The Christian way of managing money is not to hold on to money. The tighter you hold on to your money, the more it dies. The more you grasp it, the more it disappears; it will evaporate like vapor. But the more you give away, the more you will have. If God’s children would learn to give more, God would have many ways to work out His miracles. Keeping back money only makes God’s children poor. God will not entrust Himself to those who hold on to their money and who will not give. The more you give, the more God will give to you.
Please read 2 Corinthians 9:6, which says, “He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap.” This is also a scriptural principle of financial management. When Christians give, they are not throwing their money away; they are sowing. The Word does not say, “He who throws away his money sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who throws away his money with blessings shall also with blessings reap.” It says, “He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap.” When you give, you are sowing. Do you want your money to grow? If you do, you need to sow. When you give your money away, it grows. When you do not give it away, it does not grow.
Brothers and sisters, can anyone be so foolish as to expect a harvest without sowing? How many times has God not answered your prayer for your needs? You are a “hard man,” trying to reap where you have not sown and gather where you have not winnowed. This is impossible. Why do you not sow some of your money? There are many brothers and sisters who are in difficulty. Why do you not sow money upon them so that you may reap when the reaping time comes? The more a person holds on to his money, the less he will have. In the above portion of the Word, we see a very beautiful picture. The Corinthians gave to those in Jerusalem, remembering their needs, and Paul said that it was a kind of sowing, not a kind of throwing away. Please remember that money can be our seeds. If you see a brother or sister in difficulty, and you remember him or her, God will cause that money to grow and harvest thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and even a hundredfold. I hope that more of your money will be sown.
A new believer should learn to sow, so that when he has needs, he can reap what he has sown. You cannot reap what you have not sown. There are many brothers who are getting poorer and poorer. If you eat what you have, of course, there will not be anything left. But if you keep half of your seed for sowing, you will have a harvest next year. If next year you also keep half for planting, you will have another harvest the following year. If you want to sow anything, you must not eat all that you have. Some people always eat and never sow. They also never receive anything when they are in need. Suppose some young brothers sow some money upon other brothers, praying as they sow, “O God, I have sown upon the brothers. When I have needs, I want to harvest.” If they do this, God will honor His own words.
This is not all. In the Old Testament, God said to the Israelites, “Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse that there may be food in My house; and prove Me, if you will, by this, says Jehovah of hosts, whether I will open to you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it” (Mal. 3:10). Here we see the same principle.
At that time, the Israelites were in great poverty and difficulty. How could they carry out the words of Malachi 3:10? The Israelites might have asked, “If we cannot get by with ten loads of rice, how can we get by with nine? If ten bags of flour are insufficient, how can nine bags be sufficient?” These are words out of a carnal and foolish mouth. God reproached the people and told them that what is impossible with man is possible with God. He seemed to be saying, “Bring to My storehouse, and test Me if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing that there shall not be enough room to receive it.”
Ten loads are the reason for poverty, while nine loads are the cause for abundance. Man thinks that the more he has in his hand, the better off he will be. However, keeping things in one’s hand is the very cause for poverty, while offering things to God is the very cause for blessing. If I have an additional load in my hands, it will become my curse. But if it is put in God’s storehouse, it becomes my blessing. The principle with the Israelites was poverty for those who tried to hold back what was due to God. When you hold something back, you end up in poverty.