Every one should think much and pray much before he determines what he will lay by him in store for purposes of beneficence. The inquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" must be proposed in all honesty, and with its searching individuality of application. There must be a sincere desire to do that which will secure the divine approbation. What portion of his worldly substance the Christian should surrender to the Lord must be adjusted with conscientious accuracy. Reflections on death, judgment, eternity, the love of Christ, the responsibilities of his followers, and the necessities of the world should have much to do with the adjustment.In deciding what portion of their income they should give to the cause of God, Christians may find the following suggestions of some value.
See to it that you do not determine to give only as much as do fellow Christians. They may faithfully perform their duty, or they may not. You may be able to give more than they. You may enjoy greater prosperity. However, this may the question, "What is your duty?," may be decided irrespectively of what they do. Your obligations to be beneficent are neither created by their fidelity, nor canceled :heir unfaithfulness. You are personally responsible to God. You can never decide correctly what proportion of your income should be holy to the Lord, if you make what others do the basis of the decision.
In determining how much you will give to the Redeemer's cause, you must resolve to retrench every extravagance, every needless expenditure. The propriety of retrenchment is suggested by a glance at the luxurious tables, expensive wardrobes, costly parlor furniture, and magnificent buildings, of many who profess to be followers of Him who had not where to lay his head. On this subject the prophet's language may be adopted: "Is it time, to dwell in ceiled houses, while the house of the Lord lies waste? Thus says the Lord, consider your ways." [Haggai 1:4-5] If the churches would cut off the excrescences of their wealth, it would greatly promote their spirituality, even if the world was not benefited. It is a disgrace to the Christian name, that so many wear it who know nothing practically about the curtailment of useless extravagances, and sinful expenditures. They will never give an adequate portion of their income to objects of benevolence till there is, in this respect, a reformation.
In deciding how much of your income will be consecrated to the Lord, you must determine to give until you feel it. As long as you fix on an amount that you can give with perfect convenience, you will not give enough. The amount must be increased. Self-denial is one of the initial regulations of the Kingdom of Christ. How can Christians fill the measure of their duty in contributing to the advancement of the Redeemer's cause, unless they give until they find it necessary to practice self-denial to enable them to give? But unfortunately for them, and for the world, they know but little about the import of the term self-denial. How few deny themselves any of the luxuries of life, that they may thereby augment the offerings which they cast into the treasury of the Lord! Some say, "We are in debt, and can give nothing." How did you become involved in debt? Perhaps by your folly. If so, your inability to give does not excuse you. Others, owing to indolent habits, have nothing to give. To each one of this unenviable class, the Apostle's language is applicable: "Let him labor with his hands, the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him that needs." [Ephesians 4:28] If, by habits of idleness, professors of religion render themselves unable to give, their inability involves them in criminality. It has been induced by a course of conduct at war with the arrangements of Heaven, and must therefore be sinful. It would be the essence of absurdity to argue that inability, created by disobedience, is disconnected from guilt.
In determining how much they give to the cause of Christ, parents should be careful not to fix on too large an amount of property to bequeath to their children. There are many able to give their children hundreds and thousands, but they wish to give them tens of thousands. And yet it is a notorious fact, that children, who inherit large fortunes, are generally less useful members of society than those who have only a competency. Why is this? Evidently because they are disposed to rely on wealth rather than personal merit, as the basis of respectability. Christian parents should love their children, but they should love the cause of God more. To this cause, they should give their warmest affections, and it should be first in their thoughts on occasions of pecuniary distribution. Let them honor the Lord with their substance, and with the first fruits of their increase. Let them provide comfortably, but not extravagantly for their children. Let them, in their testamentary regulations, remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "He that loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." [Matthew 10:37] Ah, how many professedly Christian parents are not worthy of Christ, because they love their children more than they love him! This is a subject that claims parental investigation.
============== [From the Tennessee Baptist, March 17, 1860, p. 2, from CD edition. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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