In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1) - but not just for himself. The whole of creation not only declares the glory of God, but it demonstrates his generosity (Psalms 19:1). Goddidn’t just stop there. His generosity is enduring. God gave His one and only son as payment for our sins (John 3:16). As we develop a life of generosity and learn to give sacrificially, we become more like God.

When we begin to grasp what the Lord has done for us – the deep, immeasurable and sacrificial gift he has given to us – the question demands to be answered: How are we supposed to respond to a gift like this? How do we respond to this unfathomable love and grace and sacrifice? The simple answer is that we worship. We do what pleases him and brings him glory. When the Spirit leads us to worship the Lord by giving, God is glorified, and others may come to know him too.

God doesn’t need anything from us (Acts 17:25), but He is glorified when the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts to give back to Him. God wants our treasure and worth to be with those things that can never be destroyed or taken from us (Matthew 6:19-20), encouraging us to be generous with the resources He has given us.

He is the owner, we are only the managers. Once we recognize that God owns everything, we acknowledge the responsibility of being wise stewards of what God has given us. The Bible teaches us that ‘every good and perfect gift is from above’. We recognize all the good things that God has done for us and, in gratitude, we give out of the resources he has entrusted to us.