Give: Living Open-Handed Lives

In this episode, we explore the fifth of the Five Behaviors of a Disciple—GIVE—and why generosity is a defining mark of a Gospel-transformed life. You’ll discover how biblical stewardship of time, talent, and treasure fuels God’s mission, loosens the grip of materialism, and leads to greater joy and freedom. This conversation will challenge you to live open-handed, align your resources with your values, and take intentional steps toward greater generosity that reflect God’s heart and expand His Kingdom.

Transcript

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Hey, welcome to the Discipleship Tool Podcast. I'm Andy George and I want to thank you for joining me on this, the fifth and final behavior of a disciple. We're going to be talking about give today, living an open-handed life. So we've been in this journey, and I want to thank you for jumping on this with us. And if this is the first episode you're listening to, then that's great. There's not necessarily an order to these behaviors. However, if this is your first episode, then definitely go back and listen to the first intro episode about what this is all about. And then I talk about the five behaviors of disciple, which means that if you and I are walking and living out our discipleship life, then these are the behaviors that we're going to show and we're going to be seeing in our life. Connect, grow, serve, pray, and give. And today is the fifth one. So again, welcome to the Discipleship Tool Podcast. Can't wait to jump in this with you. So let's go ahead and jump into this episode where we talk about give, living life with an open hand. Love that idea so very, very, very much. All right. So let's start with a foundational truth around giving because I know, listen, every time we talk about giving, whether it's in our church or in conferences or in classes or just in everyday conversation around giving, it's amazing on how to out of all the concepts that are spiritual, because giving is spiritual, out of all the spiritual concepts, for some reason giving makes so many people uncomfortable. No, there's probably some good reasons to that. Uh, you know, uh, not to point anybody out or call anybody out, I would never do that. And at the same time, I realize that there's probably a lot of mistrust with uh organizations around giving, maybe even around churches. And it seems like uh the larger the church is, the more scrutiny there is. And and and certainly, unfortunately, there are plenty of examples where maybe the stewardship was not up to par what it should be. And so I think sometimes when we talk about giving, there's a little bit of like, I don't know, don't know if I if I want to do that, don't know what the church does with it. But then there's a whole other side, which is really more about generosity. And that's just such a deep spiritual issue. So, first of all, uh I this is just a podcast. I'm not taking an offering. You can relax, you can unclench a little bit, you can read, you can just uh just enjoy listening. And uh, and I think you're gonna be uh inspired by this podcast around give. So let's start with foundational truth. We are not owners, we are stewards. So we got to start there. Everything that you have, everything you have, not just and by the way, this is not just about finances. I'm talking about everything you have. It's not yours, it's not yours. You're just a steward of it. Uh you're you're not the owner. God is the one who gives you everything. He gave you life, he gives you what you have, what you don't have. It's our job just to steward it. So everything we have, and there's three real main areas around giving that we're going to circle around today. And that is our time, our talent, and our treasure. Those are the three. So if you think of three T's, right? Time, talent, treasure. When we talk about generosity, that everything we have from God, our time that we have from him, our talent, our treasure comes from God. It's entrusted to us for his purpose, not just for our purpose, not just for our enjoyment, not just for our selfish usage. It's for his purpose. And again, let me just say this again, just to relax you. Generosity is not about money alone, it's about how we live with open hands before God. So here's the big idea, right? The big idea is that generosity flows from a gospel-transformed heart and fuels the mission of God. In our last episode, I talked about prayer and how prayer shapes our heart, which is true. But when a heart that is shaped by prayer, the outcome, one of the outcomes, is going to be generosity. I really like 2 Corinthians 9, 7 because it really hits generosity. Each one must give as he decided in his heart. And then it goes on and says that God loves a cheerful giver. So, in other words, giving isn't about pressure. It's not about guilt. Giving should be about joy. Whether it's your time, talent, or treasure, you should have a deep spiritual joy about giving, giving of my time, giving of the talent that God gave me to give. How am I using that for his glory? How am I using it for his purpose? Yes, my finances, all those things, but there should be a joy side of it. It's about joy, it's about trust, it's about participating in what God is doing. There's a concept around generosity of why generosity matters. And so let me just give you three real quick things about why generosity matters. Just real fast. First, generosity matters because everything belongs to God. Like that's that's the first part we're going to start. Psalm 24, 1 says, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness of thereof. Everything belongs to God. We don't give to God, we give from what he already gave us. So just start there. You're just giving back to him what he's already given you. Secondly, why generosity matters? It matters because it loosens the grip of materialism. The more generous we are, the more looser our grip will be around our stuff. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6 that where our treasure is, our heart will follow. Giving realigns our heart and reminds us that our security is found in God, not in possessions. Thirdly, why generosity matters is because it expands God's kingdom. That's what we're here to do. We're here to expand the kingdom of God. Jesus' ministry, when he first started his ministry, uh, he came out of that wilderness saying, The kingdom of God, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God. He talked so much about the kingdom of God. And you and I, with our generosity, get to continue the work that he started. So when discipleships give faithfully, the gospel moves forward. Needs are met, and lives are changed. So when you think about generosity, it's not just about being charitable. It's not just about giving alms. It's not just about being a good and kind person. That's fine, and that's great. But really, faithful disciples who are living in generosity, our our whole goal is to move the gospel forward, meeting people's needs, seeing lives changed in a powerful way. So again, there are three expressions of generosity, and biblical generosity touches every area of life. And what I want to do for the time remaining, just a few minutes, is really talk about biblical generosity. This is not just humanity's idea around generosity. This is not a feel good, be a good person, be charitable, little talk. This is just biblical. So let's just start with this. The first expression of generosity, again, there are three T's giving of our time. We know this to be true. Our calendar reveals our priority. When I look at my calendar, uh, it definitely tells me what's most important in my life: generosity with my time. I wonder what that looks like for you and what that looks like for me. Making space for rest, making space to invest in relationships, showing up consistently, creating marsh margin to be on mission. How are we using our time? And again, one of the things that we hear all the time, and we've all said it, I don't have enough time. I don't have enough time. I ran out of time. I don't got time to do that. Like, whatever. We all have the same amount of time. It's a matter of what the priority is. So time is one of your most valuable resources, by the way. And it's one of the clearest indicators of stewardship. Especially if you have kids. If you have kids, you understand this. And even if you don't have kids, if you just have any kind of relationships, I think you know what I'm talking about. Time is so valuable. When my kids were little, and even though my kids are in their 20s now, it's still the same. It's not about the money. It's not about what I can buy them. It's not about the places I can take them. You know, experiences are always fine and always good, and we're always trying to do what we can. It's just about time. Just spending time with your kid, just spending time with some friends, you know, giving up your time just to sit across the table and having coffee with somebody who's just have life stuff going on. Just giving time. I don't think we I don't think we should overlook how valuable that is. Money can buy a lot of things, but uh it can't buy time. And that time that you and I spend with people, it matters. And an expression of me being generous, living biblical generosity means that I'm gonna value spending time with people. The second expression of generosity is our talent. God has uniquely equipped every believer. Listen, my friend, you have a talent. You you might not think you do, or maybe you think yours isn't important, or whatever it is, but I'm telling you, you have a talent. Your skill, your experience, your spiritual gift, these are all meant to serve something bigger than yourself. That's one of the great things about the church and the body. Uh, you know, you know this in scripture where it gives the example of the human body and how the body has many parts, and every part is a function, and every part is needed, and every part is unique. That's the same thing. Like all of our talents, our churches are comprised and made up of so many people with so many different talents, and and it's needed to serve something bigger than yourself. When you give your talent, the church is strengthened. Other people are built up, purpose becomes very, very clear. And I and again, I just want to tell you, you you're talented. You have something to offer. I believe that. And I think deep down inside you know that to be true as well. We all have things in our life that we can absolutely uh allow God to use in very, very powerful, powerful ways. And the third one is giving of our treasure. Yes, your money, your finances. Financial generosity is a spiritual discipline. It is biblical. Giving regularly, sacrificially, and joyfully to the church and global mission is how discipleship disciples partner with God and his work in the world. Generosity isn't about equal amounts, it's about equal sacrifice, faithful obedience. Listen, I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but I do want to just camp out on this one just for a moment, if you'll indulge me. I talk to a lot of people around giving, and everybody wants to argue the tithe. Uh is the tithe, you know, 10%. Is that off of the gross? Is it off of the net? Is it Old Testament? Is it New Testament? Is it no longer needed? Was it only because of Levitical law and the Old Testament, blah, blah, blah. I've heard every excuse, both sides of it, and here's where I have landed. Here's how I respond to people. I respond this way. Hey, how about we don't argue over tithing? Let's just focus on generosity. Jesus does talk a lot about generosity. He talks about uh giving joyfully, giving generously. And so, in my opinion, the real conversations around generosity. The tithe to me, quite honestly, is a starting point. If you want to argue whether you should tithe or just be generous the way that Jesus would call generosity, you're probably better off just tithing because it's going to be cheaper. And and I say that a little tongue in cheek, but I mean that because when I think about Jesus, when you think about what he told people, did he ever tell anybody to do anything less when it comes to spiritual things, forgiveness? Did he ever tell somebody to forgive people less? No, no, he said more. How about love? Did he ever tell somebody to love somebody less? No, no, he he said, love your neighbor and love your enemies. Jesus actually doesn't tell us not to tithe. He actually focuses on generosity. And if I look at biblical generosity, that's everything. That's I got to be willing to give everything I have. I got to be willing to drop it all. I mean, you think of the rich young ruler who said, Hey, Jesus, I'm following all the rules, I'm doing all the things, what else do I need to do? Jesus says, Hey, get rid of everything you got, sell it all and follow me. And he's like, Nope, I'm out. Right? He can let go of it. And I think we can argue around tithing all day long. And I'm not saying there's not a time and a place to discuss it. I'm just saying, hey, how about you just pray about being generous? And when gener when I when I function out of generosity, see, to me, the tithe, it feels like a duty or responsibility that I'm that I have to do that, which is fine, whatever. But when I think about generosity, it actually brings me joy. It actually brings me excitement. I I love just being a generous person. And I'll say one more thing about giving, and maybe this will register and speak to some of you. Why is it that we can trust God with everything else in our life? We can trust him with our health, with our family, with our career. We trust him. Now listen, we trust him with salvation for eternity. We are trusting God with our soul. Why can't we trust him with our wallet? I'll just let that sit there for a second. So let me leave you with a few questions. I think these are pretty important questions. How does your calendar reflect your values? So if you look at your calendar, how does your time, your calendar reflect your values? Second question, are you using your talents for something beyond yourself? How are you allowing God to use what He's already given you for the impact of the kingdom? And the third question is once what's one step you can take towards greater generosity? What's something, what's what's 1% look like more? What is something that you can say yes to in generosity that will bring you towards that greater step? See, small steps of obedience often lead to profound spiritual freedom. I I don't think it's wise sometimes to go from zero to 100 miles per hour, but man, you could take one step, you could take two steps, you can kind of move forward just a little bit and a little know-how. So listen, here's kind of the closing challenge as we as we wrap this up. My closing challenge to you is simply this, my friend. Live open-handed. Live your life with your hands open. I heard this a long time ago that if my hands are clenched around my stuff, how can I receive what God has for me? I gotta open my hands and live my hands open, both to give generously and to receive. When we give, our faith will grow, our joy will increase, and the mission advances. Generosity doesn't diminish our lives, it actually expands it. It actually fulfills it, it gives us more purpose. And I hope that you'll join me in this journey. Well, listen, thanks again for listening to the Discovery Podcast in this particular episode and around these five behaviors. I hope that you have grown and uh and learned more, and I hope truly that you'll take to heart how you can continue to connect, to grow, to serve, to pray, and to give in your spiritual journey. Thanks again. Praying for you, my friend, and have a great rest of your day.