H7 Story: Joyfully Pursuing Generosity
H7 Story – “Joyfully Pursuing Generosity”
Editor’s Note: To piggyback from last week’s sermon, “H5: Pursue Generosity Because the Work is Great, For it is Not for Man but for the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:1-22), we asked a couple veteran FCCers to anonymously share their story of learning to pursue generosity. While some biographical and timing details have been significantly changed in order to keep their identities anonymous, the salient points are all true and accurate.
“Please, Lord, anyone else.” I really didn’t want to write this. For at least 3 days after being asked, I talked myself into and out of yes and no, of being honored and offended, at least a dozen times, and I hadn’t even told my wife about it yet!
But after praying and thinking about it, I told her and she instantly said, “Yeah, sure!” So, I guess that was God saying, “Just write it already” Since God has taught me over the years to listen to my wife and that others are helped by hearing about our own stories of struggle and growth, we offer ours to you in the hope that you are helped.
When we got married many eons ago, we wanted to make sure we “started out right” by faithfully contributing to our church. We had both grown up in church and we knew it was important. On Sundays, we were the little kids putting our quarter into the plate that Mom and Dad had handed us on the way into church. I remember thinking, “This sure could buy a lot of candy!” Despite that, we knew giving to the church was an important part of helping fund its staff, programs, ministries, and missionary endeavors, and even an important part of living out our Christian faith.
So we did what seemed natural and reasonable. We began to put together our budget based on all the normal things we knew we needed—housing, food, transportation, insurance, healthcare, pets, misc/unexpected, fun, etc.—and then we took out for savings, retirement, investments, and a couple other long-term goals.
After these “big rocks,” we then started throwing out ideas about what would be a stretch for us in our church giving. We settled on $25 a week, to start. Back then, $25 a week felt like a lot to us. Plus, we were young, just starting out in our new jobs, and we had some big plans for our money. I’d like to think that we prayed about it, after the fact, but I don’t think so.
Over the years, as God blessed us with children, promotions at our jobs, and additional responsibilities and resources, we increased our regular giving a few times and gave to other church needs we felt led to help with. That seemed like plenty.
Well, after we came to FCC, we were consistently challenged to think “intentionally” about our Christian life and occasionally even our giving. This wasn’t exactly new for us, but God had plans for our growth we didn’t know when we first came.
I remember during one particular sermon, back in the dark ages when Scott went only about 30 minutes, that he was writing on a whiteboard about how most Americans approach their church giving. “They Spend first, Save second, and then Give if there’s anything left,” and he had those 3 words listed from top to bottom, “Spend, Save, Give,” and then gave percentages to each, the main one I remember being that the average American Christian contributes around 2% of their regular income to their church. And then he said something I’ll never forget: “Your checkbook is a theological document about your life’s priorities” and that Christians who are being “intentional” will flip this order to “Give first, Save second, and Live on the rest.” I knew he had described us in the first category of Spend, Save, Give, and that we were not as “intentional” as we’d thought. That very moment I resolved that we would learn to Give first, Save second, and Live on the rest. We could no longer allow “what seemed natural and reasonable” to guide us but that we needed to ask God first what He wants us to do with His resources.
Since then it has slowly become a habit of thinking, praying, talking, and learning together about biblical financial stewardship that learns contentment and builds security through Give, Save, Live. No, it hasn’t been easy. But it has been good!
Now, at the end of every year, when we get raises or promotions, or even throughout the year as side hustles or windfalls happen, or when other needs arise, each time it’s as if God is prompting us to take stock of what He has blessed us with. We have recently decided to stop 3-4 subscriptions and services we can do without in order to increase our weekly church giving for 2024 and have a little more in our “Who Needs This Lord?” fund. It’s fun to help people and contribute to God’s work in the church!
We want to share our story because we have learned the joy of sacrificing for the cause of Christ in a way that has deepened our love for His sacrifice for us.
But after praying and thinking about it, I told her and she instantly said, “Yeah, sure!” So, I guess that was God saying, “Just write it already” Since God has taught me over the years to listen to my wife and that others are helped by hearing about our own stories of struggle and growth, we offer ours to you in the hope that you are helped.
When we got married many eons ago, we wanted to make sure we “started out right” by faithfully contributing to our church. We had both grown up in church and we knew it was important. On Sundays, we were the little kids putting our quarter into the plate that Mom and Dad had handed us on the way into church. I remember thinking, “This sure could buy a lot of candy!” Despite that, we knew giving to the church was an important part of helping fund its staff, programs, ministries, and missionary endeavors, and even an important part of living out our Christian faith.
So we did what seemed natural and reasonable. We began to put together our budget based on all the normal things we knew we needed—housing, food, transportation, insurance, healthcare, pets, misc/unexpected, fun, etc.—and then we took out for savings, retirement, investments, and a couple other long-term goals.
After these “big rocks,” we then started throwing out ideas about what would be a stretch for us in our church giving. We settled on $25 a week, to start. Back then, $25 a week felt like a lot to us. Plus, we were young, just starting out in our new jobs, and we had some big plans for our money. I’d like to think that we prayed about it, after the fact, but I don’t think so.
Over the years, as God blessed us with children, promotions at our jobs, and additional responsibilities and resources, we increased our regular giving a few times and gave to other church needs we felt led to help with. That seemed like plenty.
Well, after we came to FCC, we were consistently challenged to think “intentionally” about our Christian life and occasionally even our giving. This wasn’t exactly new for us, but God had plans for our growth we didn’t know when we first came.
I remember during one particular sermon, back in the dark ages when Scott went only about 30 minutes, that he was writing on a whiteboard about how most Americans approach their church giving. “They Spend first, Save second, and then Give if there’s anything left,” and he had those 3 words listed from top to bottom, “Spend, Save, Give,” and then gave percentages to each, the main one I remember being that the average American Christian contributes around 2% of their regular income to their church. And then he said something I’ll never forget: “Your checkbook is a theological document about your life’s priorities” and that Christians who are being “intentional” will flip this order to “Give first, Save second, and Live on the rest.” I knew he had described us in the first category of Spend, Save, Give, and that we were not as “intentional” as we’d thought. That very moment I resolved that we would learn to Give first, Save second, and Live on the rest. We could no longer allow “what seemed natural and reasonable” to guide us but that we needed to ask God first what He wants us to do with His resources.
Since then it has slowly become a habit of thinking, praying, talking, and learning together about biblical financial stewardship that learns contentment and builds security through Give, Save, Live. No, it hasn’t been easy. But it has been good!
Now, at the end of every year, when we get raises or promotions, or even throughout the year as side hustles or windfalls happen, or when other needs arise, each time it’s as if God is prompting us to take stock of what He has blessed us with. We have recently decided to stop 3-4 subscriptions and services we can do without in order to increase our weekly church giving for 2024 and have a little more in our “Who Needs This Lord?” fund. It’s fun to help people and contribute to God’s work in the church!
We want to share our story because we have learned the joy of sacrificing for the cause of Christ in a way that has deepened our love for His sacrifice for us.
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 by his poverty might become rich.
—2 Corinthians 8:9
—2 Corinthians 8:9
We weren’t naturally pursuing generosity, and we aren’t the model of sacrificial giving now, but we have learned that the joy of submitting our finances to the Lord means much more than we could have known decades ago when we started. It has meant we have saved enough to help keep our family secure and to help others in need, and we have learned to see that God works miracles through His people in the church every day. Now, every time someone is baptized or becomes a member, or when someone new joins our serving team, or when we read an H7 Story of someone growing or the gospel producing fruit, we praise God like King David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19, where he says in verse 14 ”But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.”
Thank you, Lord, for giving us the joy of being part of your work!
Thank you, Lord, for giving us the joy of being part of your work!
Editor’s Note: The “Give first. Save second. Live on the rest.” illustration above is used in our Next Steps class teaching/videos and in an old sermon that is referenced in today’s Scott’s Thoughts, where he has provided links to a few resources to accompany last week’s sermon, “H5: Pursue Generosity Because the Work is Great, For it is Not for Man but For the Lord” (1 Chronicles 29:1-22).
Posted in Tell the Story