01-15-17 The Discipline of Giving

“The Discipline of Giving”  Matthew 6:21
Of all the spiritual disciplines, there is none as attractive, or as demanding, as giving. On the one hand, giving gives us the opportunity to join God in his Kingdom work or to meet the needs of others, but, on the other hand, giving imposes a cost. When we give, we lose control of something that at one point belonged to us. That is why giving must be motivated by the heart. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:21, when he said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What does Jesus mean by this? There are three things we need to understand about this statement:

I First, it is significant that Jesus does not say, “Where your m_________ is, there will your heart be also” (6:21).
     There are three basic categories when it comes to things of value:
          A. First, there is _____________.
          B. Second, there is __________.
          C. Third, there are _________ and ____________.

II Second, we all have a p_________ where we p_____ our treasure (6:19-20).

III Finally, Jesus says there is a _____________ between our treasure and our heart (6:21).

Why does Jesus put treasure first? Why didn’t he says, “Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also?” – Two reasons:

     A. First, because we often do not ________ where our heart is.

     B. Second, because our __________ has power over our ___________.