Generosity is a Heart Issue

I’m sure most of us have heard the adage, “God loves a cheerful giver”. Over the coming weeks, we will be discussing this concept of Kingdom Builders and what it means to be a radically generous giver. First, let's take a look at a very well-known verse in the Passion Translation: 

“Here’s my point. A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity!”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭TPT‬‬

I love that–hilarious generosity. Generosity doesn’t make sense in a worldly viewpoint. Many people can get sucked into this selfish mindset that pervades our culture: “Well, I worked hard for this money! It’s mine and I should enjoy it!” Generosity in the Kingdom of God is so much more than money.

With the launch of Kingdom Builders, that is exactly what we want to do. We are not going to stop giving to all the amazing things we have been giving to. It simplifies our processes and makes us more efficient to get the money to the places it needs to go.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

In 2013, Refuge City Church purchased equipment that would allow us to livestream our services. At the time, not many of our fellow churches in the community had services that could be watched online, much less LIVE while the service was happening. However, we felt God calling us to have this ministry available for people who could not physically come to the building for various reasons.

Some of these reasons certainly included physical challenges and illness, but we soon found that people all over the United States, and even the world, were joining in, regardless of physical ailments.

We had no idea what was coming in 2020, but when COVID-19 hit, we were forced to hold distance-services for six weeks. We had a total of one short meeting to figure out how we were going to continue to provide services for our amazing congregation, and we kept going with what God had called us to do. There was no scrambling, no hiccups or “dropping the ball”, because we had already been airing LIVE services for nearly seven years. While other churches were scrambling, trying to figure out how to get a phone to stand up so they could record live services on Facebook, we were already prepared. 

Now, this is not to point out other churches in a dishonoring way. Not in the slightest! We all had to work together during that time—and we still do. Our heart is to have unity throughout all the churches in the Klamath Basin and throughout this country and the world. The point is this: we were able to meet a need because we had been proactive instead of reactive. 

This is what radical generosity allows us to do. We are “pre prepared” to give to a need when it arises. We aren’t scrambling to try to figure out what we can do when an emergency arises, like the wildfires that devastated the Medford and Grants Pass area a few years ago. We were able to give to our brothers and sisters in need because we already had money set aside for that purpose. 

When our friends in Israel called us and said they needed help with kevlar vests for their soldiers after the devastating October 7th attacks, we gave. We gave freely and generously to our brothers and sisters in Israel, first because God calls us to bless Israel. Second, because we love. No matter if people believe the same way we do or if their theology lines up exactly with ours. We give freely because Jesus gave freely to us, without holding back. 

This is what it means to be a cheerful giver. This is what it means to give extravagantly! This kind of giving defies worldly logic and selfishness. It is more than a budget meeting, it is about a life change. 

Our giving reveals the condition of our hearts. Are you hard pressed to open your hands (and thus, your heart) when a need arises? Are you stingy, as the verse put it at the beginning of this post or do you give without compulsion. There is a big difference between giving because you feel you have to, and because you want to. 

Our goal, not just here at Refuge City, but just as believers in general, is to be like Jesus. He gave everything, not just money, but his very life. Examine your heart today: are you giving out of compulsion or out of a true heart to see the Kingdom of God come to earth? God’s heart is showcased when we display His character and His likeness. He is a cheerful giver: 

“But the Lord desired

To crush Him, causing Him grief;

If He renders Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”

Isaiah 53:10 NASB

In many translations, it says that “it pleased the LORD” to crush Him, meaning Jesus. He knew that it would bring forth a harvest of souls, reconciled to the Father through the shed blood of our Savior! 

Generosity is not about how much or how little money you have, it’s about your heart. Is your heart open to helping others, or is it closed off? Ask the Lord today if there is any place that you need to relinquish control. When I give, it’s not “my” money anymore. I gave it to God, so now it’s His money. (In reality, not just the 10% is His, all of it is His.) 

An added benefit of giving is that God says He will bless us. This is the only place where God tells us to test Him. 

Malachi 3:10 NASB

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

I can just hear the Lord saying, “Do it. See what happens…” Relinquish control of your finances, and see what God will do. He is faithful, my friends. He is always good. What an honor to be able to be included in seeing those plans come to pass!