How God Taught me to Give part 2

In my previous article I shared how people taught me to give. I experimented and tried to give as much as I could in that year. On my own, there are times when giving stems from a selfish heart. Other times, I preferred to be self-indulgent and spend on myself.

Some lessons I learnt from the experiment were that to make generosity a lifestyle, it had to be permeate your choices, daily and consciously.

2 Cor9:6-9
 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

Oftentimes, this passaged has been used in several ways and many times it has caused discomfort in many hearers. Yet this passage is fundamental to our understanding of being in a generous lifestyle.
Being of good cheer
To be generous over the course of your life, there must be some way of doing it in a sustainable practical way. Avoid giving out of compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. (2cor9:7). How then do we build cheer? Ps 37:3-7 gives us some clue. Trusting in Him, Delighting in Him and Committing our way to him. Spend time in the Lord and enjoy his presence (ie: Delighting). Let him fill your cheer and contemplate on His cross and his generous love that he was willing to die and save us.

Intentionality, Discipline, Consistency,
In the earlier part of 2 Cor 9, in verses 1-5, he told the more affluent Corinthian Christians to be prepared with a love-gift to honour and serve the poverty stricken Macedonian Christians. They were legendary in their selfless giving despite being in poverty. Our generousity-inclined lifestyle has to be an intentional choice. It must become a discipline to give often, consistently. For that, like every other aspect of our lives, we have to plan for it.

Stewarding and budgeting for this lifestyle:
In my city, there is an annual shopping marketing blitz called the Great Singapore Sale or affectionately known as GSS.
To really incorporate generousity into our lifestyle, we have to budget for it. Using GSS as a simple acronym, here is some ways to be generous often, and consistently.
G- Give
Decide on an amount or percentage of your monthly income & time that you hope to use to give. This is over and above your tithe. The new testament principle does not give a percentage but simply “be generous”. Find people around who will be blessed and ultimately be intentional that each gift is a worship and to let people know about Jesus.
S-Save
As stewards of God’s money, save to the glory of God. Saving is pragmatic, and will allow us to have a simple life, but also, save with the intention that if God calls you to begin your calling, you are able to begin immediately with the financial resources He allows you to steward.
S-Spend
Spend prudently as a wise steward, knowing that our resources are His and each endeavor with our finances is a testament to who Christ is in our lives.

So let our stewardship and lifestyle veer towards generousity but each step, delighting in God, delighting and being of good cheer, enjoying the process of giving as our daily worship to those in need, and people we meet.