Growing up I’ve had a front row seat to watching two givers in action - my parents.
Their life and business has become a vehicle to give to ministries, and I have watched them take the road of joyful, even radical giving time and time again.
At the end of the year, they would spend hours sitting around the dining table, papers all sprawled out as they planned their giving to certain ministries. God would always bless them above and beyond. He would challenge them to give even more. And when they did, it was this beautiful moment of sharing in so much joy with Jesus.
My parents were like little Santa Clause’s making the call to ministries at the end of the year saying, “We’ve got more money for you!”
And the joy was just contagious.
As a kid, I knew something was different about my home. I knew that the presents and gifts of Christmas were secondary to this. My little heart could sense that there was something special going on here.
God was in the business of blessing my parents because He knew they would be faithful with it. And that was a joy to see!
Friend, what is God asking you to be faithful with today? What resources has He given you to steward? What fire has He put in your heart for a specific ministry, area of the church, or person you want to sponsor?
This verse has always been special to my family:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10, NIV)
As my Dad pointed out to me this week, this is one of the few places in the Bible where the Lord actually says, “test me”.
It’s a challenge, it’s a moment between you and God where you realize you truly can’t out-give Him! It’s a joy-filled, radical experience of trust that will never leave you the same.
I think it can be hard for pastors to talk about this topic, because they never want people to feel as though they just want to take from them. A pastor’s heart is to intentionally feed their flock the word of God and give sustenance to the body.
But isn’t it beautiful when scripture shares a verse like: “God loves a cheerful giver”, and we get to unpack it? I believe this verse (2 Corinthians 9:7) came up on Sunday for a reason. It is no coincidence that God is calling us to step out into radical trust in this area of our lives.
Give cheerfully my friend, with open hands and an open heart, and you just wait to see what God will do!
Their life and business has become a vehicle to give to ministries, and I have watched them take the road of joyful, even radical giving time and time again.
At the end of the year, they would spend hours sitting around the dining table, papers all sprawled out as they planned their giving to certain ministries. God would always bless them above and beyond. He would challenge them to give even more. And when they did, it was this beautiful moment of sharing in so much joy with Jesus.
My parents were like little Santa Clause’s making the call to ministries at the end of the year saying, “We’ve got more money for you!”
And the joy was just contagious.
As a kid, I knew something was different about my home. I knew that the presents and gifts of Christmas were secondary to this. My little heart could sense that there was something special going on here.
God was in the business of blessing my parents because He knew they would be faithful with it. And that was a joy to see!
Friend, what is God asking you to be faithful with today? What resources has He given you to steward? What fire has He put in your heart for a specific ministry, area of the church, or person you want to sponsor?
This verse has always been special to my family:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10, NIV)
As my Dad pointed out to me this week, this is one of the few places in the Bible where the Lord actually says, “test me”.
It’s a challenge, it’s a moment between you and God where you realize you truly can’t out-give Him! It’s a joy-filled, radical experience of trust that will never leave you the same.
I think it can be hard for pastors to talk about this topic, because they never want people to feel as though they just want to take from them. A pastor’s heart is to intentionally feed their flock the word of God and give sustenance to the body.
But isn’t it beautiful when scripture shares a verse like: “God loves a cheerful giver”, and we get to unpack it? I believe this verse (2 Corinthians 9:7) came up on Sunday for a reason. It is no coincidence that God is calling us to step out into radical trust in this area of our lives.
Give cheerfully my friend, with open hands and an open heart, and you just wait to see what God will do!
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. She also hosts the weekly podcast “Temple Care” where she provides regular messages of encouragement. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.