more than we make . The truth is , if you are not willing to give , you are unable to live a contented life because you ’ re fixated on what money is going to provide . You ’ re looking for comfort , security , success , fame , recognition , or something else instead of being content with God . As such , you are focused on the gifts rather than the giver . Giving disrupts that mentality .
Giving is an acknowledgment of our dependency on the Lord . money . That ’ s great news ! Because generosity isn ’ t about money , this means anyone can be exceedingly generous . When we served in Brazil , for example , we were surrounded by a community of people who didn ’ t have much in terms of financial wealth , but they were unbelievably generous with the resources they did have . They were the perfect examples of what the Bible means when it says , “ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts . Use them well to serve one another ” ( 1 Peter 4:10 , NLT ). Simply put , generosity can be as easy as using whatever gifts you have to make other people feel loved .
Giving is an acknowledgment of our dependency on the Lord . By giving generously , we proclaim , “ I can give this freely because I trust the God who delivered it to me , and I can trust Him to do it again .” What a marvelous expression of faith ! And no , this is certainly not a “ give in order to get ” mindset . I ’ m not saying God rewards our giving by giving us even more in return . But I am saying that God honors our giving . When He sees us living in faith and putting our trust in Him rather than in the money He ’ s entrusted to us , we show Him that we can be trusted with more — if that is His will for us . Maybe it is , maybe it isn ’ t . That ’ s not for us to decide . All we can do is show ourselves to be trustworthy stewards of whatever He puts in our hands .
FOUR AREAS OF GENEROSITY We usually think of money when we talk about generosity , but money is only one part of it . There are other things we can be generous with , and those can be just as important as
Specifically , John and I like to focus our giving decisions on four key areas :
1 . Time : This is the one resource everyone gets in equal amounts . No one is wealthier or poorer with time than anyone else . We all get the same amount ; the only difference is how we each choose to use it .
2 . Talents : God has uniquely gifted each of us with special talents , and those talents must be managed and shared just as intentionally as our money .
3 . Resources : Money is certainly a resource ( and an important one ), but it ’ s not our only resource . How can we steward our relationships , personal network , education , life experiences , and so on in a way that serves others and honors God ?
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