Hold loosely to material possessions
Jesus told us "seek first the kingdom of God..." and in the early Church we see how this is practiced. It was not that they would not have things but rather that they would not hold on to these things tightly but would see the expansion of the Kingdom as their priority and their possessions as means to do so.
Giving is not mandated but as prompted by the Spirit.
Giving is not to prove our worth/ to make ourselves look good as appears to be the case of Annanias and Sapphira - their sin was not in with-holding some of their profits because as Peter says it was theirs to distribute as they wished but their sin was in misleading others to believe they had given more than they had most likely to appear more notable to others. Thus our giving should be between ourselves and God not to impresses others...our focus should be upon God's kingdom whether it is in giving or in usingb what we have to serve God, our focus should not be upon our appearance to others either by accumulating wealth to impress or by giving to impress.
Created 6 months ago
