{"id":879,"date":"2019-02-13T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T06:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=879"},"modified":"2019-02-11T12:36:50","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T12:36:50","slug":"879","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/02\/879.html","title":{"rendered":"A Biblical Picture of Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoniu
niu niu<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP TEN: day 3<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Give back\u00a0<\/strong>and help others experience the freedom you now have<\/i><\/p>\n

In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, the people of Israel had been recently freed from exile in Babylon. Even though they were free from captivity, they were not living in freedom, immediately beginning to take advantage and enslaving their fellow man when possible. In Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah confronts the leaders of Israel and challenges them to overcome their self-centered tendencies and give back into the lives of others:<\/span><\/p>\n

So I called together a large meeting to deal with them\u00a0and said: \u201cAs far as possible, we have bought\u00a0back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!\u201d They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

So I continued, \u201cWhat you are doing is not right. Shouldn\u2019t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach\u00a0of our Gentile enemies?\u00a0I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest!\u00a0Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest\u00a0you are charging them\u2014one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will give it back,\u201d they said. \u201cAnd we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.\u201d Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath\u00a0to do what they had promised.\u00a0I also shook\u00a0out the folds of my robe and said, \u201cIn this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!\u201d At this the whole assembly said, \u201cAmen,\u201d\u00a0and praised the\u00a0Lord. And the people did as they had promised. <\/i>Nehemiah 5:7-13<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What are some of the biggest mindsets you\u2019ve had to change as you\u2019ve journeyed into freedom?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. What mindsets do you still need to change to live a life of freedom?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP TEN: day 3\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Give back\u00a0and help others experience the freedom you now have In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, the people of Israel had been recently…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[318,185,172],"class_list":["post-879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-freedom","tag-nehemiah","tag-old-testament"],"yoast_head":"\nA Biblical Picture of Giving Back - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nehemiah challenged the Jews in the Old Testament to start showing they were truly free by giving back to others.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Biblical Picture of Giving Back - 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