A Giving Mentality
"A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great."
PROVERBS 18:16
One crucial component to the Rise Above Process is giving you strategies for developing a Giving Mentality. To have a Giving Mentality is to exhibit a new outlook on your wealth: that all that you have – your gifts, your talents, your very life, and of course, your money – belongs to God. And as stewards of the things of which God has entrusted to you, you take what you have been given for the purpose of advancing His Kingdom, and for the benefit of His Creation.
We draw one method for developing a Giving Mentality from Scripture: the practice of tithing.
Now, we know that, for many of you, the word “tithe” causes a certain amount of anxiety. Some of you may have been taught that tithing and other kinds of giving is necessary for you to get into Heaven. Others might have given money to a church, only to learn that the funds were misused or abused. Or, some of you have extremely tight budgets, and simply cannot afford to give away 10% of your income. We understand, and we can relate.
Rest assured, when we talk about tithing, we do not take with it the baggage that it tends to carry with it. Instead, we view the act of giving our monetary gifts to God through the lens of the following verse in Scripture:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
We believe that – while the giving of gifts, tithes and offerings are not a prerequisite for salvation (Jesus paid it all on the cross), nor is it a down-payment for future blessings (everything we receive from God is a gift) – cheerful giving helps us to exercise and grow our faith. It allows us to trust in God – that He will provide for us; and that He can take our gifts to do more with it than we ever could by ourselves. It creates for us opportunities to witness God’s faithfulness, and it shows that we’re willing to trust in Him, even when the future is unclear to us. In 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul writes:
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
In the end, we all want to hear Jesus say, “well done good and faithful servant.” We want to know that God is pleased with how we used the gifts He has given to us. And at Rise Above Finance, we want to help you use the money with which God has entrusted you, to invest in people.
As you begin to develop a Giving Mentality – when your giving is done out of a desire to please God, and to advance His Kingdom – your giving becomes an act of worship. When you allow the Holy Spirit to use you and guide you in your generosity, you will experience a whole new level of joy and blessing that extends beyond monetary wealth.