Recently, I read about a man who was very sick, and he knew that he would not be able to be there for his wife for much longer. As part of his final preparations, he scheduled flower deliveries for his wife on each of their special days including their anniversary, her birthday, and Valentine’s Day. After his passing, his daughter received a detailed email to ensure that his wishes were carried out. He cared for his wife so much that he scheduled flower deliveries for the rest of her life.
This is a captivating story of a man’s love for his wife, even extending beyond his lifetime. I share this story to make the point that nobody looks in at that story and says, “love should be spontaneous…scheduling all those deliveries just takes the love and joy right out of it.”In fact, it is the opposite.
Scheduling signaled the significance of his love and care for her.
How does this relate to tithing? In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Paul encourages the church to make a plan and set aside a little bit every week to give to the mission. When we think about the act of giving, we can often feel that giving must be spontaneous, or if we are giving on a schedule then it is somehow less spiritual or less God-honoring. I would argue, however, that the opposite is true. When we schedule our giving, we signal that it is important to us and that we care about God’s command to be generous.
Last week during the tithing project, we considered how the gospel should inspire our generosity. I’ll leave you with this thought. From the very beginning, God planned the greatest love story and rescue mission ever known. He knew man would sin, and he planned to send Jesus to die in our place. The greatest act of love was carefully planned, even from the foundation of the world.
