After understanding that everything we do is worship, you will begin to see that one of the biggest idols in your life is stuff.  More than likely, you are a worshipper of stuff.  Your car, house, computer, iPod, phone, television, paycheck, books, yard, clothes, furniture, bike, music instrument, and movie collection all hold a higher place in your life than God.  You spend more time focusing on them than Him.

At heart, we are very selfish and greedy.  This is in direct contrast to God the Father who gave us His Son and the Son who gave up His life for us.  If we want to grow closer in our understanding of God, we need to become generous people.  We need to have the mindset that God is more important than stuff.

Here is the amazing thing.  You can use your stuff to worship God.  Your stuff is really God’s stuff and He can do with it whatever He wants.  When you invest your stuff in the kingdom of God, you start to put God before your stuff.  By being generous with your stuff, you are aligning your heart with the heart of God.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of being generous with God’s stuff.

Tip #1: Make it a priority. You’re not going to be generous until you make it a priority.   For example, when I was in college, I had a moment of enlightenment. I was a poor college student, and I went out to eat with a group guys. At the end of the meal, an older gentleman in the group paid for the meal. I remember telling him how I wish I could do the same thing. He responded with the kindest of words: “If you aren’t generous when you have nothing, then you won’t be generous when you have everything.”  You have to make being generous a priority in your life. There are too many other shiny things that will take center stage if you don’t. Make it a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly task to look for ways to be more generous in your life.

Tip #2: Have a budget. 
You won’t know what to give until you know what you have. This works for both your money and your time. For your money, you should have a budget for every month. This takes away the excuse of saying, “I just don’t have any money to give.” You don’t have money to be generous with because you don’t plan.  Most people will tell you that when you first started budgeting, it was like you get a raise.  When you start budgeting, you are finally able to plan. You are able to make your money work for you instead of the opposite.
 You also need to budget your time. Some of us don’t serve others because we never have any extra time. Here is a tip…there is no such thing as “extra” time. There are 24 hours in a day and that is all you have. Just like your paycheck only has a set amount of money, your life only has a set amount of time. You have to budget your time wisely so you’re able to serve those around you.

Tip #3: Give first. This has two implications. You can take the idea of biblical “first fruits.” This was the commandment given by God that you should give the first of everything that you receive (animals, harvest, children, etc.) to God. The top line of your budget should have a line for a certain percentage of your money that you want to give away. When you get paid you should automatically take that percentage of money out of your check to give away.  If you’re a member of a church, it should go to your church. No questions. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just do it. Then budget the rest to live off of. If you don’t do this, you’ll just make excuses and never be generous with the money you have. This will teach you to be generous. The other implication is if you have the option to serve someone or to do something else with the “free” time in your life, serve. Give of yourself first. Generosity now has the priority. So skip watching TV and go do a generous act.

Tip #4: Have a separate checking account. This is a little trick that my wife and I learned when we weren’t part of a local church for a while. We didn’t have a place that we could write a check to for a weekly tithe. So we opened up another checking account and we transferred a percentage of our paychecks into the account every time we got paid. Then we knew we could use this account to be generous whenever the opportunity presented itself without having to worry about whether we were using money that was needed to pay the bills. When we became members of a church, we started giving our tithe to them. We still transfer the money into the account so we don’t get it mixed up with the rest of the money we have, but we enjoyed having the freedom of the extra checking account so much that we transfer an additional amount of money into it every month so we can be generous when the Holy Spirit presents us with opportunities.

Tip #5: Give first and ask questions later. Now this might sound like you’re to give money to anyone on the street who asks you for it, but this is different. What this means is that we have the tendency to ask the question “Why?” Why should I be generous with my time and money? The reality of it is that you can’t understand the answer to that question until you start being generous. You could read scripture. You could hear stories from other people’s lives. You could see a vision of heaven coming to earth. But you won’t get it. You won’t get it until you take a homeless guy across the street to Arby’s for lunch. You won’t get it until you mow your elderly neighbor’s yard without them asking or paying you. You won’t get it until you help your wife’s single-mother-coworker pay her rent. You won’t get it until you pay for lunch for you and your friends, knowing that you might not be able to eat dinner. If you decide that you aren’t going to be generous until you understand why, you’ll never be generous. The reality is you need to give first and then ask questions, because by giving you’ll find a lot of the answers.

photo by: moriza

We are almost two weeks into the Lent season now. I’m sorry for the delay on this last post in my Lent series. Things haven’t allowed me to sit down and write it. But for those who have been waiting patiently (and I guess the impatient ones too), here is the final post.
Once again, I’m not the most generous person you’ll ever meet (that’s probably why this list is shorter than the other ones). I don’t even like to share candy. But I’ve realized my short comings and here are some things that I’ve learned that help me to be a little more generous with my time and money.

1. Make it a priority
   You’re not going to do it until you make it a priority. As I said in another post, I learned this from a wise friend when I was in college.

   I had a moment of enlightenment when I was in college. I was a poor college student (which for some is a load of crap statement…but that is another blog), and I went out to eat with a group guys. At the end of the meal, an older gentleman in the group paid for the meal. I remember telling him how I wish I could do the same. And he responded in the kindest of words, “If you aren’t generous when you have nothing, then you won’t be generous when you have everything.”

   You have to make being generous a priority in your life. There are too many other shinny things that will take center stage if you don’t (this comes from the guy with the iPhone…I know about shinny things taking center stage…and I’m still learning). Make it a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly task to look for ways to be more generous in your life.

2. Have a budget
   You won’t know what to give until you know what you have. This works for both your money and your time. For your money, you should have a budget for every month. This takes away the excuse of saying, “I just don’t have any money to give.” You don’t have money to be generous with because you don’t plan.
   When Shannon and I first started budgeting, it was like I got a raise. Before we budgeted, we just tried to keep an eye on our checking account and when it got to low we stopped spending (don’t judge you know you do the same thing). When we started budgeting, we were finally able to plan. We were able to make our money work for us instead of the opposite (check out DaveRamsey.com for more information on budgets).
   You also need to budget your time. Some of us don’t have time to serve our fellow man because we never have any extra time. I’ll give you a tip…there is no such thing as “extra” time. There are 24 hours in a day and that is all you have. Just like you’re pay check only has a set amount of money, your life only has a set amount of time. You have to budget your time wisely so you serve those around you (check out ZenHabits.net for more information on budgeting your time).
3. Give first
   This is has two implications. You can take the idea of biblical “first fruits.” This was the commandment given by God that everything that you received (animals, harvest, children, ect.), the first of it was to be given to God. The top line of your budget should have a line for a certain percentage of your money that you want to give away. When you get paid you should automatically take that percentage of money out of your check to give away. No questions. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just do it. Then budget the rest to live off. If you don’t do this…you’ll just make excuses and never be generous with the money you have. This will teach you to be generous.
   The other implication is if you have the option to serve someone or to do something else with the “free” time in your life, serve. Give of yourself first. Generosity now has the priority. So skip the basketball game and go do a generous act.
4. Have a separate checking account
   This is a little trick that Shannon and learned when we weren’t part of a local church for awhile. We didn’t have a place that we could write a check to for a weekly tithe. So we opened up another checking account and we transferred a percentage of our pay checks into the account every time we got paid. Then we knew we could use this account to be generous whenever the opportunity presented itself without having to worry about whether we were using money that was needed to pay the bills.
   When we started going to City on a Hill we started giving our tithe to them. We still transfer the money into the account so we don’t get it mixed up with the rest of the money we have, but we enjoyed having the freedom of the extra checking account so much that we transfer an additional amount of money into it every month so we can be generous when the opportunities present themselves.
5. Give first ask questions later
   Now this might sound like I’m say to give money to anyone on the street who asks you for it (in fact I would say not to do that…give them food, clothing, bottled water, a cup of coffee…but don’t give them money. Read “Under the Overpass” to see why). What I’m saying is that my tendency and I know some of your’s tendency is to ask the question “Why?”. Why should I be generous with my time and money. The reality of it is that I can’t answer that question truly. I could give you scripture. I could give you stories in my own life. I could paint a picture of a vision of bringing heaven to earth. But you won’t get it.
   You won’t get it until you take a homeless guy across the street to Arby’s for lunch. You won’t get it until you mow your elderly neighbor’s yard for them without them asking or paying you. You won’t get it until you help your wife’s single-mother-coworker pay her rent. You won’t get it until you pay for lunch for you and your friends knowing that you might not be able to eat dinner.
   If you decide that you aren’t going to be generous until you understand why, you’ll never be generous. The reality is you need to give first and then ask questions, because by giving you’ll find the answers.