Our Diligence, God’s Faithfulness, and a Sure Reward
The Bible says so much about stewardship, and we want to be faithful and diligent in making giving decisions. We want to see results, and we say the word “impact” a lot. All this may lead to us wanting to please God so much that we may begin to think a lot is resting on us.
But the truth is the results we seek may not always be the same ones God is seeking. And the results do not rest on us. Sometimes God calls us to people and places we don’t even know. Sometimes he calls us to give more than we thought we could. And sometimes his goal for our giving is that it works something new in us, that it transforms our lives for his glory.
But there is something that is not “sometimes.” It’s always. And that is that God is faithful. The harvest after all our labor, our giving, and our investing in his kingdom is always dependent on him. It is God who enables us to give, and it is God who determines the harvest. Sometimes we can see the results, and sometimes we have to trust we will see them in heaven, when we meet Jesus face to face and find out that all the treasure we stored up awaits us … in Him.
We’ve pulled together three stories based on biblical principles about giving. When you’re inspired to give, we hope they will remind you that God will make you able. And when you are afraid of failure in following through with your desire to give, we pray you trust him to be your safety net. He is always faithful.
It is God who enables us to give
In the epistles, the apostle Paul praised some of the poorest and most persecuted churches for their generosity. He said their giving had abounded in riches … to the point of overflowing. How could it be that people with nothing had so much to give? Read the full story to find out.
How giving transforms us
As believers, we are called to be transformed, to allow God to shape our minds to the mind of Christ, to accept his view of the world and make our own thoughts obedient to his purposes. Giving is a supernatural part of this transformation. Learn how this process is powered by the grace of God.
God will bring the harvest
We all know the verse “God loves a cheerful giver,” and even “whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly.” But 2 Corinthians 9 contains so much more. And some of it is rarely taught, maybe because its promises sound almost too good to be true. Learn how God partners with us when we give.
To read more biblical principles of generosity, visit our Generosity Library, or download them with the link below.
Article originally written by Jill Foley Turner
Jill Foley Turner is NCF’s director of editorial and content. She serves the marketing and communications department by leading the team that curates content for NCF’s Saturday 7 newsletter. She loves writing stories from the Bible, stories about generous people, and articles about trends and research into what is happening in the world of giving.