What are some gifts I can give to God?
Deuteronomy 6:5“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”
Hosea 6:6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
1 Corinthians 13:8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
Seeking to love and know God more is the greatest gift we can offer him. He deserves our whole heart, our full devotion.
Psalm 51:17The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
We can give God our humbled spirits and repentant hearts.
1 Samuel 15:22Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
We can give God our obedience. When we obey him, we give him the gift of ourselves for his use. This shows God our commitment and devotion to him.
Revelation 1:6He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
We can give God glory. Our humble service and obedience bring honor and glory to God.
Matthew 25:34-36, 40“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ . . . And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
When we offer gifts to God’s children who are in need, we are offering gifts to him.
Psalm 54:6I will sacrifice a voluntary offering to you; I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
We can give God our offerings with a grateful heart. These offerings can include using our talents, abilities, and gifts for him, giving of our financial resources, ministering to those in need, and more.
Psalm 107:1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
We can give God our thanks.
Psalm 76:11Make vows to the Lord your God, and keep them. Let everyone bring tribute to the Awesome One.
We can give God fulfilled vows, a symbol of our commitment to him.
Exodus 35:22Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind as a special offering to the Lord.
Matthew 26:7-13While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head. The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”
We can give God our lavish worship.
Malachi 1:7-8“You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
1 Corinthians 16:2On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
We can give God our first and our best.
2 Chronicles 31:12The people faithfully brought all the gifts, tithes, and other items dedicated for use in the Temple. Conaniah the Levite was put in charge, assisted by his brother Shimei.
2 Corinthians 8:11-12Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.
2 Corinthians 9:7You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
We can give financially to God’s work.
2 Corinthians 8:5They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.
We can dedicate ourselves to God. Commitment is a pledge to always be there—like in a marriage. God has committed himself to us; we, in turn, commit ourselves to him, which is the basis for a trusting, eternal relationship.
Romans 12:1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
We can give our bodies to God. In other words, we dedicate our body to be used for good and not evil. We commit to taking good care of our bodies, which are the home of God’s Holy Spirit, just as we take care of God’s church. We do not allow impure and harmful things into our bodies because of the damage they can do. When we give our bodies to God, we receive the wonderful blessing of his Spirit working unhindered through us.
