When you choose to live without God, it's easy to lose that awareness of Him and start making choices that aren't aligned with His ways. Maybe you haven't truly encountered Him yet. Our hearts can be so deceitful, always looking for ways to satisfy our own twisted desires, driven by that inner restlessness.
The only way to live a righteous life is to keep God's word close to your heart and follow His will. That's how genuine goodness grows from deep within.
God isn't pleased when offerings are misused. They should be used to grow His work and spread the Gospel to everyone, fulfilling the command He gave us. Prayer is key to making sure your offerings are used the right way and that you're following God's leading.
And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, is obligated.'
"Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
And walk not in the customs of the nations which I drive out from before you; for they have done all these things, and I have abhorred them:
and I said to you, You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from all people.
And you shall make a distinction between the clean and the unclean cattle, and between clean and unclean birds; and you shall not defile your souls with cattle, or with birds, or with any creeping things of the earth, which I have separated for you by reason of uncleanness.
You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a calf or a sheep, in which there is a blemish, or any evil thing; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised the others:
Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, I tithe on all things, as many as I acquire.'
And the tax collector, standing far away, would not so much as lift his eyes towards heaven, but beat on his chest, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
Let each one give just as he decides in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Will a man insult God? For you insult Me. But you say, How have we insulted You? In that the tithes and firstfruits are with you still.
Therefore if you offer your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood which she had."
And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his sheep and of his fatlings. And God looked upon Abel and his gifts,
but Cain and his sacrifices He regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell.
A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My fear? Says the Lord Almighty. You the priests are they that despise My name: yet you said, In what way have we despised Your name?
In that you bring to My altar polluted bread; and you said, In what way have we polluted it? In that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and that which was set on it you have despised.
For if you bring a blind victim for sacrifices, is it not evil? And if you bring the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to your ruler, and see if he will receive you, if he will accept your person, says the Lord Almighty.
your freewill offerings shall be males without blemish of the herds, or of the sheep, or of the goats.
They shall not bring to the Lord anything that has a blemish in it, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And it was so after some time that Cain brought a sacrifice to the Lord of the fruits of the earth.
And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his sheep and of his fatlings. And God looked upon Abel and his gifts,
but Cain and his sacrifices He regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell.
And if there be in it a blemish, if it is lame or blind, (an evil blemish) you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
They shall not bring to the Lord anything that has a blemish in it, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And whatsoever man shall offer a peace-offering to the Lord, discharging a vow, or in the way of freewill offering, or an offering in your feasts, of the herds or of the sheep, it shall be without blemish for acceptance: there shall be no blemish in it.
One that is blind, or broken, or has its tongue cut out, or is troubled with warts, or has a malignant ulcer, or tetters, they shall not offer these to the Lord; neither shall you offer any of them for a burnt offering on the altar of the Lord.
For if you bring a blind victim for sacrifices, is it not evil? And if you bring the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to your ruler, and see if he will receive you, if he will accept your person, says the Lord Almighty.
In that you bring to My altar polluted bread; and you said, In what way have we polluted it? In that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and that which was set on it you have despised.
And if you will sacrifice a peace-offering to the Lord, you shall offer it acceptable from yourselves.
And you said, These services are troublesome: therefore I have utterly rejected them with scorn, says the Lord Almighty: and you brought in torn victims, and lame, and sick: if then you should bring an offering, shall I accept them at your hands? Says the Lord Almighty.
And cursed is the man who had the power, and possessed a male in his flock, and whose vow is upon him, and who sacrifices a corrupt thing to the Lord: for I am a great King, says the Lord Almighty, and My name is glorious among the nations.
And Samuel said, Does the Lord take as great pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? Behold, obedience is better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, for they offer them wickedly.
It shall be to you a lamb unblemished, a male of a year old. You shall take it from the lambs or from the goats.
you shall offer to Me their grain offering. They shall be to you unblemished, and you shall offer their drink offerings.
Of what value to Me is the abundance of your sacrifices? Says the Lord; I am full of whole burnt offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats;
neither shall you come with these to appear before Me; for who has required these things at your hands? You shall no more tread My court.
Though you bring fine flour, it is futile; incense is an abomination to Me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your Sabbaths, and the great day;
Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you, you princes of Israel; remove injustice and misery, execute judgment and justice; take away oppression from My people, says the Lord God.
You shall have a just balance, and a just measure, and a just bath for measure.
And looking up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.
And He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all.
For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood which she had."
And the Lord has said, This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and they honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; and in vain do they worship Me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
Why do you bring Me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a land afar off? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not been pleasing to Me.
'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and they honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.
And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' "
But do not forget the doing of good and generosity, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell your grain offerings in your general assemblies.
Wherefore if you should bring Me your whole burnt sacrifices and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I have respect to your grand peace offerings.
Remove from Me the sound of your songs, and I will not hear the music of your instruments.
The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, but the prayers of them that walk honestly are acceptable to Him.
With what shall I reach the Lord, and lay hold of my God most high? Shall I reach Him by whole burnt offerings, by calves of a year old?
Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? Should I give my first born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Has it not been told you, O man, what is good? Or what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord your God?
"Take care not to be doing your charitable giving before men, so as to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have not a reward from your Father in heaven.
Whenever therefore you do charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by men. Assuredly I say to you, they receive their reward in full.
But when you do charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your charitable giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will Himself reward you openly.
For if You desired sacrifice, I would have given it; You will not take pleasure in whole burnt offerings.
Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the more important things of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These things you should have done, and not have neglected the others.
Take of yourselves an offering for the Lord: everyone that engages in his heart shall bring the firstfruits to the Lord - gold, silver, brass,
And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and was observing how the crowd was putting money into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in much.
Then one poor widow came and put in two lepta, which equals a quadrans.
And having summoned His disciples, He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who are putting into the treasury.
For they all put in out of their excess, but this woman, out of her destitution, put in everything she had, her whole livelihood."
you also, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A Psalm of David. Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in my innocence; and hoping in the Lord I shall not be moved.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; purify as with fire my mind and my heart.
And though I give away all my possessions to feed the poor, and though I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Therefore, brothers, I exhort you through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your intelligent service.
And cursed is the man who had the power, and possessed a male in his flock, and whose vow is upon him, and who sacrifices a corrupt thing to the Lord: for I am a great King, says the Lord Almighty, and My name is glorious among the nations.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for what a man sows, this also he will reap.
For he who sows to his flesh, from his own flesh will reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap everlasting life.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it in gratifying your lusts.
For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some by aspiring have strayed away from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these things oppose each other, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Keep your foot, whenever you go to the house of God; and when you are near to hear, let your sacrifice be better than the gift of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.
Be not hasty with your mouth, and let not your heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.
Who shall go up to the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?
He that is innocent in his hands and pure in his heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.
Will a man insult God? For you insult Me. But you say, How have we insulted You? In that the tithes and firstfruits are with you still.
And you do surely look off from Me, and you insult Me.
The year is completed, and you have brought all the produce into the storehouses; but there shall be the plunder thereof in its house: return now on this behalf, says the Lord Almighty, see if I will not open to you the torrents of heaven, and pour out My blessing upon you, until you are satisfied.
whether exhorting, in the exhortation; whether sharing, with simplicity; whether leading, with diligence; whether showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
For if there is first a readiness, it is acceptable according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
For I do not mean that others should be relieved and you burdened;
but by way of equality, that now at the present time your abundance may supply their need, that their abundance also may supply your need, in order that there may be equality.
As it is written, "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack."
But a certain man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.
And he kept back for himself from the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and placed it beside the feet of the apostles.
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit, and for you to keep back for yourself from the price of the land?
While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, was it not in your control? Why have you purposed this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying concerning his gifts; and through it, although he died, he still speaks.
On the first day of the week let each one of you put something aside, storing up whatever he may prosper, in order that there be no collections when I come.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things which are written in the book of the law, to do them."
Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away my eyes that I may not behold vanity; revive me in Your way.
Jesus said to him, "If you desire to be perfect, go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to put their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who provides all things richly for us to enjoy,
to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing,
storing up for yourselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold of eternal life.