Stop Giving God Your Leftovers — He's Asking for What's in the Safe

Every parent knows the pre-Christmas closet clean out — toss the old stuff, make room for the new. It feels generous. But what if that same instinct is quietly shaping the way we give to God? In this episode of Midweek Motivation, we take an honest look at what our sacrifices actually reveal about our hearts — and why God isn't after what we were planning to get rid of anyway.

Discover:

• The two very different heart postures behind the classic closet clean out
• What Abel and Cain's offerings in Genesis 4 reveal about sacrifice and the heart
• Why the widow's two coins in Mark 12 is the ultimate "toy chest vs. closet" moment
• The difference between giving from your closet versus unlocking your safe
• A practical, personal audit of what God might actually be asking you to give — time, money, gifts, relationships, control, and more
• Why some of the hardest sacrifices live inside wounds — and what to do with that

It's easy to give what we're ready to let go of. It costs us nothing — and deep down, we know it. But real sacrifice? That's what's locked in the safe. The thing you're protecting with everything you have because it matters. Your time, your plans, your relationships, your reputation, your need for control. God's not asking for your clutter. He's asking for your best. And the invitation today is to pause, pray, and ask Him honestly — what's He calling you to unlock?

Key Takeaways:

• God sees the heart behind the gift — not just the gift itself
• First and best is the standard Abel modeled, and it still applies today
• Giving from abundance is easy; giving from sacrifice is what honors God
• The "safe" represents whatever you're holding onto most tightly — that might be exactly what God is asking for
• This applies to more than money: time, gifts, relationships, rest, plans, reputation, and rights all count
• Surrender isn't loss — it's an invitation for God to do more than you could imagine

Question for you to think about:
What's in your safe right now — and what would it look like to unlock it and offer it to God?

If this episode challenged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. Drop a comment below: What's one area where God is calling you to give your best instead of your leftovers?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What it is that God's asking us to do is go back into the safe and unlock the things that are hidden in there that we're protecting with absolutely everything that we have because they're so very, very valuable to us. And so what does that look like for us today?

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Midweek Motivation Podcast, where we bring practical help for your faith and life. Here's today's episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Okay, I've heard this uh situation a couple of times. I think as parents, you might be really familiar with this um rhythm that we'll get into with our kids. It's like right before Christmas, right before our birthday, the closets are stuffed full of toys and things that the kids never mess with or that they've outgrown or whatever. And so it's time to clean out the closet. I think there are two motives behind this. Number one is as a parent, you want to clean out the clutter and get rid of the stuff that you're not going to use. But it's also a really, really great opportunity for number two to start to teach your kid what it generosity looks like to live open-handed, to live willing to share and to give to others. And I think that it's a really, really great rhythm or habit to get into as a parent. But there's also something that's really uh insightful to observe about it. And so we're gonna jump into that in this midweek motivation. So if we're looking at this from an honest situation and from a heart standpoint, again, there are um there's two um postures that we have. Number one, it's a posture of wanting wanting to clean out a space, and uh number two is the posture of wanting to teach our kids some uh uh open-handedness, some giving, some, you know, the desire to to teach them to um to be willing to sacrifice, to be willing to share. And uh, and there is really, really great things from both of those things. But when when we're looking at that process from the perspective of sacrifice, from the perspective of giving, or even from the perspective of sacrificing for God, um, I think that we can notice a couple of really um pivotal things when it comes to our own um our own faith in spiritual growth and and deepening with God. And and number one is is we're giving out of our leftover piles really. In that situation, we're sacrificing the things that we want to get rid of to begin with, right? And so that is the posture, the hard posture that we have as parents for sure. And potentially it could be um where the kids are starting from, which is completely understandable. But every once in a while, I've heard a story where a parent will share with me that they've done this with their kid, and can to their complete surprise, the kid has been so very um uh heartbroken or so very convicted, um, whatever it is that that motivation might be, that they decide that they want to give everything, just their whole closet, their whole toy chest, everything that they can that they can give, um, they want to give. And so I think it's uh it's really an interesting observation to make in light of um of sacrifice and what it is that God calls us to. Um, so we're gonna dive deeper into this, right? Okay, kids aren't the only ones who give from the closet. I think we do too, just as human beings, I think uh it can be a human nature, right? So in Genesis 4, um, I'm looking back and I'm doing some studying on this, and and I've just got to share that I've been very, very personally convicted of this myself. So um, there are two brothers, same family, same God, um, same day. Abel is the first one. He brought um hit uh the his sacrifice to God. Um, first and best. Cain, he brought some fruit, is what the Bible says. No such words, first and best, attached. Um, to be real honest, Genesis 4 doesn't spell out what it is that God um sees um out of Abel's offering that he doesn't see in Cain's, but he does say that Abel's offering was accepted and that it was good, um, and that um that Cain's was not. And I think that we can see that it was actually the heart behind the gift that Abel gives. As a matter of fact, um, we can act we can see that in Hebrews 11:4. Um, so as we dive in a little bit deeper, we can see so many different examples of um of what a worthy sacrifice is, as um as we watch all of the different stories of people shared in the Bible. If you're interested in looking at a couple more, there's um the story of the widow the widow in Mark 12, 41 through 44. Um, we see Jesus watching this woman um go and give her last two coins, and we see uh plenty of other people coming and giving as well, and they are more wealthy, and so they're giving some of their abundance, but this woman gives everything that she had. And I think that that's a beautiful example of you know the toy chest versus the closet. And so um, as we are challenged by what a positive or what a good and worthy offering is to Jesus, I think the question that I would ask us is are we um are we pulling from our closet? Are we pulling from our toy chest? And are those the things that um that are the worthy offering to God? Are they the the things that um that are things that we're willing to let go of? Are they things that we're willing to sacrifice, or are they things that we planned on getting rid of anyway? You know, that's the the challenge that I'm personally um grabbing a hold of myself and personally convicted of. What does this look like for us, practically speaking? You know, what does it look like for us to not just go into our closets and get rid of the things that we want to get rid of anyway, the clutter, the stuff that's not beneficial to us, but what does it look like to sacrifice the real valuable things? Maybe it's not that we're getting rid of things in our toy chest or a closet, but maybe what it is that God's asking us to do is go back into the safe and unlock the things that are hidden in there that we're protecting with absolutely everything that we have because they're so very, very valuable to us. And so what does that look like for us today? I think we can see that in every single facet of life. I think we can see it in our calendar and in the time that we invest. Um, does does God get the first of our time? Does he get the best of our time, or does he get what's left over? Um, I think that we can see that in our financial resources. Um, personally convicted in this myself, and I feel like God has really been working over time in our family to really flush out what it looks like to be a good steward of my resources. Do I give him my first? Do I give him off the top? Or do I give him just the things that are left over after all of the things that are important to me are covered? Um, how about my gifts and my talents? How about our gifts and talents? Am I using what I'm good at where God wants me to use it, or only where it pays or um where it flatters me? Like that's a that's a huge thing to consider, right? What about relationships? As a mom, this is a huge one for me. Um, as a friend, as a daughter, um, as a um as a leader, even. There are so many places where um I think there is a a tendency for us to grab a hold of relationships and hold tight to the things that we hold dear. And I remember when my kids were getting ready to go for college and getting ready to go live their own lives, the tendency as a parent is to is to hold them back and to and to want to keep them protected and to want to keep them close when in all actuality what God's calling us to do is to release them into the purpose that He has for them. Are we willing to make that sacrifice? What about our own selves? What about our rest? What about our appetite, our health? Are we stewarding those things in the way that God would call us to? Are we offering them to him as he would ask us to? How about our mind? What about the things that we're thinking about? What about our reputation? What about how other people see us? Do we care more about that or do we care more about what God calls us into? Um, what about our plans and our ambitions? Um what about our grievances? What about our rights? A right that we might feel to get even. Um what about control over our outcomes of a situation? Um, that's a long list of things. And it could be that you connect with something in there very specifically. It could be that there's something else that God's calling you to sacrifice, to give over to him, that would be a good and worthy sacrifice. And um, so my challenge to us today is to grab a hold of whatever it is that God's calling us to sacrifice today. So pause and think and work with God and pray with him, um, pray to him and ask him for guidance on what it is that he's calling you to pull out of the safe, to unlock that safe and to let it go and to offer it as a sacrifice to him. All right. I would love for us to end this one with prayer. Father God, I just pray that you would be with every individual who is watching this um this podcast right now. I pray that that um that you would be working in them. I pray that you would be drawing them into you. I pray for uh clarity on what it is that you're asking for uh asking us to sacrifice for you, Lord. I pray that you would give us um the um clarity on how to do that, Lord. I pray that you would give us wisdom and discernment. I pray that you would give us um just the ability to surrender or let go of whatever that is that you're asking for us to give to you, Lord. Sometimes these things are challenging because they um they live in wounds. Sometimes they're challenging because they're something that's just so very, very precious to us, Lord. Let us submit and surrender to you those things that you might be able to use them for even greater things than we could possibly imagine. We love you, Lord, and we know that it glorifies you and um and thank you so much that we get to be a part of that in Jesus' name, amen. All right, guys, thanks for joining us on this week's Midweek Motivation, and we'll catch you next week.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Midweek Motivation. To make sure you don't miss any content in the future, please subscribe, share, and if you enjoyed this, give us a like and consider popping by a Westside service some weekend. You can find out more at Westside Community Church.com.