I came across this today in a discipleship session with a guy I have been meeting with. The topic of the day was stewardship, which means; one who acts as a supervisor or administrator, as of finances and property, for another or others.
One of the topics we discussed was the idea of giving and being generous. I thought this was helpful so I will share it here as well.
For most successful people, effectiveness is a key goal. A successful follower of Christ is concerned with being an effective giver. There are seven habits of effective givers that become apparent in Scripture.
Seven Habits of Highly-Effective Givers:
- Highly-effective givers give without drawing attention to themselves. They don’t want the attention of the church or its leaders. Their motivation is not to be viewed by others as generous. (Matthew 6:3-4)
- Highly-effective givers give regularly. They are aware that God is the supplier of all their resources and they willingly offer the best of all their increases back to God. (Proverbs 3:9-10).
- Highly-effective givers give cheerfully. They understand that their attitude in giving is more important than the amount of their gift. (2 Corinthians 9:7).
- Highly-effective givers give generously. They give above and beyond the expectations of church leaders and out of the overflow of their intense love for God and others. (2 Corinthians 9:6).
- Highly-effective givers give proportionally. They try to give back to God as much as they are able to, recognizing the tithe as the biblical benchmark for giving. When you tithe and give beyond it week by week you will deposit funds to your heavenly account. When you give to God first as much as you are able, you tend to treat all the rest of your possessions as more sacred before God. Finally, tithing is a preventative measure against depression. When you are faithful in giving, when tough times come you can sense victory and an increased faith, generous people are usually less depressed. (1 Corinthians 16:1-2 & 2 Corinthians 8:12).
- Highly-effective givers give locally. They gratefully support the local church ministries from which they receive spiritual encouragement, growth and benefit. They believe that the local church is the hope of the world. (Romans 15:25-29 & 2 Corinthians 8:1-3)
- Highly-effective givers give expectantly. They don’t just offer a donation to an organization. They give an offering to God, relying on His promise of provision and blessing to far exceed their expectations. (2 Corinthians 9:10-15).
Giving is a highly rewarding thing. I encourage you to start to pray about how God might want you to be more highly-effective in your giving.