“The Generosity Practice is orienting our hearts to the abundance mentality of Jesus.
25% of Jesusʻ teaching focus on money and Generosity. Nearly 50% of Jesusʻ teachings focus on stewardship. So, we start at a core principle of Stewardship and that is that God owns everything and we are His stewards of what He has given us. Stewardship is the third movement in our understanding of The Generosity Practice.
This begs the question: If God owns everything, how are we supposed to use the resources that God has given us to care for?
Jesus tells us in Luke 12:35-37, 42-48 that those who steward well will be given more and those who waste resources and treat people terribly will face judgement. Ultimately, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return.” Luke 12:48, NLT. I call this the paraphrased Spiderman quote because in the popular movie Uncle Ben tells Peter Parker that “with great power comes great responsibility,” and this is a Biblical reference found in Luke 12:48 about stewardship!
God entrusts us with His resources to do good.
God entrusts us with His resources to be generous.
Practicing the Way provides a good table based on 1 Corinthians 16 and 2 Corinthians 8, 9 as “giving guidelines.” There arenʻt laws to follow but useful to guide us when we ask stewardship questions like What should I keep? How much should I give? Who should I give to? Whatʻs an appropriate standard of living? What kind of car should I drive? How many shoes or clothes should I own? The underlying Biblical principle is what we can use to pray about a specific situation and seek the Holy Spiritʻs guidance to ensure that our heart is right when presented with a situation to give.
VERSE SCRIPTURE PRINCIPLE
1 CORINTHIANS 16: 2, NIV 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money Regular cadence
1 CORINTHIANS 16: 2, NIV in keeping with your income Proportional
2 CORINTHIANS 8: 3, NIV For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Sacrificial
2 CORINTHIANS 9:7, NIV Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, Voluntarily
2 CORINTHIANS 9:7, NIV for God loves a cheerful giver. Cheerfully
2 CORINTHIANS 8:9, NIV 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 through his poverty might become rich. Motivated to Become Like Jesus”