By Ben McEachenWednesday 11 Jan 2023Money: Faith & FinancePodcastsReading Time: 2 minutes
If God loves a cheerful giver, what if you are giving through gritted teeth?
Generosity is a concept that we can get behind. Sounds great and right and noble and decent.
But actually, giving out of what we have doesn’t always come easily, whether we have a lot or a little.
To help get our giving on, the Money: Faith and Finance team decided to dedicate an episode to laying groundwork for generosity.
Intentional and not comfortable
Along with circling back to that pointed Bible verse about “God loves a cheerful giver“, co-hosts Ben McEachen (Hope Mornings) and Sydney accountant Pete Burrows break down how to cultivate generosity.
“A decent level of giving comes with an understanding that this could be ongoing,” Pete said.
“I do notice that… people are generally more generous if they have set up a regular direct debit, rather than just having a random discretionary $10.”
When Ben asked if that is a bit “set and forget”, Pete pointed out that establishing generosity can be a winning part of the discipline of generosity.
“Generally, it shows intent.”
“Giving is intentional and may cause you a little bit of personal discomfort as you help others.”
Giving from the DNA of God
Although giving must, by definition, come at a cost to the giver, Ben pointed out that giving is “part of the DNA of God”.
“God created everything… and it’s a gift to us that we are part of his Creation,” he said.
“Life is a gift. Everything we have is a gift.”
You only need to spend a few moments reflecting on how much Jesus gave to the world to be struck by such a powerful example.
With our finances being part of the overall framework of God’s generosity, Ben said this should inspire us to look for ways to give to others from what has been given to us.
Talk about a (virtual!) guarantee for more and more giving.
Listen to the full Groundwork for Generosity episode in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.