“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” —Philippians 2:4-5
This is a wonderful Scripture. In a time when people are so selfish,
thinking only of themselves, we as born-again believers ought to exemplify
the Lord Jesus Christ by living for others. The Bible teaches in Philippians
2:4-5 that we ought to be concerned about the needs, problems and things of
others. This means looking beyond our own life's problems and focusing on
how we can alleviate the suffering, worries and burdens of those around us.
There is always something we can do to help someone else in need.
Jesus discouraged anyone from expecting something in return for acts of goodness and charity . . .
“And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again” (Luke 6:33,34).
Pat Robertson's The 700 Club raises money by promising contributors that God will prosper them with immediate health, wealth and prosperity if they send in donations. It is heathendom and greed. Jesus said to give without expecting anything in return in this life. Our focus should be upon Heaven and getting people saved; not selfishly hoping to get rich and live happily ever after in this wicked world. You'll never hear a televangelist encourage you to give your money directly to the poor. Of course not! He wants you to send the money to him first, so he can steal millions-of-dollars for himself, and then give what's left to the poor. This is exactly how MOST televangelist ministries function today. Don't be foolish with your money. Do a thorough background check on any organization before you give them a dime.
Obviously, Jesus didn't intend for us to neglect ourselves in the process of helping others. There needs to be a balance. We ought to set aside time for God, time for our family, time to help others and time for ourselves. Life is a matter of priorities. God must come first. When we place anyone or anything above our relationship with God, then we are going to get into trouble.
Unfortunately, most Americans today place
themselves first, and for the most part disregard God, their family and
those in need. Such people may donate a few dollars to their favorite
charity, but they couldn't care less about the things of God. Their primary
focus in life is getting ahead in this dog-eat-dog world of sin.
Something to Think About
Any good businessman will tell you that “Time is money.” The standard in America is a 40-hour workweek. Most preachers agree that each believer should tithe at least 10% of their income to God. This is equivalent to working 4-hours a week for the work of God, i.e., 10% of a 40-hour workweek. When you look at it that way, most believers don't give hardly anything to God. There are 168 hours in a week, and 4-hours only equates to 2% of our total weekly time. So in terms of time, those believers who faithfully tithe 10% of their income to God are only giving God a whopping 2% of their life! What a sad commentary for Christianity today.
My point is simple, God wants our time. I firmly believe that every believer ought to schedule a time every week to go soulwinning. Soulwinning is not a method; it is a Bible command (Proverb 11:30; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15). The world is going to Hell in sin and unbelief. It is our duty as believers to preach the Gospel to the lost. America's churches are filled with sanctimonious believers who think they've done their share for God because they tithed. Not so. Have you given of your precious time to serve God? Time is money, and we ought to give God much more than 10% by giving our time to prayer, church attendance, Bible study and winning souls to Christ.
For those people who cannot afford to give God 10% of their income, or any income, then you may give much more to God of your time. There are believers who cannot afford to give God a penny, but they give 50% of their life to God in time. Their reward will be much greater than that of a believer who merely tithes 10% of their paycheck to God. We are living in the Last Days, and we must redeem the time before the return of Christ. Souls are dying.
