What is God asking me to do?

First and foremost, we should always be asking where God is calling us to give. Be sensitive to those “God nudges” that ask you to notice someone, to give. An older gentleman, one of the most generous people I know, said that when he’s in a position for spontaneous generosity, he’s found he needs to obey those God nudges within 10 seconds, otherwise his more logical brain will talk himself out of it. Of course, this doesn’t mean to give to everything that pulls your emotional strings—instead, it’s about very intentionally and carefully listening for God’s voice. 

And God isn’t always asking you to give money. Sometimes it would be more helpful to give in another way—take someone out to coffee (time), babysit their kids (service), help them set up a budget (talent), repair electrical wiring (skills), lend them your car (resources), introduce them to a friend whose company is hiring (influence), etc.

What if the recipient doesn’t use my gift wisely?

Again, it goes back to listening to God’s voice. If God placed that person on your heart, He has a reason for your gift and you can trust Him with it. After all, we must first remember God’s grace toward us—an undeserved gift. God gave us His Son knowing that we did not deserve it and would so many times not use His gift well. And yet, He gave anyway.

Also, the gift you’re thinking about making is God’s money or God’s resource in the first place. Since God owns it all, your credit cards belong to Him. He’s just given us some of His credit cards to manage for a little while. So, if God asks us to use His credit card to love on one of His people, God will take care of the results.

God sees the whole picture and has a purpose for your gift, even if it appears the recipient did not use the gift well. Maybe the act of giving is for your own heart, for someone else watching, or for the recipient later on down the road. I read a story recently about a woman who didn’t have money for a bus pass, so a gentleman gave her twenty dollars. At the time, she was a raging alcoholic, so she spent the money and got drunk. However, the memory of the gift always stayed with her, and eventually was one of the reasons she is now sober and tries to serve others.

But what about being a good steward? 

There definitely is a balance. God calls us to be good stewards and to use the resources He has given us wisely. Many generous givers will tell you they have developed giving guidelines or have specific types of ministries they believe they are called to support. They typically use the majority of their resources like a spear—to specifically and strategically support a few ministries and causes God has laid on their hearts. Good stewardship does call us to thoughtfully give of our resources.

However, most generous givers will also tell you about the importance of spontaneous or undedicated giving. Spontaneous giving is spur-of-the-moment giving, like when your waitress mentions she’s expecting a baby and her husband just got laid off. Undedicated giving is when you give to your church or a ministry and don’t place any restrictions on where the gift should go.

These two types of giving are what Pastor Rick Warren calls the “good for your heart” giving.  As you listen to God, you’ll find that these kinds of giving are just as important because they help your heart let go of control as you experience the joy of generosity.

In all, generosity is not a set formula. It’s not giving your 10% and assuming God is now pleased with you. It’s not about giving in a certain way or to certain people at the right times. It is a journey and it is about listening to God’s voice along the way.

For more stories on how real people have dealt with these issues on their generosity journeys, purchase “The Generosity Bet” today.

1. Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

“Two things I asked of You. Do not refuse me before I die: keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” – Proverbs 30:7-9

“Everybody talks about the Prayer of Jabez, but you ought to learn to pray the Prayer of Agur where he says, ‘Lord don’t let me become too poor or too rich, but just give me what I need.’

“…I believe there’s a direct connection between maturity and money, between spiritual power and possession, between how much God is able to bless me and how good a money manager I am. And if God cannot trust you with material blessing, He’s not going to give you spiritual power. And I’m far more interested in the power and the anointing and the blessing of God.”

2. Craig & April Chapman, INRIX 

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” – Malachi 3:10

“Our goal in life–and our security–was all about financial independence and worldly success. But things changed when April and I [Craig] were married in 1994. We had both been previously married, and both brought significant debt into our marriage. But, in spite of our difficult financial situation, our opinion of biblical giving changed very quickly. April was introduced to Malachi 3:10 and shared with me that it is the only place in the Bible where God asks us to test Him. We both knew in our hearts that if we truly loved God, it was only right that we obey His command to give.”

3. Alan Barnhart, Barnhart Crane & Rigging

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” – I Timothy 6:9

“I had a natural tendency, maybe everyone does, to want more stuff, to want nice stuff. I wanted to counteract that, not only for myself, but also for my family. When my family and I looked at going into business, we saw as a dangerous thing if we succeeded. So we decided, ‘Let’s not do this unless we put some safeguards in our lives to make this business a positive thing rather than a negative.’ We set out not to get rich. We set out to avoid becoming rich.”

4. Henry Kaestner, Sovereign’s Capital 

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” – II Corinthians 8:9

“A friend challenged me to answer why I gave. I said something about God giving us a lot so we wanted to give back. However, in the back of my mind, I was thinking that my wife and I were probably giving 20% now—double tithing. There’s probably a place in Heaven for the double-tithers. And I was thinking that God would be happy with our giving because He needed our money to fund things that weren’t being funded. Ultimately, it was bad theology.

“That question brought me back to passages like 2 Corinthians 8:9 where it explains the difference between wealth and poverty. God took two loaves and five fish and fed two thousand. He doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts.”

5. Vince Elliott, Fortiter Wealth Management

“Otherwise you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” – Deuteronomy 8:18

“I’m a financial advisor who thinks money isn’t very important. In fact, I think wealth may be more dangerous to your family than a blessing. My role in client’s lives is to help them keep money in its proper place and help clients pursue their true roles. I know the man you claim to be, and I’m going to walk alongside you to help you remain that man because money will change who you are. The only way to keep that from happening is to hold wealth with an open hand.”

What verses have shaped your understanding of generosity?