By Chuck Bentley

Todd Peterson, a friend of mine and a former NFL kicker, came up with my favorite quote about generosity.

“ We are all generous… Nobody has to teach us anything about being generous. The challenge we face and the choice we must make is are we going to only be generous towards ourselves or are we going to be generous towards God.”  

Our late co-founder, Larry Burkett, believed that if all American Christians used our surplus resources (those God provides beyond our foundational needs) to advance God’s Kingdom, that we have been entrusted with enough wealth to spread the Gospel to every nation.

In other words, if we can simply break the habit of self-generosity, the Kingdom of God will spread to the ends of the earth.

If our ministry were to help every man and woman on the face of the earth get on a budget, get out of debt and have money in his or her savings account, our mission will have failed. We want to see something far more significant take place: we desire to see the transformation of hearts. We want to see Christians understand that God owns everything and to become generous with their time, talents, and money. This is where the real financial battle resides, not with the hands, but with the heart.

Since we are all generous, God wants us to direct that generosity towards Him. To be “rich toward God” instead of ourselves, to share all He has provided for us.

Are you growing in God-honoring generosity?  Let us know how you put it into practice.

Originally posted 1/23/2015.