Philippians 4:17
I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account
In verse 11, Paul said, "I am not saying this because I am in need," and here he says, "I do not say this because I am seeking a gift."
In verse 11, he provided a window into who he is and how he has learnt contentment. Now, he said something different: he is referring to this church's spiritual account.
That is what I have been sharing: that what we do to other believers has a promised reward.
We see Jesus say, in Matthew 6:20, "accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven."
It's like someone in a foreign land sending money to his bank account in his home of origin, the place of his permanent abode, rather than spending it all in the foreign land, where he has only a limited time, versus the native land/eternal home.
Paul has said, "But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20-21)." He also spoke against those who mind earthly things and whose god is their belly (Philippians 3:19).
Jesus said:
“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
The point is that treasures on earth do not retain their value and have limitations. Jesus also wants our hearts set on heaven, not on earth (Colossians 3:1-2). He is not against accumulating wealth, just the heart behind it, and why that needs to be examined.
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. (Luke 16:9)
That may mean that giving would allow you to connect with people on earth that you would not otherwise have, and that connection would last for eternity.
The worldly wealth runs out because, as Paul wrote, we brought nothing to this world and would take nothing out (1 Timothy 6:7).
All these are about acts of charity and how their effects extend beyond the immediate act. That may be what Paul is saying with this focus verse: the treasure in heaven, the crediting to their heavenly account.
Not so that they can lay some claim to sowing to reap multiples, like sowing 10 to get 100 on this side of heaven. It's not a money-doubling gimmick. It's a recognition that God is "not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints." (Hebrews 6:10).
And that brings me to the issue of motivation. Meaning, why you do something is important. If I do something because of the benefits I am going to get, how is that love, because, according to Paul, love is not self-serving (1 Corinthians 13:5)?
If I give to receive, it is self-seeking. If I am fixated on, or made to fixate on, how my giving is tied to my receiving, it is not good.
In that same passage, Paul said, without love, what I do does not bring me profit (no credit to my account).
If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
That means giving to receive may mean you will not receive in the ultimate sense. That means those who think they are helping by fixating us on the receiving may be achieving the opposite result.
And for the people who Jesus said saw Him naked and helped Him, they did so out of love, not as a gimmick (Matthew 25:40). We should cultivate a heart of love, not a gimmicky existence in which we calculate how we will benefit from what we do.
I know someone who helps less privileged children. She told me she does so, so her children will also receive help.
That is a gimmick and not love. She should have helped and then prayed that God send her children help, leaving it to God's generosity alone.
But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)
Helping others should not be used as a gimmick. Don't say I help the homeless so that I would not be homeless. Help the homeless for the sake of the homeless and not as a gimmick. Do it for their own sake, because you have a heart of love and are concerned about them, and entrust yourself to God.
Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Giving/helping should not be an extension of your love for control of outcomes.
That easily crosses the line into what Isaiah called our own righteousness, which he said is not different from menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6).
But this is what a whole Christian subculture is built upon. They preach that you should do things because of what you will get, that you should do that deliberately. If not, they say you may lose your reward because you would be weak in faith. They are calling up and down. Sad!
But what Paul is talking about in this verse is passive; they are doing things, and they would receive the benefit in the ultimate scheme of things.
They do not need to do anything extra; they do not need any list of things to confess, any teaching to listen to.
And just as Jesus said that the one who helps a fellow believer will get their reward when He comes back (Matthew 25:31-46), there are things you are doing that are attracting credit to your heavenly account. That is what I am saying.
Paul, in the same vein, said that we would all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and would be rewarded for what we have done while in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10).
That is serious. We do not see the full reward now, but it's coming. Now we have credit abounding in our heavenly account. Hallelujah!
