Stinginess

 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
Haggai 1:9 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/hag.1.9.ESV

Here's a convicting verse for me, being typical of my regional stereotype of stinginess. Yet we cannot afford to be stingy towards God. We can't just keep bemoaning the cost of living if we're not contributing to the upkeep of God's house, the church.

Of course, we have a responsibility to upkeep our own households. No one else will do it for us. Yet the same applies to God's house- we the people of God have to contribute to its upkeep!

The God of the angel armies is the same today as in Haggai's olden days. I'm sure this principle still applies even in new covenant days: if we're stingy towards God we'll struggle to make ends meet. On the other hand, if we're generous towards God He'll open the floodgates of heaven to us.

I'm not being some prosperity proponent who says you have to 'sow a seed' into some private jet flying ministry. Yet those who faithfully labour in the gospel amongst us shouldn't be left out of pocket. Why would we expect God to be generous towards us if we're stingy towards Him?

'O Lord God, we remember that whilst we were stingy sinners, Christ died for us. We also acknowledge that having been saved, we ought to be rich towards You. Please help us in these things, for Your honour we pray, amen'

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