Water And Be Watered
24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. 25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself. Proverbs 11:24-25 NKJV
Truly the things of the spiritual realm do not make sense to the natural mind. What is logical to the natural mind is foolishness in the heavenly arena.
When you read the two verses above from Proverbs it makes the natural mind pause and question the validity of the concept, because we have been trained to think like the world. The verses above tell us that the one who gives generously of what he has will find increase. The world’s logic says that if you give you have less. Verse 24 refutes that failed logic of holding tightly to all that you have. It says the person who holds tightly to their money will find themselves in poverty
Verse 25 builds upon this illogical premise and says that the person who is generous, in other words not miserly, but prolific in their giving will not have less because of their liberality, but will actually be made rich. This is just a hard concept for the natural mind to grasp because it is irrational. Yet it is the Word of God. It is true and because it is the way that God’s economy works, it will defy logic and work in this natural world as well.
Now as believers most of us are not shocked by these verses because we have been taught all the years we have walked in the Word these concepts about giving. We realize that God desires for us to be givers in this life, just as He is. We realize this concept is scriptural but do we believe it? If you really believed it was true giving of tithes and offerings would be something you looked forward to each week because you would see it as an opportunity to obey and to be entrusted with even more riches in this life. And yet for most of us, giving is still a struggle. At best most of us give right at the 10% mark which we have been taught about. The reality is that most believers give far less than 10%, which means they do not really believe that as they give they will find increase. They just see money going out and it can be frightening to trust the veracity of the Word. If you knew that I would give you ten dollars for every dollar you gave me, you would always be anxious to see me so you could give me your money. If you had to you would borrow money to give to me because you knew you would still come out ahead. That is not the mindset of most believers but isn’t that what the Word tells us? Do we believe the Word? How you give answers the question in your own mind as to whether you trust God and believe the Word or not.
If you feel like your finances are always short and you struggle to have enough to get by in this life, then remember that the only way to be watered in this fashion is to first water others.
Shut off the natural mind which tells you giving will lead to poverty. It is the deception of the natural mind that leads to poverty. Trust the word and scatter with generosity and you will be rich.
J Todd Hostetler