My giving used to be a right mess, now it’s a joy filled experience - here are three things that changed it

In times past it’s fair to say that giving was not at the top of the list when my monthly wages landed. To be honest it felt like a bit of a free for all in my bank account. For the first couple of days all the regular bills left, and I was left staring at a considerably smaller amount, trying to figure out how to get through the rest of the month. If my income and outgoings were graphed, then they would have looked like a healthy heart on an ECG machine. Up and down, up and down, up and down.

Giving from leftovers left me feeling guilty

So, when it came to giving it was usually taken from what was left over rather than it being part of the monthly spike of outgoings. I felt momentarily guilty but then rationalised it with a shrug. ‘Surely the Lord wouldn’t want me going overdrawn to give?’ And that was that until the same time the following month.

Unbeknown to me the Lord did have plans for my finances, and they began with a shiny new job at Stewardship in early 2022. The pressure around my giving ramped up immediately. I was now in charge of marketing a financial product that was meant to induce joyful generosity. How long could I hide my secret? How many blog posts could I seriously write about giving to charity without cringing with guilt? Not many. But it wasn’t really the shame that changed it all.

Three things that changed my way of giving.

1. Writing about theology has a funny way of pointing the finger at the author first, but it was the simple process of opening a Stewardship Giving Account that was the first thing to produce a positive change in my way of giving. Now I had a place where I could deposit a monthly direct debit specifically set aside for giving. 

   It was a complete paradigm shift. Sure, I could have created a savings pot in my bank account called ‘Giving’ and use it throughout the month. But knowing my will power (and my spending habits) that money would slowly leak out into my main account as the month wore on. With the Giving Account once my money was deposited that was it, it was securely set aside with Stewardship and could only be used to give away to charitable causes.

    

2. The second thing was choosing a monthly amount. I started off quite small but as the months wore on, I upped the amount by £10 or £20 each time and I found that I didn’t really notice all that much. My local Dominos probably did, but I actually found that if it wasn’t there then I couldn’t spend it. 
   
   An extra added bonus to all this is that when you put your money into your Giving Account you get an immediate boost of 25% on all eligible gifts (Instant Gift Aid), so a £100 top up in my account suddenly becomes £125. It feels so good to see your money grow instantly like that and you’re able to donate a much bigger amount.

    

3. The third thing was finding actual, bona fide joy in giving. Giving to random people and ministries is actually quite a lot of fun when you get into it. You kind of forget it’s your money. When it’s gone from your bank into your Giving Account, you can then give to whatever and whoever you like. 
   
   You can also build a balance and give a really big gift – that’s also a lot of fun. I just made a big gift to someone studying at Westminster Theological College. I read his story and was so taken by his commitment to follow the call of God and I wanted to financially bless him.

   It’s so good to know I’m making a difference to someone, somewhere – I think about the joy he will have when the gift lands completely anonymously. Who knows, he might have been praying at that moment in time because he needed some cash. It all creates such a deep sense of joy in giving that I’ve never experienced before.

So, there you have it - that’s how I moved my giving from a right mess to a joy-filled experience, all with a Stewardship Giving Account. Fancy giving it a try?

Your journey to joyous generosity can start with a Stewardship Giving Account

Over 30,000 Christians, like me, currently use their Stewardship Giving Account to help them deepen their levels of generosity. It’s easy to set up and you can be quickly giving to the causes that you love. With Stewardship’s Instant Gift Aid you can also add 25% to each and every eligible gift you make.

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