Living Letters – Chapter 5 – Giving Back

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Living Letters: A Christian Legacy

Chapter 5 — Giving Back: Leaving Something Behind for God’s Work

Review

In Chapter 4, we learned that God places every believer in the body of Christ and gives us a responsibility in strengthening that body. Other Christians have served God in ways that helped shape our lives, and God gives us opportunities to do the same for others.

Our Christian legacy also includes what we do with the resources God places in our hands. During a lifetime we receive income, possessions, opportunities, and material resources. We decide what those things will accomplish while they are ours to use.

The Bible calls this stewardship. A steward is responsible for something that has been entrusted to him. Christian stewardship begins by recognizing where everything we have came from and then using it according to God’s purposes.

Lesson Focus

God gives us resources that can be used during our lifetime and beyond our lifetime to accomplish His work and help others. Christian legacy includes learning to give willingly, generously, and intentionally from what God has placed in our hands.

David Prepared for What Came After Him

Near the end of David’s life, he wanted a temple built for the Lord. God had told David that he would not be the one to build it. His son Solomon would.

David would never worship in the completed temple. He would not stand before Israel at its dedication. Solomon and the next generation would experience those things. David still had an important part in what God was going to do.

1 Chronicles 29:1–2 — Moreover David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great… Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God.

David then names what he had prepared: gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, precious stones, and other materials that Solomon would need. David had accumulated resources during his lifetime. Now he deliberately directed those resources toward God’s work that would continue after him.

He went even further.

1 Chronicles 29:3 — Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house.

David gave from his personal wealth because he cared about the work of God. He was preparing the next generation to accomplish something he would not live to finish.

That is Christian legacy in a practical form. We use what God has placed in our hands to help provide for work that can continue after us.

Everything Came From God First

After David gave, the leaders of Israel also gave willingly. The response produced joy among the people, and David prayed before the congregation.

His prayer explains what made their giving possible.

1 Chronicles 29:11–12 — Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty… Both riches and honour come of thee… and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

David knew where his wealth had come from. He had been a shepherd boy with no throne, army, palace, or royal treasury. God had given him wealth, position, and opportunities he could not get on his own.

David then said:

1 Chronicles 29:14 — But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

That statement gives us the foundation for Christian giving: “all things come of thee.” Our income comes through jobs, businesses, investments, retirement, or other sources, but behind our ability to work, earn, save, and possess is the provision of God. The same is true of our homes, property, vehicles, savings, and possessions.

Giving becomes an act of stewardship when we understand that God allowed us to have these things and gives us the privilege of using some of them for His purposes. David understood that what God had given him could still accomplish something for God.

The Joy of Becoming a Giver

Giving in 1 Chronicles 29 was marked by willingness and joy.

1 Chronicles 29:9 — Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

The people gave willingly, and they rejoiced. Jesus taught the same principle of blessing in giving. Paul reminded the Ephesian elders of Jesus’ words:

Acts 20:35 — It is more blessed to give than to receive.

There is a blessing in becoming someone who can give. We experience it when something God has provided for us becomes an answer to someone else’s need. We experience it when our giving helps a missionary preach the gospel somewhere we may never go. We experience it when a child learns Scripture because people gave to provide a place and materials for ministry. We experience it when our church can help a family, support a missionary, teach children, or reach people because God’s people gave.

Paul describes that result in 2 Corinthians 9. The Corinthian believers had promised an offering to help other Christians, and Paul was preparing them to complete it.

2 Corinthians 9:7 — Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

 

Their giving would meet real needs, but its influence would go further.

2 Corinthians 9:12 — For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.

Someone gives. A need is met. The person who receives the help thanks God. Money or possessions placed in God’s hands can become food, ministry, missionary support, Bible teaching, help during a crisis, or another resource God uses in someone’s life.

Ordinary People Can Leave a Giving Legacy

George Müller is remembered for caring for thousands of orphans in nineteenth-century England. The work required buildings, food, clothing, workers, and enormous amounts of support. Those resources came through thousands of gifts from people who wanted what they possessed to be used for God’s work.

The records of Müller’s ministry contain gifts both large and small. People gave food, money, clothing, jewelry, watches, and other possessions. Near the end of Müller’s life, the orphan work received part of a legacy worth about £1,427, roughly $7,000 in American money at the time.

One of the first legacy gifts was much smaller. In 1837, a sick boy who knew he was dying had received a few coins during his illness. Before his death, he asked that his little treasure be given to the orphans. His gift was 6 shillings, 6½ pence—only a little more than $1.50 in American money at the time.

The size of those two gifts was very different. The principle was the same. Each person had something and deliberately directed it toward God’s work.

Christian legacy giving is available to ordinary people because legacy is measured by faithfulness, not by the size of an estate. A person may never have a large bank account. That person can still give faithfully during life. He can support his church. He can help missionaries. He can respond to needs. He can teach his children and grandchildren to be generous. He can decide what should happen to the possessions and resources that remain when his life is over.

Giving Can Reach Places We Never Go

One reason giving has such influence is that it allows us to participate in work beyond our own abilities and location. Lottie Moon spent decades as a missionary in China. She repeatedly challenged Christians in America to give so that more missionaries could take the gospel to people who had not heard it. After her death, Southern Baptists named their annual Christmas missions offering in her honor. Generations of Christians who never went to China have given through that offering to send and support missionaries around the world.

Most of those givers will never meet the people reached through their gifts. Their giving still gives them a part in sending the gospel.

Paul told the Philippians about their financial support of his ministry:

Philippians 4:15–17 — Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only… Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

The Philippians helped make Paul’s ministry possible. Paul described the spiritual fruit connected with their giving as fruit that abounded to their account.

Giving allows us to participate in work we could never accomplish by ourselves. We may never preach in another country, but we can help send someone who will. We may never personally teach every child reached through our church, but our giving can help provide the ministry that teaches them. We may never meet every person helped by a ministry we support, but God can use what we give in their lives. That makes giving part of our Christian legacy.

Giving During Our Lifetime

Legacy giving begins while we are alive. Paul told the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 16:2 — Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Giving becomes part of the regular pattern of Christian life. As God provides, we deliberately set aside part of what He has provided for His work.

Over a lifetime, that pattern matters. A Christian who gives faithfully for forty or fifty years may help support generations of pastors, missionaries, teachers, children, families, and ministries. Individual offerings may seem ordinary. Decades of faithful giving can accomplish an enormous amount of ministry.

Our giving also teaches people who watch us. Children who see their parents give learn that God’s work matters. Grandchildren who hear grandparents talk about missionaries they support learn that reaching people with the gospel matters. A church filled with generous Christians teaches the next generation that what God provides can be used for His purposes. That is legacy being formed while we are still here to see it.

Giving Beyond Our Lifetime

David prepared resources for a work that would continue after his death. Christians can think that way too.

Eventually every possession we have will pass from our hands. Our home, savings, investments, vehicles, land, and personal belongings will belong to someone else. Part of preparing our Christian legacy can be deciding intentionally where those resources should go.

For some Christians, that may include leaving part of an estate to their church, missions, or another Christian ministry. It may mean designating a percentage rather than a fixed amount so that family and ministry can both be remembered. It may involve giving possessions during life when they can already be useful to someone else.

There is no biblical command requiring every Christian to leave money to a church or ministry in a will. The biblical principle is stewardship. What God has entrusted to us deserves thoughtful decisions.

David knew he would not build the temple. He asked what he could do with what God had given him to help prepare for the work that would come next.

That gives us a useful question:

What can I put into God’s work now that may still be accomplishing something after I am gone?

What Will Continue After Me?

Christian legacy is found in more than money. This series has already shown that our testimony, transformed life, relationships, and service influence other people. Giving adds another part.

What God has placed in our hands can become part of what we leave behind. A gift to missions may help someone hear the gospel. Money given through our church may help provide ministry for children who become faithful Christians and raise Christian families of their own. Resources given to train or disciple someone may continue producing fruit through that person’s ministry. A gift left after our death may help a church preach the gospel and teach Scripture to people we will never meet on earth.

David prepared for Solomon. The Philippians supported Paul. Ordinary Christians gave to help Müller care for children. Generations of Christians have given to send missionaries where they themselves could never go. Each used something God had placed in their hands to help accomplish work beyond themselves.

We can do the same.

This Week

Think about what God has placed in your hands. Consider the ways you already give through your church, missions, and to people in need. Then consider whether there are resources God has given you that could be used more intentionally for His purposes.

Christian legacy asks us to think beyond what our resources can do for us today. We can also ask what they can accomplish for God, for other people, and for the generations that follow us.

David reached the end of his life knowing that what God had given him was already prepared to help the next generation carry God’s work forward. We have the same opportunity: “for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

 

Coming Up

Next lesson, we will look at Discipleship — investing in someone else’s faith the way someone once invested in ours.

My Christian Legacy Journal

Chapter 5 — Giving Back

David prepared resources during his lifetime so that Solomon could finish what he could not. This page helps you think about what God has placed in your hands and how you can use it for His work, now and after your lifetime.

People Who Taught Me to Give

Who helped you learn to give — through their example, their teaching, or their encouragement?

Ways God Has Allowed Me to Give

What are some ways you have already been able to give — of your money, time, or possessions?

What Matters to Me

What ministries, missionaries, or causes do you care most about supporting?

Looking Ahead

Is there a way you sense God leading you to give more intentionally right now?

Leaving Something Behind

What is one thing you could put into God’s work now that might still be accomplishing something after you are gone?

1 Chronicles 29:14 — For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.