Exodus chapter 25

2 Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.

This is another reference to the heart and about how God wants us to give from the heart, not the head. It's not a case of giving so as to impress the neighbours with our generosity, to make everyone think what a "good" person we are. God sees into our hearts, He knows our motives, our intentions, and He knows whether we are doing something for the right reasons or not. He doesn't want us to give because we feel obliged to, but to give because we want to, to show our thanks to God for all that He has done. So He tells Moses that He wants offerings from those whose hearts prompt them to give.

Sometimes, we get pressured into giving, when everyone else is giving, we feel obliged to do the same and are maybe made to feel selfish if we don't give. Like if we go to a conference and they take a "love" offering, then we end up feel pressurised into giving because everyone else is, and to not give would mean we weren't showing love.

Like tithing, this can be a difficult topic, something that brings out the best and worst in people, with many holding strong views. Any giving, whether it is to our own church, to a charity, to someone collecting on a street corner, or as part of an offering at a conference, should be from the heart, something we ask God about to see if He wants us to give. That is not a get out clause meaning we can tell ourselves that God has said no to making a donation though either. In all honesty, most people will know whether to give or not is the right thing to do and refusing to give because you really don't want to but claiming God told you so is just trying to hide your own motives. Similarly, feeling forced to give is not wants God wants for us either.

It's a case of being honest with ourselves, with others and with God. If we don't want to give, then tell God so. But don't try and dress it up with pious sounding words and explanations to try and make people impressed with your learning and erudition. God knows exactly what we are up to when we do this. And then when we do give, don't try to impress others with our generosity, our nobleness, our serving. Like Jesus says, it needs to be a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing and to give in secret, so that our Father in heaven who knows all things sees, rather than men here on earth. It’s a heart matter, and when our hearts are right with God, everything will flow from that.