Live to Give: How Open Hands Lead to Open Hearts

Our family was eating dinner one night at one of our favorite local restaurants. The waitress was a young lady who was very pregnant. As I was about to pay our bill, I suddenly felt led to give her a big tip instead of the 22-25% I usually give so I added $100 to the tip amount. She picked up the signed Visa slip without looking at it and walked back toward the kitchen.

In a minute, she came back, with tears streaming down her face, to thank us. She told us how she was in a tight financial situation and was wondering how she would make it. We had the opportunity to share Christ with her and pray for her before we left.

We did nothing but be generous, and it opened the door of ministry to her heart.

The Apostle Paul writes, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

Being generous is acting like God does.

Matthew 5:45b says, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

God is good, and He is generous! We are his children, and our new nature in Christ is one of being generous as well. As in the story above, being generous is sharing God’s heart for people. Like giving someone a bottle of cold water on a hot day, being generous brings relief and hope to a world that is in the desert of poverty.

The impact of giving freely is clearly seen in Paul’s instruction in 2 Corinthians 9:12, written to the church in Corinth: “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”

Your generosity causes people to praise and thank God! Notice that Paul says being generous is your service to God. It is part of your duty on God’s behalf, here in the earth realm, to share His heart and concern for people. The result is clear: it touches people’s hearts and opens them up to receive Christ.

I think we can all remember when someone came to our aid and how much it meant to us.
Generosity shows people your heart and God’s heart for them—it supersedes words and goes straight to the heart. It’s amazing how we can remember a compliment that someone gave us, or a gift. There are even times God uses people we do not even know to encourage us and reach out to us. You will remember how grateful you were for the care and concern someone showed you.

This is what Paul was teaching the Corinthian church—their generosity was reaching people with the heart of God and causing them to give praise and thanksgiving to Him for their service to Him. This passage reflects a kingdom law that changed everything I thought about giving:

People are going to thank God for the surpassing grace He has given those who are generous!

To truly get a handle on what Paul is saying here, we need to define our terms. Surpassing is defined as “of a large amount or high degree; exceeding, excelling, or extraordinary: structures of surpassing magnificence.”¹ What is going to be yours in a huge amount? What is going to be extraordinary and surpass magnificence in your life? God’s grace!

Now we need a definition for grace. Simply put, grace is God’s unmerited favor. As James Ryle has noted, “Grace is the empowering Presence of God enabling you to be who He created you to be, and to do what He has called you to do.”

With that in mind, what Paul is talking about is the grace, or the empowerment, to prosper. This gift, the gift of grace, was celebrated because it empowered the people to prosper. And as they in turn were generous, meeting people’s needs, it caused the recipients of that generosity to worship God.

We can spend a lot of time talking about what Paul said to do—to give. But if we do not understand grace, the empowerment to prosper by the power of God, we miss the harvest God intended for us. It would be like planting your garden in the woods under the shade of a big tree—there is no sunshine, no power to bring forth the desired result.

Let me make a point here: You will never be free until you are financially free. As my wife, Drenda, and I have taught for the last 30 years, you will never discover who you really are and walk in the spiritual purpose for your life until you “fix the money thing.”

You must get financially free not only for yourself and your family but also so people can see the kingdom of God operating in your life, and, like a fruit tree laden with ripe fruit, it will attract people to the kingdom. People are looking for answers. They are looking for the real deal. They desperately need to see the kingdom and not religion.

This is how America is living today, but my heart and passion are to help people understand that there is a better way to live life—the kingdom way.

When Drenda and I began to learn about the kingdom of God and began to apply what God was teaching us about the kingdom, our lives changed drastically. We began to see that grace Paul was talking about showing up in our lives. Over the past 30 years, we have talked with hundreds of thousands of people, and we have seen the mess that most Americans are in.

Look at the latest stats in America:

• 57% of people do not have $1,000 in the bank.²
• 44% cannot pay an unexpected $400 bill.³
• 23% of Americans cannot pay their monthly bills and are falling further and further into debt every month.⁴

Americans are slaves.

Think of what a slave does. He does not work for himself. Although he (or she) is working and producing profit, the profit is sent to lenders each month, leaving just enough for the family to survive another month.

Slaves live in houses they do not own (meaning they have a mortgage). They drive cars they do not own to go to work to pay for the house they do not own. They wear clothes they bought on the credit card to go to work, to pay for the car and the house they do not own, along with the student loan they are still paying off from 20 years ago.

You get the idea.

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

Did you know that most people do not like their jobs? Actually, a Gallup poll says that 85% of employees hate their jobs.⁵ Why then do they work where they work? Because they are slaves, and slaves do not have options!

So, is there a way out of slavery? Yes!

Don’t believe me? Let me show you.

Let’s stay focused on that answer—the grace of God, the empowerment to prosper!

Let’s also be aware that the enemy wants you to stay in debt and never learn the way out. That is why there are 1.1 trillion active credit cards in the U.S.⁶ It is also the reason four to eight billion credit card offers are sent out every year.⁷

Someone wants you in debt, and it is not just the banks and retailers who are begging you to try their cards. Satan knows if he can keep you in debt, you will never be able to walk in your spiritual destiny, which he knows would wreak havoc in his kingdom.

So, let me review for a minute. This article is about being generous, right? Well, yes and no. Giving by itself is not the answer. You have to have the knowledge of how to tap into the grace, the power of God. The formula of giving by itself, just as a formula, is not the key. It is part of it, of course, but you and I need that supernatural, extraordinary empowerment to prosper called grace.

What was their answer? The kingdom and the grace of God! What is your answer? The kingdom and the grace of God!

The Generous Leader

AVAIL: In your book, The Power of Generosity, you talk transparently about your financial struggles early in your marriage. How have you seen personal financial mismanagement impact a leader’s effectiveness?

Gary: Pastoring and building a church is stressful, as anyone that has done it knows; it is not for the weak or faint hearted. The same applies to a business leader growing a business—stress and problems are part of taking territory. If you add personal financial issues on top of this stress, it will have a debilitating effect, not only on the leader but the whole team as well. The Bible is clear: the borrower is a slave to the lender. Slaves do not have big dreams! Slaves are more concerned with survival than taking on more projects or taking risks. How a leader leads his personal life is how he will lead his ministry or business life. I remind leaders that provision is “pro-vision.” It’s better to be a lean machine with low overhead and have to expand than to get tremendous overhead and suffocate the organization.

AVAIL: On the flip side, how have you seen financial wisdom give credibility to a leader?

Gary: Several years ago, there was a popular hamburger ad that simply said, “Where’s the beef?” That is a fairly simple statement, yet it’s profound. I have been teaching people biblical financial principles and how to live debt free now for 30 years. If I were mired in debt and all kinds of financial dysfunction, what kind of credibility would I have? A leader must lead by example. People are looking for the real deal, someone who can take them someplace they have never been. This is why I say that slaves cannot set slaves free.

My personal story of going from overwhelming debt to financial freedom and building successful businesses to fund kingdom work has given me a voice to share with hundreds of thousands of people so they can do the same. What God did for Drenda and me He will do for anyone who will apply His Kingdom principles.

AVAIL: Leaders are often presented with financial needs by people they lead, and it’s impossible to help everyone. How do you approach these difficult decisions?

Gary: First of all, I never let someone think that I am personally their financial answer. I want to keep the ball in their court and make sure they take personal responsibility for where they are at, as well as where they are going. I have a policy in our church that we will help someone once, and rarely twice, in regard to handing out finances.

To obtain help, they must first submit a complete review of where they are and how they got there. We will then evaluate their situation and suggest changes and also look for any state or county resources that can help them as well. We then put them into a financial mentorship program with a money coach (forwardfinancialgroup.com) who will walk them through the next steps they need to take. Our biggest goal, however, is for them to learn how the kingdom of God operates in the financial realm, which is what changed my life.

AVAIL: How does a church or organization continue to be responsive in generosity when it becomes more complex in structure? With multiple layers of accounting and leadership, it may not be as easy to intuitively respond to needs.

Gary: This is not that complicated. Every department has its own assignment and stays within those boundaries. Let’s also not confuse giving to the poor (those in need) and giving to a God assignment. Both types of giving are based on generosity but have a different purpose and a different result. Each organization must define its purpose and assignment as it relates to the proper use of its funds.

We do operate a transition home and women’s home with short-term housing to help people get on their feet in extenuating circumstances. Ultimately, people think they need money, but they really need to apply the truths from God’s word. Our plans and departments are designed to isolate the problems, offer hope with a plan and mentorship. We have seen people go from HUD housing to six-figure incomes with the motivation to be financially free and help others, having something to give.

AVAIL: What would you say to leaders who may be applying principles of generosity, but they’re not yet seeing the results and may be struggling financially?

Through my years of teaching kingdom law, the most common error in reaping from generosity is just that, not knowing how to reap. We have all been taught how to sow but that is only one aspect of the harvest. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

He clearly states that there will be sowing and then reaping. But there is a process to harvest—every farmer knows that. A farmer understands the complete process from start to finish before he puts the first seed in the ground. He knows the equipment needed, how to sow, when to sow and what to do during the growth phase, how to cultivate the crop. Then he understands how to harvest and then monetize his harvest. Unfortunately, so many believers just sow and wait for the harvest to show up. I call that mailbox mentality. It does not work that way, which is why so many believers do not see their harvest happening.

We also see in Paul’s remarks that the harvest is tied to the amount of seed sown. Yet we see believers backing their trucks up expecting to receive a massive harvest when they have only planted two tomato plants. My five books in the “Your Financial Revolution” series cover how God’s kingdom works in regard to finances.

FOOTNOTES:

1. com, “Surpassing.” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/surpassing
2. Ray Hanania, “57% of Americans have less than $1,000 in Savings,” March 31, 2021, com.
3. Joseph Lawler, “44 Percent of Americans Couldn’t Cover an Unexpected $400 Expense,” Washington Examiner, May 19, 2017.
4. Federal Reserve.gov, “Report on the Economic Well-Being of Households in 2018,” https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2018-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201905.pdf.
5. Sara Burrows, “85% of People Hate Their Jobs, Gallup Poll Says,” September, 2017, net.
6. Raynor de Best, “Credit Card and Debit Card Number in the U.S. 2012-2018,” December 16, 2020, http://statisa.com/statistics
7. Bob Bryan, November 24, 2015, com

This article was extracted from Issue 6 (Summer 2021) of the AVAIL Journal. Claim your free annual subscription here.