I firmly believe that when it comes to giving, most Christ-followers wish that they could give (or give more, if they are already giving). Granted, there are those out there who will argue until they are blue in the face about giving back to God, because they do, in fact, have no desire to give. I'm not talking to those people in this post.
The people I'm talking to are the people who have that twinge in their heart that prompts them with the desire to make good use of their resources for the Kingdom of God. These are the ones who see a need and want nothing more than to give their time, talents and treasures to address that need. For these people, it has nothing to do with a lack of desire.
Instead of being about desire, it is about discipline. It is no coincidence that the words "disciple" and "discipline" arise from the same root word. Consistent growth in the grace of giving sacrificially and practicing good stewardship is all about discipline.
Let me ask you the following rather ridiculous rhetorical questions.
- Can a person run a marathon without ever having tied on a pair of running shoes? Can anyone run a marathon without training?
- Could someone book a show at Radio City Music Hall, come out on stage and play Franz Liszt's Liebestraum (one of the all-time best classical piano pieces ever, and I refuse to debate that) without ever having pressed a single key on the piano?
- Can someone write a thousand-page book if they have never written a single word?
The obvious answer to these questions is "NO!". Of course not. Nothing worth achieving in this life cannot be obtained without some blood, sweat and tears. So it is with giving.
The steps to faithful giving are quite simple, actually. Simple, NOT easy. It goes a little something like this:
- START, preferably as soon as possible.
- Do it again.
- Do it again.
- Do it again.
- Do it again.
See a pattern forming here? The best way to start giving is just to start. If your thought processes regarding giving approach the level of debate of a criminal court case, then you are overthinking it. Just start. Once you've started, the next opportunity you have, repeat that behavior.
Will there probably be hurdles along the way? Sure. Will you fail? You might. Should you quit when that happens? Absolutely not. Thomas Edison failed around one thousand times before he finally perfected the light bulb. Hopefully, we don't have to go through that many failures to form a solid discipline of giving, but even if it does take that long, persistence and perseverance are key.
It's time to start disciplining yourself so that your actions match up with your desire.
Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:
CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)
It
is also available to Amazon Prime members as a free eBook download as a
part of the Kindle Lending Library. Pastors and church administrators
can contact me directly at jesse@accidental-author.com to find out about discounts available for churches that wish to use this for teaching and small group curriculum.
You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever
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