One of the first things a doctor does to diagnose someone is to take their temperature. If it’s within a degree or so of 98, it rules out a lot of things and points the doctor in the right direction. If your temperature is too high, it means something is wrong, and your body is fighting back. Accurate information on your health comes from just checking your temperature. You are breathing so you’re still alive, but you MIGHT be sick. When it comes to your spiritual health, the amount you give, and the amount you serve, is a direct and reliable indication of your spiritual health. Giving is your spiritual temperature.
It needs to be made very clear, giving to others and serving others does nothing to change the status of your salvation. Jesus handled our salvation on the cross, if you’ve accepted Christ and repented you’re saved. So if you’re saved, and you’re secure in that, why is there a need to serve others? Most non-believers think that it’s the works part that gets us into heaven, but grace doesn’t function like that. We give to others and serve others because we are grateful for the incredible gift of grace that God has given us, but there is so much more to it than that.
Once our salvation is secure, it’s secure; it’s a state of being. Being saved is like being married. I’m married, many years ago my wife and I went to the courthouse and then a church and made a legal commitment and a public commitment in front of friends and family. We are married, she’s not always happy about it, but it’s not in question or a gray area. Our marriage is a state of being, and there is a legal document stating we are married.
If I’m a lousy husband, if I ignore my wife, disappear for days, etc. we are still married. We would slowly be growing apart and losing any connection, but we’d still be legally married. If I’m a great husband, if I bring her flowers, show her how much I love her, listen to her, spend time with her, support her in her endeavors, it does not change the legal status of our marriage. What being a great husband does change is the quality of our relationship. It’s still the same legal status, but we are closer, I understand her more, we are walking together. We’re not “more married,” but our marriage is deeper, better, healthier.
Our good works are bringing flowers to God. Our walking as servants, as Christ walked, is drawing us closer to Him. Our giving to those in need around us shows God that we understand it’s all His anyway and we want to serve Him with what we’ve been entrusted. Serving and giving does nothing to change our salvation status; we are saved. But serving and giving to others is a direct indication of our spiritual health.
It’s been said that you can tell a lot about a person’s Christian walk by just looking at their checkbook and their calendar. Where do they spend their money? Where do they spend their time? (Time is money in most people’s eyes) This is not a new principle; Jesus shared this idea in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6: 19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Read that again: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Where you send your treasure is an indication of where your heart is, Where you send your treasure is your spiritual temperature.
God doesn’t need our money, God doesn’t need our time, but God wants both. He wants us to give because He knows it’s good for us and He only wants great things for us. He wants us to walk closer to Him. Does my wife NEED flowers? No, but my bringing flowers brings joy and draws us closer together.
Years ago, we had a very generous donor who I never met. They would send support to our orphanage every month without fail. One time there was an accounting question. When I contacted them and thanked them for the help they said something profound about the donation, “It’s not our money, we’re just God’s mailman.” Remember, I had never met them, I knew almost nothing about them, but that one comment told me everything about their spiritual health. It was not about them; they did not consider their money as theirs; it was God’s money. From one random e-mail comment, I could tell their spiritual temperature.
This little rant on giving is not meant to guilt anyone into giving or serving more; it’s intended to cause self-evaluation. What is your spiritual temperature? Whose life have you touched today? Where is your heart? If you need a correction, you know what to do. Bring flowers home to God.
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DJ from the orphanage 