Giving It All Away…And Getting It All Back AgainSample

Journey into Generosity At the core of any meaningful life and legacy has to be a vision for generosity, an understanding of what it means to be a blessing for others. The value of giving to church, to mission, to people must first be modeled, then taught so that the next generation embraces generosity as their calling. Once a person embraces a concept, like generosity, as their own, then it’s much easier to understand the responsibility attached to it. In my own journey, I’ve discovered that the timing of generosity reveals your heart to God. That step of writing the check or hitting the “donate” button online can seem daunting. But it all comes down to trust. Do I really trust that God is the same God who stayed Abraham’s hand from slaughtering his son and provided a ram in the thicket for the sacrifice? If my answer is yes, then that carries consequences. Good ones, too. It means that as a consequence of God’s provisional faithfulness, I can take joy in giving even in hard times. Often, God just wants us to take the first step. It can be as simple as making a plan to get out of debt or a plan to support a missionary family for a decade. It’s the first step. Once we commit, I’ve found that God is quick to reveal himself in that endeavor. It doesn’t matter whether we give out of wealth or humble circumstance. God can’t wait for us to step into the joy of generosity. We just need to trust him and take that first step. Application: Was there a time you knew God wanted you to do something hard and with extreme faith? Did you go through with it, or did you end up regretting not doing it?