It's All About The Heart

Welcome to Worshiping the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. Thanks so much for joining us. Today Pastor Robert is continuing his series, Beyond Blessed, with a message about the motives behind stewardship.

I'll tell you what, it's going to be a good one. I'm your host, Patrick, and I'm here with my co-host, Janae. Hello, everyone. Well, when we talk about stewardship and giving, I've always thought about it as very practical and wise. However, I was surprised when I heard that good stewardship and giving of anything, not just money, is primarily about the status of your heart. Well, Pastor Robert explains this all so well. He has four points about this topic to share with us, and his message is really powerful.

So let's dive right in. So today we're going to talk about, it's all about the heart. When we talk about being blessed or blessing someone else, it's all about the heart. And I want you to remember that and think about that. So I want to show you a very famous scripture on giving, that it is on giving, but I want to clarify and show you that it might not be exactly the type of giving that you think it's talking about.

So we'll get to that, all right? So what I'm going to do first is show you the parallel passage, which is in the Sermon on the Mount. It's in Matthew 7, then we're going to go to Luke 6. So Matthew 7, verses 1 and 2 say this, Judge not, and you will not be judged. For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So don't judge or you'll be judged, and with the measure you use, and he's talking about giving judgment out, it will be measured back to you.

In other words, you're going to get judgment back. Now, let me just ask you a question. I just read you those two scriptures. Did you hear anything in those two scriptures about money?

No. Doesn't say anything about money. The subject is about judging, right? So I'm going to show you the parallel passage. Every theologian I've ever talked to knows where we're going in Luke 6 is the parallel passage to Matthew 7. It's the same sermon, but there's a verse right in the middle that we think is talking about money, and I don't think it is, because the context is judgment.

So let's commit to short-term memory, two phrases from what we just read. Matthew 7, I'll say it, and then you say it after me, okay? Judge not, and you will not be judged. With the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. With the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Y'all did great, and we didn't even rehearse that.

They just did great, completely on them. So we go over to Luke 6, and the first phrase of verse 37 says, Judge not, and you will not be judged. So I'm showing you this is the Matthew 7 passage. The last phrase of verse 38 says, For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So it's the same passage, but Luke being a physician puts something in between that's not in Matthew that I want you to notice it, and I want you to notice again what context it's in, all right? So here's Luke 6, 37 and 38, all of it. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Now here's the part you've heard before, but think about the context. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.

For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Okay, now most of the time when you hear the first part of Luke 6, 38, give and it will be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Most of the time when you hear a minister or pastor use that scripture, what's he talking about? Money, right? Okay. But let me ask you again, was the word money anywhere in that verse? No, and it is not the context. He's not talking about money anywhere in there. He was actually talking about judging. Here's what he's saying. If you give judgment, judgment is going to be given back to you. And here's the part that many people never talk about this way. Good measure, pressed down, running over, shaken together. No one talks about that, but that's what he's talking about.

That's what he's talking about. Give condemnation and condemnation is going to be given back to you. Give forgiveness, that's a good one.

Forgive and you'll be forgiven. You see what I'm saying? Okay, here's my point though. This whole thing about giving is about the heart. It's about the heart. Jesus is trying to deal with the heart. If you have a problem with giving money, you actually have a problem with your heart. By the way, maybe you've never even thought about this, think about the word forgive.

It contains the word give. For, by the way, means that you're in favor of something. You know, I'm for it or I'm against it. Okay, so God is forgiving.

Are you all hearing me? And he's also forgiving. He forgives because he's for giving grace to people. He's in favor of it. This is pretty good by the way.

If you all didn't know this is good, this is good stuff, okay. If you have a problem with giving, you also probably have a problem with forgiving. If you have a problem with forgiving, you also probably have a problem with giving. This is where Jesus said, freely you have received, so freely give. You know the reason we have a problem with forgiving, in other words giving grace to someone else or forgiveness to them, is because we think we had to earn it from God. So if we had to earn it, we actually try to make other people earn it. You have to earn my forgiveness because we felt like we had to earn our forgiveness, but we didn't.

It's completely free. So this whole thing about giving, it's about the heart. And again, giving is an action and it involves so many other things other than just money. I was being interviewed for a magazine one time and the guy asked me, how often do you preach on giving? And I said, oh, every week. And he said, really?

You preach on giving every week? And I said, yeah. And I said, now, let me explain something again. Remember, I'm a grammarian, so I hear your words. And I know what you're saying, even though you don't think you're saying it.

And I have to translate sometimes what you think you're trying to say. But I said to him, you asked me how often I preached on giving. What you meant to ask me was how often do you preach on giving money?

That's what you meant. You didn't say giving money, you just said giving. So I can't preach on grace without preaching on giving. For God so loved the world that He gave. I can't preach on prayer without preaching on giving. I definitely can't preach on marriage without preaching on giving. Because if you're going to be married, you're going to have to give some forgiveness. Right?

And you're going to have to pause the game and take the trash out when you're supposed to take the trash. You're going to have to give some time. Okay, so giving is more than giving money. It's an attitude of the heart.

That's what I want you to hear. You're listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Mars. We're currently in his Beyond Blessed series.

To get a copy of this series or any of the other series, visit PastorRobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. You know, Patrick, I loved how Pastor Robert helped clarify those couple of verses in Luke 6 that essentially say, give and it will be given back to you. So many of us have misunderstood these verses.

I agree. I definitely thought they were about money. But it really makes sense that they apply to everything in life. You know, forgiveness, judgment, love, etc. You know, whatever our heart gives out is what we'll get in return. I like how Pastor Robert, even when it's hard to say, if we have trouble giving, we probably have a problem with forgiveness or giving grace or maybe something else.

It's like a diagnostic test. If we're struggling with giving, there's probably something underlying that we need to address and ask the Lord about. Wow, that's really good. Well, Pastor Robert has so much more to say in this message, so let's get back to it. So way back in Deuteronomy 15, God sets up some principles about giving that have to do with the heart. So let me read it to you, all right?

And then I'll tell you four things about it. Number one, well, first of all, let me read Deuteronomy 15, verse 7. If there is among you a poor man of your brethren within any of the gates in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you. I like that because He's reminding them, you're not earning the promised land. You're fighting for it. See, we're in a war, but you're still not earning it.

I'm still giving it to you, even though you're in a war, okay? If there's a poor man among you, you shall not harden your heart. It's all about the heart. Then He says, nor shut your hand from your poor brother.

Let me just clarify. If you shut your hand toward people, it's because you've already shut your heart. When you open your hand toward people, like if there's a crisis, we do this all the time with a hurricane or a tornado or something.

All of us, we sin what we can, we do what we can. It's because we've already opened our heart. That's why we open our hands, okay? He says, if you don't harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly, so again, willingly would be dealing with your heart, lend to him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. So how do we do this with our heart? So four things, all right, here's number one. We have to deal with a selfish heart.

We just have to deal with it because we're born selfish. Verse nine says, beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart. And notice again, it's in the heart, saying the seventh year, the year of release is at hand.

Now we're going to talk about that. Most of us know about the year of Jubilee. And your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing and he cry out to the Lord against you and it becomes sin among you. So he says, don't let there be a wicked thought in your heart.

First of all, let's clarify something. God calls selfishness wickedness. That's wicked to God, okay? And the thought would be, you know, it's almost the year of Jubilee, the seventh year.

And okay, so let me give you the example. Let's say a guy comes to you and he says, hey, my, we didn't have a lot of rain this year, you know that, and you have much bigger farm than I have, and I just didn't get many crops, and I don't think we're going to be able to make it through the winter, and I'm wondering if you could lend me some grain so that I'll be able to make it through the winter and plant, you know, in the spring, and then I'm going to pay you back out of the next harvest, okay? And he says, don't let this thought come to your heart because every seven years, all debts were canceled. And by the way, God implemented that economic system. God implemented for his people an economic system that every seven years, all of your debt was canceled. How many of you would like to re-implement God's economic system?

It's a pretty good system, isn't it? Okay, but here's what he says. He says, now here's what might happen. Right when you say, oh, sure, I'd love to, you might have a thought in your heart. Now, we all have thoughts, okay?

The problem is what we do with them. You might have a thought that says, uh-oh, wait, this is the sixth year. Matter of fact, it's only six more months till the year of Jubilee.

If he can't pay me back in that timeframe, I have to cancel this debt. And here's what God is saying. You need to deal with that because that's a heart issue. So you've got to understand giving is a heart issue.

Here's the second thing. Number, it's two, deal with a grieving heart, a grieving heart. So first, a selfish heart, second, a grieving heart. Deuteronomy 15, verse 10. I'm just walking you through Deuteronomy 15, okay? You shall surely give to him, watch this, and your heart, it's all about the heart, should not be grieved or sad about it when you give to him because for this thing, the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

Now, that's a great promise right there. God says you deal with your heart, I'll bless all the work of your hand, okay? But he says, but, now don't grieve.

Okay, so here's what we need to know. Before we give, selfishness attacks us. But after we give, grief attacks us.

Think about this. Have you ever given an offering and then the washing machine breaks? Or the car or you get some sort of unexpected repair bill and, you know, I hate it when you, I actually just took a vehicle in for repair and the guy called me and said, well, I have bad news.

I thought, you always have bad news. You're just a gloomy person, you know? So, okay. So, but what if I had just given a large amount and it's like the enemy then comes, you know, what does he say?

We've all heard it. You shouldn't have done that. Now you're going to be in trouble, see?

So we grieve about it. He's saying don't do that. Now, I'm going to tell you something that's just crazy. Sometimes when you're up here speaking, thoughts will just go through your mind and they're just random thoughts and you just learn to push them out. But I'm just going to tell you, I'm sitting here talking about finances and all and I just, here's the thought that just went through my mind. When I leave here, I'm going to lunch and I don't have any cash with me. I just had that thought just go through my, look at that.

Look at that, $20. That was nice, wasn't it? All right, let's keep going, okay. All right, so, okay, we're not going to keep going.

Let me talk about that for a bit, all right? So when I said I need $20 or I need some money, Mike's friend of mine, why didn't Mike get up that quickly and give it to me? Okay, let me tell you why. Because I gave him that $20 before the show. And I told him I want you to do this because I'm going to use it as an illustration. Okay, so I have a question for you. This is my $20. I gave it to him before the show.

I said I want you to give it to me when I ask, right? So is he grieving because he gave this to me? Oh, you are a little? Just a little? He was thinking, I hope he forgets about this illustration.

No, he's just joking. He's not grieving about it. Why is he not grieving about it? Because it wasn't his money in the first place. It's my money. It's my money.

Are you all catching this? How many times does God say, I want you to go help that person? And we should never grieve because it wasn't our money in the first place.

It was God's money. And do you know what I think God might think? God might think, you know what? I need to find someone else to bless that won't grieve about it.

Because every time I ask that person to give, she just argues with me and argues with me. And I'm going to find someone that says, when I ask that person to give, when she says, thank you, Lord, for giving me an opportunity to be a blessing. That's what Beyond Blessed is all about. If you're just tuning in with us, you're listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris.

We're in a new series called Beyond Blessed, and if you've missed any of it, you can find it on our podcast at pastorrobert.com. You know, I love the demonstration Pastor Robert did with his friend Mike and the $20. What a great way to illustrate that our money isn't ours in the first place. The enemy wants us to grieve and fret over money we've given away. He makes up scenarios and finds ways to make us regret giving. But that's the exact opposite of what God wants for us. Absolutely. You know, I want to be the kind of person who looks for the opportunities to bless others and is grateful when one comes my way.

Me too. Well, let's tune in once more as Pastor Robert tells us exactly how to do that. So we have to deal with a selfish heart. We have to deal with a grieving heart. Here's number three, develop a generous heart.

And it can be developed. All of us have developed in our walk with the Lord. So you can develop a generous heart. Verse 14, you shall supply Him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord has blessed you with, you shall give to Him. Think about that.

Here's what he's saying. Just develop it. Just take time and develop it.

Here's the best way to develop it. When you get that little nudge and you know it's a nudge from the Lord and maybe you need to confirm it with your spouse if you're married, with a friend. Maybe you ask the Lord to confirm it to you, but you get that little nudge. There's nothing wrong with asking God to confirm. People did it all through the Bible and God never got mad at them. Gideon asked God to confirm it twice, right? The fleece of Gideon. God never got mad at him for asking him, okay? So it's okay to ask God to confirm it.

But then just do the little things. It's so because what happens is the generosity is developed in you, all right? I have nine grandchildren and so we love our grandchildren, they're great, but we got all these grandchildren stories like some of you that have grandchildren or children.

They eat all these funny things they do. So our oldest daughter, daughter-in-law, they get in the car from church and they have a son and a daughter and their daughter is named Willow and Willow says, Mommy, did you know there was a girl in the Bible that gave two pennies to the Lord and it was all she had? And Hannah, our daughter-in-law said, I did know that, I have heard that. And she said, Mommy, I'd like to give something to the Lord.

And so Hannah said, well, why don't you just pray and ask the Lord what he would want you to give? So she actually kind of adjusted the mirror where she could see, you know? And she saw little Willow just put her head down like this and she started praying and then all of a sudden this is what she did. She went, what?

What? And then she said, little baby? You want little baby? And then she said, oh, oh, Betty baby. Oh, yeah, you can have Betty baby. I don't like her.

Here's my point. She's just little. She's just learning. That's cute. But if she were 40 and she was still griping about giving little baby away. Are you all hearing me?

There are a whole lot of Christians that have never matured in this area. Here's the last one, develop a grateful heart. Develop a grateful heart. Verse 15 of Deuteronomy 15 says, you shall remember, here's how you develop a grateful heart.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore, I command you this thing today. What's he commanding them?

He's commanding them to have a generous heart. He says, now here's how you do it. You remember you used to not have anything and everything you have, I gave you. A while back, we had a pastor and his wife come in for a conference and we had them stay in our home and we were just talking and sharing and for some reason, my wife and the pastor's wife were in the kitchen talking and then the guy and I, we were like in the living room talking. Well, he got up to go get him something to drink, some iced tea or something and he overheard my wife and his wife talking about me giving because there have been times when I've said I want to give cars even the time when Debbie and I gave our first house away and she was just asking this and this pastor got interested but I'm hearing it in the living room and she sat down and said to, the pastor sat down and said to my wife, can I ask you something?

And Debbie said, sure. He said, why do you think Robert gives so much? He said, I've tried to figure this out for years. I've read his books.

I hear all the stories. I mean, this guy has given, I've given my retirement away many times. I've just, when God tells me to give, I just give. Now remember this says, you need to remember when you're asked to give that you just not have anything. So he said to my wife, why do you think Robert just gives so much away?

And this is what I heard my wife say from the kitchen. Because he's never gotten over getting saved. I've never forgotten that I was lost even though I grew up in church, good parents, great family. I didn't know Jesus and I got involved in drugs and it was a horrible life. And God delivered me just like that. I've never gotten over that.

It's easy to be generous when you're grateful. I just loved that last story Pastor Robert told about never being getting over saved. Wow, I mean, I just pray that I will never again forget all the blessings the Lord has brought into my life. We encourage you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and really listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. To get a copy of this Beyond Blessed series, visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-word. So be sure to visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-word. You can also follow Pastor Robert on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We hope you have enjoyed this message. Next time Pastor Robert is going to talk about the biblical test of typing. I'll tell you what, it's going to be challenging and encouraging. Well, have a blessed week.