Giving Testimonies
Bryant - Manhattan
Grace. I’m humbled by it, truly humbled. I’m anchored in that grace, the grace of Jesus Christ. It has changed my perspective. It has changed how I live my life. In light of God’s grace, I feel lowly talking about my own generosity. But God has led me and my family to give sacrificially to help people in need around the world and to partner with our own church to serve our city. My family tithes at Apostles because it is clear that God wants us to and when we do what God wants us to, we feel spiritually healthy. Secondly, and practically, the need is there in a big way. For our church to be an extender of God’s grace and mercy, we need financial resources. Could it be that God has huge things in store for our church and our city, but He’s waiting on us to give like we want to see it?
Angela - Brooklyn
Honestly, I began giving 10% with the understanding being – if I give what I should, God will bless me…or more like SHOULD bless me. And now, it’s more joyful giving and praying for more so I can give more. And the Spirit leading me to live more simply (i.e. staying in Brooklyn to save in rent, learning what are truly needs and wants, etc.), so I can continue to give, grow in my giving and go above and beyond when a need arises. Even living on a very modest salary, I feel like God continually provides way more than enough and I’m looking forward to being more obedient in frugality and leverage what little I do have for the kingdom, the poor, and marginalized.
I really get pretty amped up with the “Fight the good Fight of Faith” part of Timothy. The whole thing gives me goosebumps, but more specifically pertaining to this topic where it talks about God richly providing for us and to be generous and ready to share. I feel like I’m so very richly provided for by God, and have a responsibility to be a good steward with the money that isn’t technically mine to begin with.
Sam - The Bronx
The practice of giving and tithing continually reminds me that what I have comes from God. God in His riches does not need the little that I give back to Him, but what giving does is that it calls me in my heart to acknowledge and worship the Giver, not the gift. It pries me away from placing my trust and security in the things of this world.
I remember challenging myself that if I had trouble giving a portion of the little that I had now, how much more difficult would it be if He were to entrust me with much. Looking back through the years, I know that God has never failed to be faithful in providing every step of the way.
Sometimes I think of how much more I could have if I didn’t practice giving, but then I recall the words of Jim Elliott: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Allen - Manhattan
The first time I gave any significant amount to the church it was scary. The doubts came. Could I trust God to use my resources through the church? And besides, If God is really in control of everything, why did He need my financial support?
In the first instance, it occurred to me that if I claimed to believe in a God who gave up everything because He loved me then He could be trusted with much smaller things – namely my resources. It also occurred to me that if the God I claimed to worship was the author of this physical reality then He could certainly choose to interact with us through His own creation – which included me and how I spent my resources. So if God could be trusted, and it was logically consistent for Him to work in the world through creation itself, then I felt it would be nothing short of intellectual schizophrenia not to support my church and the needs of my community if I had the means.
But God has shown me that giving is more than just an intellectual exercise. God was always after more than my just financial resources or my "good" behavior, He was after my heart. Whether or not a person admits to believing in God, we can all likely agree that we each worship something. Something has our deepest desires. And if that something is ever threatened we'll either be crushed because we lose it, or we'll spend a lifetime in anxiety trying to protect it. If God gave His only Son for us, then clearly He doesn't want only part of our heart, He loves us so much He wants it all. By God's grace He has brought me to a point where I can begin to sacrifice to Him a growing part of my resources for His purposes. In doing so, my heart's capacity for Him and serving His world has grown in ways I could not have predicted.
Although I find no fault in being compensated greatly for excellence in work, I feel blessed that God has begun to relinquish my heart's grip on what is done with my financial resources. And if my heart can change in the area of giving, it makes me wonder, "What other surprises God will have in store for me as I trust Him increasingly with more and more of my life?"