International (MNN) — Jeff Mallory with A3 says conversations about generosity should extend beyond finances. The call of believers is to hold all God-given resources loosely and seek His direction in stewarding them.
“There’s fear around that,” Mallory says. “It goes back to ownership, and it goes back to trusting that the Lord has a plan and a purpose. And that it’s all His.”
Sometimes Christians approach generosity as a leverage tool, as if God owes believers a return on investment for the resources we entrust to Him. But this mindset fails to take into account that every good gift is from the Father and ultimately belongs to Him.
“If you love the Lord, you should have an understanding that the Lord gave everything to us, and the response of that is to hold it loosely,” Mallory says.
He points out that generosity is evidence of spiritual maturity.
“It’s coming to an understanding that we don’t own anything. Everything we have is from the Lord.”
A3, a Christian leadership development network, is now offering a generosity curriculum based on concepts from Generous Giving and the Generosity Path. The program was piloted a year ago and has since been launched with businessmen in Indonesia and India.
“Many wanted to take it and get trained up as facilitators and take it back to their own churches and their own networks,” Mallory says.
The volunteers who have thus far participated in the program work with A3 and, in Mallory’s assessment, are already practicing generosity.
“But to see how the Lord really owns everything, and to take time to pray, to listen to the Lord, and also to obey what He’s calling us to do – that was the call to action,” he says.
The goal of the program is to spark a conversation between participants and the Lord.
“To hopefully facilitate that lightbulb going on about ownership, stewardship, faith, and spiritual maturity,” Mallory says.
Generosity comes down to two main principles: open-handedness and obedience. Are you willing to give all to the Savior who gave all for you?
Photos in this article courtesy of Unsplash
