Day 132: Benevolence Ministries

Today I got to talk about one of my favorite topics….money and being benevolent with our time, talent, and finances. It is always important to remember where we have come from and what God has blessed us with. The fact is that we living in the U.S. are rich. We are a country that makes up 8% of the world’s population and yet consume 40% of its resources. For many people in other countries…we are the commercial, we live the life in the catalog…so what are we doing with it?

I get a kick out of “ministries” that say they have a benevolence ministry when in fact it is nothing more than a glorified bank. They are benevolent to give you money but want it paid back. I knew of one such church….they forgot that those in need were faithful givers and now required to pay back what was meant to help them. Why? Because this ministry forgot it’s roots and what ministry really is all about. I believe this happens because they function more as a business than a ministry. It is easy to promote "We have a benevolence ministry" but if it is required to payback...what? Huh? Re-read the bible.

We must always be willing to help people out and realize we are blessed in order to bless others. If you think you are “blessing” someone and require payback….you are not blessing anyone. We must remember that God will ALWAYS bless those who are generous no matter what their social class. I know for our little church…we are able to bless people in some great ways. Can we always afford it? No. But we take our eyes off the fact that now what are we to do and more on saying “God thank you for letting us help those in our church.”