23 Biblical Principles on Offerings

God First | Weekly inspirational offertory devotional video for Sabbath, June 8, 2024, in your @adventistchurch: vimeo.com/945789939. Putting God first can be difficult. What can we learn from Biblical Principles on Offerings that will help us put God first in our lives today? #offerings2024 #godfirst #AdventistStewardship #2024 tithe
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Biblical Principles on Offerings

1 John 4:19—“We love Him because He first loved us.”

The Bible presents several principles when it comes to offerings. One of the most important of them is that the value of the offering must be based on a percentage chosen by the worshiper and that this percentage must be challenging to us so that we can understand what sacrifice means.

It is not about the value of the offering, but its sacrificial value. Faced with this, we must stop and think: “Have I ever made a real sacrifice for the cause of God at some point in my life?”

Addressing this theme, Ellen G. White wrote, “How great was the gift of God to man, and how like our God to make it! With a liberality that can never be exceeded he gave, that he might save the rebellious sons of men and bring them to see his purpose and discern his love. Will you, by your gifts and offerings, show that you think nothing too good for him who “gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? The man who truly loves God will not offer to him lip service merely. He will bring to the treasury his gifts and offerings, that laborers may be sent forth to sow the precious seed.”—Review and Herald, May 15, 1900.

After many years of hard work and struggles in India, Scottish missionary Alexander Duff returned to his homeland to die there. During a meeting in his church, he preached and appealed to his countrymen to step forward for the continuation of the work. No one responded to his call. He insisted with such passion that he passed out behind the pulpit. As a doctor checked his vital signs, Alexander Duff suddenly opened his eyes and said, “I must get back to the pulpit. I need to continue that call.”

“Calm down,” said the doctor, “your heart is very weak.”

But the old missionary refused to listen. He returned to the pulpit and continued the call: “When Queen Victoria called for volunteers, hundreds of young people stepped forward. But when King Jesus calls, no one wants to respond. Does Scotland no longer have children to respond to India’s call?” he asked. The missionary waited a while in silence, but still, there was no answer.

Finally, he said: “Very well. If Scotland has no young men to send to India, I will go again myself, so that the people there will know that at least one Scotsman still cares about them.” When the veteran warrior of Christ left the pulpit, the silence was broken by a crowd of young people who volunteered: “I’m going! Me too! Me too!”

Appeal: God First—this is the essence of this blessed couple’s life. Today, they can claim that all the things they need are being added each day by the mighty hand of God.

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