Principles of giving

I have recently been reading in my spare time some writings on giving. I have wanted to come to a better understanding what it means to give, why giving is important, being commanded to give, and how giving unfolds in a life that is strapped for cash. Reading many different resources on the topic of giving (with the help of one resource in particular) I have found 4 important principles for giving.

1)The Stewardship Principle
Nothing is my own. God owns everything single thing. God being the creator and then commander of the universe, means that He owns everything. My life is not my own. My house is not my own. My car is not my own. My paycheck is not my own. My education is not my own. My family is not my own. This means that it is my job to take care, steward, and be a wise manager of what is all God's. This means the clearest way I worship God and give to God is by being a wise, honorable, godly steward for Him.

2)The Treasure Principle
I was born naked with nothing. I will die naked with nothing. This means that I can't take anything with me and nothing material is eternal. I can however store up treasure for myself, by living a life of worship and giving to God. When I give to the work of God, I am storing up in heaven a treasure. When I pour my life into another person, I am giving to God and storing up in heaven. This means that I must live life with an open hand and think about life in the view of the eternal.

3)The Giving Principle
Since nothing is truly mine, and God commands me to give, the only things I get to keep are the things I give away. God has commanded me to give and tells that His children will give. This means that if I love Jesus, I will delight and desire to give. This also means that when I store up my treasures in heaven, that is what is truly mine. Since we live in the eternal, the giving of life is what we have. And it also shows that what I try to keep for myself, God, if I am His, will take it from my hands and give it to another, who will steward and give from it. God's children will live sacrificially and give at all cost, as much as they can.

4)The Source Principle
Since everything is God's, we can only store up treasures in heaven, and we are commanded to give, we are simply a conduit for God to give to others through us. We are simply instruments in the hand of God. God does not need us, but will use us if we let Him. So we must be open and ready for God to give through us. When we give, God is giving His resources through us. When God leads us to sacrifice greatly from ourselves, we are simply letting God give what is His through us in an act of worship. Giving means that it is God working through our worship to bless and give grace to others.