为何施舍 Why Do We Give?
来源: 发布日期:2007-10-11 发布人:
灵命日粮 - 2007 年 10 月 11 日
为何施舍
读经: 马太福音6章1-4节
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金句: 「你施舍的时候，不要叫左手知道右手所做的。」（马太福音6章3节）
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全年读经: 以赛亚书37-38章；歌罗西书3章
金融时报的专栏作者提姆·哈福德问道：「单纯的施舍观念已不存在了吗？你越细看慈善施舍，越看不清慈善的面目。」举例来说，一个挨家挨户募捐的活动研究发现，以幸运抽奖的方式筹来的款项，远远超过人们单为慈善而捐出的钞票。
哈福德说：「这项研究表明：这个世界并没有许多无私的人想用善款造福众人。」至少对某些人来说，捐赠是一种互惠互利的途径。
主耶稣也讲过施舍的动机。他说不要叫左手知道右手所做的，就是教导我们，奉献给上帝或施舍给人，动机必须要纯正。我们奉献施舍，是在回应上帝的爱。为了激励纯全的动机，耶稣教导人施舍行善都要在暗中，不要想到自己。上帝会查看一切，必然报答他们（马太福音6章3-4节）。
我们的慷慨应该是以上帝为中心──不是让我们看起来很良善，而是要讨上帝喜悦。你下次行善时，当问问自己：如果没有人看到我所做的一切，我还会这么做吗？MW
带着宽宏自由灵，
主赐我们行善恩；
我们一生年和日，
完全向他来献呈。Murray
上帝不仅看施舍之物；也看施者之心。
October 11, 2007
Why Do We Give?
READ: Matthew 6:1-4
When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. —Matthew 6:3
Whatever happened to the notion of giving for the sake of giving?" asked Tim Harford, columnist for FinancialTimes. "The closer you look at charitable giving, the less charitable it appears to be." A study of door-to-door fund-raising campaigns, for instance, found that organizations earned far more by selling lottery tickets than by asking for donations.
"This hardly suggests a world populated by altruists seeking to do the maximum good with their charitable cash," says Harford. At least for some people, there’s a something-for-me/something-for-you approach to giving.
Jesus also dealt with the issue of motives in giving. When He said not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, He was teaching that our motives for giving to God and to others must be pure. Our giving should be in response to God’s love. To encourage pure motives, Jesus instructs people to give and to do good deeds in secret with no thought of themselves. God, who sees everything, will reward them (Matt. 6:3-4).
Our generosity should be God-centered—not to make us look good, but to please the Lord. With your next good deed, ask yourself: If I knew that no one would ever find out that I did this, would I still do it? —Marvin Williams
Grant us, then, the grace for giving
With a spirit large and free,
That our life and all our living
We may consecrate to Thee. —Murray
God sees the giver as well as the gift; the heart as well as the hand.
