[Kainos] Joy of GenerositySample

Giving for Life

After becoming an initial giver and then an intentional giver, the next step is to become a surrendered giver. This means that giving drives everything else in your life. Your debt, doubt, or discouragement doesn’t drive your giving decisions. You tell yourself, “I’m giving; I’ll figure everything else out from there.” What if you got to that place? What a crazy, awesome goal it would be for the largest check you wrote every month to be an act of generosity. Imagine if the largest item in your budget were giving to the Lord! That would be amazing. But you can at least set the goal of beating your cell phone and cable bills.

The last step in the generosity ladder is becoming a lifetime giver. This is where giving is a part of your legacy. They’re going to talk about it at your funeral. You want to preach it to your kids and grandkids. You want giving to be a hallmark statement of your life. Imagine the impact you could make through your generosity.

What is God asking from every single one of us? Simply this: take the next step. Wherever you are on the journey, take the next step. When you do that, you will find the joy of generosity.

That’s what happened with the giving for the building of the temple. In 1 Chronicles 29:9, we read, “Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders’ willingness to give, for they had given to the Lord wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.” There are four key concepts in that short verse: joyful, willing, wholehearted, and inspirational.

A giving heart is joyful, willing, wholehearted, and it inspires others to give, too. It does not matter if you are a homeless lady with just two dollars in cash or someone with a lot more in your pocket. Whatever you determine in your heart that you can give, do it now. Then you’ll experience the joy of giving, the way King David did, along with all his leaders, officials, and all the people of Israel.

God, I want to have a giving heart. Help me take the next step in my journey to generosity.

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