Lesson 15: Loans, Gifts and Bribery; Psalms 15:5

INTRODUCTION: In the last study we learnt that a child of God must pay his vows at all cost and should not extort another person either by giving loan on interest or by underpaying his employees. Today, we want to talk about loans, gifts, and bribery as they affect God’s children.

1. What are things that God loaned to us? Can you name some of them. Is death the end of everything? Why must a Christian avoid wasting of time? Proverbs 27:1, Luke 12:19, Ephesians 5:15-16, Psalms 90:12, James 4:13-14, Isaiah 57:16, Eccl. 12:7. Everything we have is loaned to us by God including our time, life, soul and even the breath we breath. Death is surely not the end of everything and we must watch the way we spend these things loaned to us because we shall render an account one day to the Giver.

2. What is God’s stand on bribery? What about gifts, are we encouraged to receive all gifts? Does God accept gifts? Amos 5:12, Isaiah 33:15-17, Exodus 23:8, Deut. 10:17, Duet. 16:19, James 2:9, Prov. 28:21, Ezek. 13:19, Deut. 25, II Chronicles 19:7, Psalms 99:9, Psalms 33:1-3, John 4:24. Bribery is absolutely forbidden and not all gifts are acceptable either. This is because not all gifts are sincere and many have perverted justice because of gifts. Not all gifts are acceptable to God and in fact the only gifts that God will certainly not refuse is praise

CONCLUSION: Beware of gifts. Don’t give bribes and don’t accept it either. Learn to praise God always. Psalms 89:6. Will you like to praise him now?