope, but also of Christ's redemptive power.
-Greg Laurie

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