Courageously Generous
Teaching Pastor; Staff Governing Elder; Staff Director
Courageous generosity requires a heart that is oriented around managing, not owning, the resources God has given us. It is a discipleship issue; it is our responsibility to steward well the resources he lends to us.
Study Questions
Courageous generosity requires a heart that is oriented around managing, not owning, the resources God has given us. It is a discipleship issue; it is our responsibility to steward well the resources he lends to us.Application
The expression of our generosity reveals what’s going on in our hearts—what we value, fear, have confidence in, and what makes us happy. Where are you most generous? Where do you fear missing out or not having enough? What do you think your spending reveals about your heart?
When we deplete ourselves of resources and cut something loose, it rights our heart and reframes reality. When have you felt what it is like to deplete yourself to bless someone else so that you have to trust God? How did this change your heart?
We are either fearful owners or fearless managers of our resources. If this were a spectrum, where do you think you would fall and why? In what area of your life do you find it most difficult to be a fearless manager?
Matt challenges us to hold possessions loosely acknowledging that God owns everything we have, to be careful with debt, and to start small with giving, even if our heart isn’t in it, because our hearts will follow. Where can you move in one of these areas this week?
Direction: Pray this week that God would help you see someone that no one else sees and that when you see them, God would tell you what to do to be generous to them. Let us deplete ourselves to care for someone else.
Key Points
In Matthew 6:24, we can see that money positions itself like a master in the way we relate to it—we either serve it or God.
With money, we are dealing with both fear and ownership.
Generosity is a symptom of hearts full of joy and eternal hope (2 Corinthians 8:1-9).
Be careful where you give and why you give. Sometimes we might give because it is where we are celebrated and recognized.
When you give to the local church, you are owning the cause of, joining in on, and partnering with the work we are doing together.
In the ministry world, it is easy to fake a lot about Christianity, but it is hard to fake generosity. When you give in private, no one cheers or celebrates you; it is a test of your soul.
If we cannot give, then we love ourselves more than we love God.
Giving is an act of worship. In eternity, our earthly possessions will have long vanished, but eternal investments will last.
We can give to other institutions, but the majority of our generosity should be to the local church—it is the only institution that covers us and our families for our whole lives.
If you have been blessed with an abundance of resources, you might think it is your job to control where all of your resources go; however, it is actually part of the discipleship of generosity that you release them and that others in authority are responsible for how they are used.