Before I had a Giving Account, I felt like I was giving blindly. I wasn’t sure where my money was going, nor did I feel like I kept track of what I had given or who I was giving to. I was reluctant to give more to charities as I didn’t feel I had control over what I was giving.
There is a line in a worship song which resonates with me: “Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause.” God’s heart breaks for the things that are broken in this world, and I want to be able to care about the broken causes in the world. We are called to be generous with what we have – whether that is our resources, our finances, or our time.
While my heart was in the right place, my giving was a bit erratic, and I wasn’t doing myself any favours trying to manage my giving along with the rest of my finances.
Since I have set up my Stewardship Giving Account, I can easily manage how much I give, helping me become more generous. I can prioritise my giving through my Giving Account and make an impact to the causes I care about. This has, in turn, helped me manage the rest of my finances and allowed me to know that I can tithe properly along with setting aside additional funds to give to other causes that I might come across without going into overdraft. I no longer have to think to myself, “I would love to give, but I just don’t have the money to do that right now.”
What I like about the Giving Account is how flexible it is. Not only can I have my regular giving set up for my monthly tithing, my sponsored children, and a few others I support, I know I still have enough to give to a charity or individual who may need some extra support throughout the year on more of a one-off basis.
It fills me with joy knowing that I can build a balance within my account to really make an impact. I can look at my Stewardship balance and say, “Yes! I’ve got this much money to give away; I can support this charity.”
There is something extremely freeing about knowing that you have funds set aside to give and that when you do give, it blesses others. I feel blessed to be able to support others and be able to contribute in a small way to the Kingdom work that is going on around the world.