Giving to God

1<21( who has ever doubted continued and incessant assertions that character, personality and behaviour are not genetically endowed but all in the upbringing must read the greasily story of one infamous 6outh Africa rapist, murderer, con artist and prison escapee named 7habo Bester 7his horrid guy¶s mother reportedly claimed that he was actu ally a product of rape :hether this is true or not, only the mother Nnows better. 7he mother also reportedly and unashamedly claimed that she actually dumped 7habo Bester with her mother his grandmother , when he was only Must a one year old, im agine 6he also reportedly revealed that her mother was so angry with her that she did not go bacN home to checN on 7habo forever ,n another instance, the mother reportedly and also contradictorily claimed that when she went bacN home to checN on him, 7habo Bester was always not available. According to police records and as reported, 7habo Bester has got a criminal record which begins from when he was Must about four years of age. By the time he was

years of age, 7habo was already an established and Nnown criminal, albeit one without a national identity card or document. ,t is heart rending and very heart breaNing and a very big shame that our national gov ernments do not want to listen to established behavioural sciences in dealing with such human and social ills as gender based violence, rape, murder, mass shooting, armed rob beries, political uprisings, social con flicts and all sorts of criminality and criminal behaviours.

According to a report of the ,nsti tute for (conomics and 3eace, the top safest countries in the world in as measured by their global peace index G3, are as follows At number . ,celand, . 1ew =ealand, . ,reland, . 'enmarN, . Austria, . 3ortugal, . 6lovenia, . &]ech 5epublic, 6ingapore, . Japan,

. 6wit]erland, . &anada, . +ungary, . )inland, . &roatia,

. Germany, . 1orway, . 0a laysia, . Bhutan, and . 6lovaNia. 7he 6outhern Africa 'evelopment &ommunity¶s Botswana is at number

, =ambia , 0alawi , 1amib ia , Angola , 0adagascar , 7an]ania , (swatini , /esotho , 6outh Africa , 0o]ambiTue , =imbabwe and '5& . 7he 8nited 6tates of America is paced at number , and the 8nited .ingdom at number . 7his is out of countries in this world. 7he pertinent Tuestion to be answered is that, are personal safety and security largely individual issues which can and must also be largely addressed at individual levels, or they are largely national and local community issues which can and must also be largely addressed at those levels as well? 7his is the most profound Tuestion to be answered in the Tuest to per

needs anything, but because we want to show our love for him.

Giving is an expression of obedi ence, yes, but also of gratitude, trust, and increasing Moy. God seeNs out and recognises those who worship him.

3eople say ³, want to give to God not man. 6o why give money in church?” )irst of all, God does not live physically on the earth. But +e has called +is church the ambassador of &hrist on earth. 6ee how +HEUHZV

witnesses that Jesus does receive tithes in +eaven though tithes are given here on earth.

³And here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.” ,t is wisdom to realise that God rec ognises and receives our giving, not manently rid ourselves, our countries and our communities of all sorts of crimes and criminality.

+erein, below is the correct answer to the above pertinent Tuestion. ,t all starts with the Nnowledge, realisa tion and awareness of the fact that character, personality and behaviour are not genetically inherited traits, but that they are all inadvertently, unintendedly and unNnowingly learnt and taught traits 7hese things are all learnt and taught both passively and actively, and are also actively acTuired through inadvertent expe rience and exposure from the very first instant after birth and through out one¶s life. 7o be blunt, it is us parents, guardians, relatives, friends, acTuaintances, nations and local communities at large who advert ently or inadvertently teach our very own children to be rapists, thieves, murderers, robbers and all sorts of other unpalatable criminal minded human beings.

APPARENTLY

'id you Nnow that? 0aybe not. And that is the point and also the problem or challenge, ladies and gentlemen. Apparently, we all do not Nnow that it is us adults who inadvertently teach our very own beloved children to either become criminals or to become good people, and yet every day we still do exactly Must that anyway, whether we Nnow it or not, liNe it or not, and whether we are aware of it or not, it does not matter. :e still do exactly Must that And this is our biggest problem or challenge, ladies and gentlemen, the first and foremost problem and challenge in this case, in fact. 8ntil

men. +ave you ever realised what the Bible says about giving to God? As &hristians, we are called to be faithful stewards of our possessions. 3salms say that the earth belongs to the /ord 3VDOP . As good stewards, one sure way we acNnowledge God¶s ownership is by giving.

WORSHIP

:hy should we give to God? Giv ing is an act of worship. :henever we decide to honor God through our giv ing, we acNnowledge +is ownership of our resources. 3URYHUEV says ³+onour the /ord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.” 7his helps boost our confidence in +im, Nnowing that +e is in control of everything. Giving advances the .ingdom of God. 7his should be the we all learn, Nnow, understand and believe in the fact that individual character, personality and behaviour are all insidiously, inadvertently or advertently, and intentionally or un intentionally taught and learnt traits, we shall never be able to provide solutions that worN to our perennial scourges of crime and criminality everywhere and anywhere in this world. ,t does not matter if it is in the )irst :orld or in the 7hird :orld. 7he difference is the same. But once we learn, Nnow, understand and believe this fact, we will then be home and dry in terms of finding, devising and prescribing the correct solutions to our scourges of rampant crime and criminality.

EMOTIONAL

7alNing from a highly emotional and very opinionated point of view of lacN of insight, Nnowledge and un derstanding about the actual causes, origins, genesis and mechanisms of crime, criminality and criminal mind edness is usually not very helpful at all. 0ore especially soon after such incidences as gruesome murders, rape and mass shootings have Must occurred. Just thinN about this, ladies and gentlemen. 'id you Nnow that by about two years of age, the human child would already have insidious ly, inadvertently, unNnowingly and unintentionally been taught, learnt, acTuired and mastered about per cent of the child¶s default character, personality and behaviour? And that a human child starts learning from the fist second or minute after birth? ,t is such expert Nnowledge and understanding of early childhood education, growth and development

heartbeat of giving for every &hristian. Our giving is a form of partnership with God with respect to the gospel. :hen we sponsor the gospel of &hrist, we are fulfilling the will of God concerning +is Ningdom.

RESOURCES

)inancial resources are important tools in advancing God¶s Ningdom. 7hrough financial sponsorship, the church is better able to proclaim the gospel in different locations, set up buildings, help the needy, poor, orphans and widows.

Giving frees us from the love of mon ey. 7LPRWK\ says ³&ommand those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly which is very, very important at all levels of society. )inally, did you Nnow that learning is automated and reflex based from birth to about seven years of age, and then it becomes predominantly memory based there after? And that automated or reflex learning is the one which gives the child its default, usual or fall bacN on character, personality and behaviour? And that ,t is this default character, personality and behaviour which we all automatically default bacN to in real life when push comes to shove? Obviously, it is deep rooted Nnowl edge and understanding of these facts about early childhood education, growth and development which are crucial in eliminating gender based violence, murder, rape, robberies and mass shootings from our countries and local communities. 7hese are the sort of things which lamentably no one wants to listen to or cares about. 1ot our politicians and also not even us the parents ourselves But once we Nnow, understand and believes in such truths, then the solutions to our crime and criminality challenges are all automatically cut out for us. +erein below are Must a few examples of what some of the safest countries on earth have done and also what we need to do ourselves, those of us who live in crime infested countries, in order to maNe our countries safer and more secure for all those who live in them. +ow one wish we would and could all do Must that

COMPULSORY

)irstly, there should be or must be legally put into place provisions for compulsory and free at point of access, prenuptial, antenatal and post natal education, training and certification of all parents on the nitty gritties of early childhood ed ucation, training, learning, growth and development. 6econdly, there should be or must be legally put into place provisions for compulsory and free at point of access preschool and Nindergarten education and training for all children from two years of age and up to and including the whole of primary school. 7hirdly, there should or must be legally put into place com pulsory educational syllabuses for the compulsory teaching and training of everyone right down from Nindergar ten throughout primary, secondary and tertiary education and well into adult life. ,f such is done and done meticulously to its true letter and spirit, then we shall all be able to get right of rape, murder, mass shootings, gun violence, theft, robberies and all sort of criminality from this world. Just what is so difficult about doing these things, ladies and gentlemen? Absolutely nothing 7here we have it now ,f any country does all of these things, then there would be very few cases of aberrant characters, personalities and behaviours in that country. 7hese things are national policy decision issues which can only be done or enforced by national governments. , rest my case.

provides us with everything for our enMoyment.”

7he Bible constantly warns us about the love of money. One effective way of releasing ourselves from the bondage and lust of the love of money is by giving. As good stewards of God, we are to taNe control of money not the other way round.

Giving encourages our trust in God. Our giving not only acNnowledges the lordship of God over our resources, it also increases our faith in +im. 7he condition of the heart is in such a way that it is always in despair. Giving helps us to breaN free of fear concerning our resources and to solely looN to God for provision. 0DODFKL ± ³Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.¶¶