新约圣经对奉献的指引,帮助我们对抗物质主义的吸引The New Testament offersguidelines for giving that can help us fight the pull of materialism
作者: Randy Alcorn 译者: Duncan Liang
1. 奉献。奉献确认基督的主权。奉献将我从宝座上赶下来,让祂高居宝座之上。奉献打破奴役我的玛门枷锁,把我生命的忠心转移到天堂。
Give.
Giving affirms Christ’s lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him. It breaks the
chains of mammon that would enslave me and transfers my center of gravity to
Heaven.
2. 慷慨奉献。多少才算慷慨?没有标准答案。如果你从未试过十一奉献,可以以此为起点,然后扩展你的慷慨。
Give
generously. How much is generous? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. If
you’ve never tithed, start there—then begin to stretch your generosity.
3. 固定奉献。作主的管家,这不是一年才思想一次的事情,而是一周接一周、一月接一月的委身,这要求我们有操练和坚持。
Give
regularly. Stewardship is not a once-a-year consideration, but a week-to-week,
month-to-month commitment requiring discipline and consistency.
4. 刻意奉献。有意识地努力,反复进行的奉献是最好的。
Give
deliberately. Giving is at its best when it’s a conscious effort that’s
repeatedly made.
5.自愿奉献。当我们得见神的恩典,我们的奉献就超越仅仅是本份的地步。
Give
voluntarily. When we catch a vision of God’s grace, we will give beyond our
duty.
6. 牺牲地奉献。我们不喜欢有风险的信心,我们喜欢脚下铺设一张安全网。但这样我们就错失了那冒险之旅,看到我们真正尽力奉献时神的供应。
Give
sacrificially. We don’t like risky faith. We like to have our safety net below
us. But we miss the adventure of seeing God provide when we’ve really stretched
ourselves in giving.
7. 卓越地奉献。保罗说:“你们既然在信心、口才、知识、热心和待我们的爱心上,都格外显出满足来,就当在这慈惠的事上也格外显出满足来。”(林后8:7)
Give
excellently. Paul says, “See that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2
Corinthians 8:7).
8. 乐意地奉献。如果我们奉献不乐意,问题出在我们的内心,解决之道在于改变我们内心的方向,而不是停止奉献。
Give
cheerfully. If we’re not cheerful, the problem is our heart, and the solution
is redirecting our heart, not withholding our giving.
9. 以敬拜的心奉献。我们的敬拜是对神恩典的反射性回应,并非出于我们的利他主义——奉献出于基督在我们身上改变我们的工作。
Give
worshipfully. Our giving is a reflexive response to God’s grace. It doesn’t
come out of our altruism—it comes out of the transforming work of Christ in us.
10. 收入越多,奉献越多。记住:神让我们兴旺,不是让我们提高我们的生活水平,而是为了提高我们的奉献水平。
Give
more as you make more. Remember: God prospers us not to raise our standard of
living, but to raise our standard of giving.
11. 安静奉献。奉献时炫耀,这总是不切当的(但有时我们的义行会被人看见,甚至应该被人看见)。
Give
quietly. Showiness in giving is always inappropriate. (But sometimes our acts
of righteousness will be seen by men and even should be.)