God the Giver (Part One)

 “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Not only is God the Life-giver, but He is the Giver of All Things. All creation was given as a gift from the Father to the Son, and the Son who redeems it and reforms it gives all creation as a gift back to the Father. The Father gives glory and honor and love to the Son, the Son gives love, glory, honor, and obedience to the Father, and the Holy Spirit gives honor and glory and praise to both Father and Son. The Trinity is the eternal Benefactor, the giver of all good things.

God is the giver of good things to us. If there is anything for us to give, it is only because He first gave it to us. All creation was delivered into the hand of man, and his primary “responsibility” in life is to care for it, enjoy it, and give thanks for it. Every sun that rises, every bird song in the night, every taste, feel, and smell, every popsicle, every “creation” of man in art, music, architecture, and book—all of it is given by God to man who, like Christ, is meant to give it back to God with all thanks. His ultimate gift to us, of course, is Christ Himself and all we have in Him.

This “giving-ness” found in God is to define our relations with one another as well. Our lives should be defined primarily as opportunities for us to give to one another (along with our giving to God) as God in Christ has given to us. What has God not given to us? Everything we have and are we have and are because God created us and gave to us. Even so, we are most like God when we give of our lives, of our substance, our homes, our money, our labors, our love, our food, our affection, and our very selves to those whom God has given to us as the “others” in our lives.

Theft is the opposite, demonic spirit of taking and withholding. Theft is not only taking what has not been given to you (and thus envy is to theft what lust is to adultery and what hate is to murder), but theft is the withholding from others what rightfully belongs to them—whether gratitude or honor or hospitality or paycheck.

As with other sins, theft comes in all shapes and sizes. We think of theft as a “lighter” sin than murder and adultery because theft of property is not penalized as severely as these other two in the law of God. But murder and adultery are theft at root: the taking of life and the taking of another man’s wife. The theft of God is seen as one of the most reprehensible of crimes in Scripture. Failing to give God His just due in tithes and offerings is called the “robbery of God” (Malachi 3:8), and the failure to give God thanks and honor and glory for all He has given us in creation is described as the primary root sin of the pagan world (Romans 1:21).

God gives, and His heavenly law is to give to others what we would have given to us. We can do this most confidently, regardless our circumstances, because we have the promise that in Christ God has given us all things, to the glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“Great God in heaven, Author and Giver of all things good, true, and beautiful, we give You thanks for all things, and glorify You as the great Benefactor of the universe. We pray Your forgiveness for our lack of gratitude, for our coveting and taking what belongs to You and to others, for our frequent tendency toward taking and stealing rather than giving and generosity. Keep us from theft in any form—theft of God, theft of others—and enlarge our hearts to be full of giving, generosity, gratitude, service, and hard work, which is to say we wish to be made in the image of God. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”