Sell what you have and give to the Needy

The Lord Jesus calls us to sell our possessions and give the money to poor people. When we do this we are building up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

OVERVIEW

The Lord Jesus commands us to give money to people who are poor.

We don’t just throw a few excess crumbs at them. Rather, we sacrifice to support them.

Sell Your Possessions

The Lord Jesus calls us to sell our possessions so that we can give even more money to poor people.

Many Christians try to explain this away. They spiritualize it. That is, they say we do not need to sell anything.

Rather, they say, we should have an “attitude of detachment.”

Give to the Poor

If there is any doubt as to what Jesus is commanding, he clarifies it.

After we sell ALL that we have, we are to distribute the proceeds to poor people.

An Example

A young man asked the Lord Jesus how to get eternal life. The Messiah replies:

Matthew 19:21. Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Do you give money to poor people? The Old Testament people do. They are marked by their generosity to the poor.

When we are generous to poor people, we are obeying a command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you want to grow as a disciple? Allow yourself to give more to poor people!

Summary

Those are aspects of the Christian spirituality of giving.

When we do this, we are laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

BIBLE VERSES

Exodus 25:3. This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, bronze,

Sirach 29:11. Bestow your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High; And it shall profit you more than gold.

Matthew 6:19. Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;

Matthew 6:20. but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;

Matthew 6:21. for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 19:21. Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Mark 10:21. Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”

Luke 12:33. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.

Luke 14:33. So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.

Luke 18:22. When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Acts 4:34. For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

James 5:3. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.

THE QUR’AN

Qur’an 3:92. You will not reach piety until you spend from what you love; and whatever you spend, God is aware of it.