A fridge not a bunker: Preparing to be generous

Imagine you’re expecting guests. Not a formal dinner but just people dropping by – perhaps a mix of friends, neighbours, maybe someone new. 

You want to be ready, so you fill the fridge. There’s food to share, something to offer, capacity to be hospitable. Now, imagine something quite different. An underground bunker where the cupboards are packed, shelves stacked high and everything is sealed away 'just in case'. There are no plans to share here, only a sense of needing enough for yourself.

Outwardly, both situations involve storing things. But they are driven by very different instincts.

This is the tension many Christians feel when it comes to money. Jesus warns strongly against storing up for ourselves. In the parable of the ‘rich fool’ in Luke 12:13-21, a man responds to abundance by building bigger barns. He tells himself to relax and enjoy what he has stored. God calls him a fool, not because he planned ahead, but because he stored up for himself and was not “rich towards God” (v21).

The issue is not preparation. It is purpose.

Setting aside with intention

Elsewhere in the New Testament, we see a different pattern emerging that looks much more like stocking a fridge than building a bunker to protect ourselves. Writing to Christians in Corinth, Paul gives a simple, practical instruction: 'On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside…' (1 Corinthians 16:2). This is not reactive giving. It is thoughtful, regular, intentional.

Paul is helping believers prepare to be generous. In proportion to their wealth, money is set aside in advance so that when the moment comes they are ready to respond. There is no scrambling, no reluctance, just a quiet readiness to give.

That image of a fridge helps here. You do not fill a fridge so that food can sit there indefinitely. Fresh food has a purpose. It is there to be used, to be shared, to nourish others. Leave it too long and it spoils. Its very nature assumes it will be used.

In the same way, resources we set aside are not meant to gather dust. They are held for a reason. Not for security, not for status, but for active generosity.

Ready to share

Paul captures this beautifully elsewhere: 'You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…' (2 Corinthians 9:11). Enrichment – the overflowing blessing of God’s gracious provision – is not the end goal. Generosity is.

A well-stocked fridge does not signal fear. It signals readiness. It means that when someone arrives, expected or unexpected, you can welcome them in and offer something good without hesitation.

In the same way, wise and faithful stewardship is not about holding on. It is about being prepared. Prepared to give, prepared to respond, prepared to say yes when the opportunity comes.

Build a balance with a Stewardship Giving Account

For these reasons, many of our customers value the ability of a Stewardship Giving Account to hold a balance. It allows them to set money aside in advance, in one-off acts of generosity or via a scheduled regular gift, ready for the moment when a specific beneficiary of generosity becomes clear. It is then a matter of moments to give from the balance to any of the 12,000 churches, charities or individual Christian workers that partner with Stewardship.

There is also a wider Kingdom benefit of this generosity-in-waiting. Stewardship uses the combined unallocated balances of all givers to provide lending to churches and charities, and to make investments that support long-term Kingdom impact.

Discover the Stewardship Giving Account