By Gavin Aleogho
There is a story in the book of Numbers chapter 22 down to chapter 24, of the king of Moab called Barak who went to fetch a genuine prophet (who later became a false prophet), called Balaam. Barak called on Balaam to help him appease the Most High God, so that He would be able to defeat the Children of Israel.
When Balaam finally gave in to the King's request, Balaam the prophet did something remarkable with the intent that God would give in to his demand. What did he do?
He gave sacrifices of burnt offerings of animals on three different occasions, each on seven altars, all this he did to appease God. But that never changed the mind of God concerning Israel.
And when you read about the latter end of Balaam, you will discover that this led him into error, making him a false prophet. This was because he tried to use gifts to Manipulate God. It is a dangerous thing to do.
I know that you must have heard that your giving always moves God. That is not an absolute truth! God is God and He cannot be manipulated by our giving. For the Lord is God over all the earth and He is self-sufficient.
Giving is good and commendable. There are blessings in giving. But we must not use our giving to manipulate God like Balaam. For this same reason, the Lord rejected Cain’s offering.
When you fast forward to Acts 10, you will read of a story of the Centurion called Cornelius who’s giving made God to send an angel. Note that Cornelius’s intention originally was not to provoke heaven’s visitation. He was simply giving out of Love for God and love for humanity, not to manipulate God.
In the same vein, King Solomon was not giving to manipulate God. He did it from a pure heart without any coercion or impure motive but simply out of love for God. The visitation he got was only an aftermath effect. He never bargained for that.
Giving of any kind is good and commending, but we must be made to understand that we cannot manipulate God with our giving. You can't make God to change His will using a gift.
This is one of the reasons why I always advocate that we should only give from a heart of gratitude and love for God rather than giving to get blessed in return.
Giving to get blessed in itself is not a sin, rather I see it as an elementary reason to give. We should grow beyond this reason.
So, whenever we give:
1. It must not be done to manipulate God's sovereign will.
2. It must not be done with a “trade by barter” mentality.
3. Our giving should be done to appreciate God.
4. Our giving should be done to appreciate our fellow man, like giving to appreciate your parents, Church, Pastor, spouse, boss etc.
5. Our giving should be done from a heart that loves God and humanity.
Love for God, love for the advancement of the kingdom of God, love for the spread of righteousness and love for humanity should be a major motivation to give.
