Defenses Down, Let’s Take a Good Look at Giving

“Generosity flows out of a heart of worship. It’s an interaction between you and God, something as biblical as praying or reading your Bible. And like those disciplines, genuine generosity requires a level of intentionality.”

This is one of my favorite thoughts in this rich book (pun intended) from Chip Ingram. Rich in the idea of density, like a John Mark Comer sermon. Or rich like lobster bisque.

Ingram is famous for clear and wise teachings on many varied topics, and his book The Genius of Generosity is a fast, sharp reminder of this important concept for our life. I can read this book today and it has fresh impact on our financial stewardship, and his words will continue to have fresh meaning when I pick it up again in a year.

Honestly, many of us need regular reminders to reset this intentionality in our daily practices. Generosity is a lifestyle that starts with intention and requires on-going nurturing and discipline, much like a new year’s resolution. 

As women, we often hold the duty of managing the household books. Our decisions about spending can be influenced by all good intentions about all kinds of generosity relative to our kids, our experiences, and our homes. Developing a giving orientation in our families has to be woven into daily conversations about needs, wants and sacrifices, particularly if we hope to model the joy of giving to our children. I love this thought from Kim King via Women Doing Well:

“We also know we’re hard-wired to experience joy when we are generous. So why is it so difficult to seek to grow in generosity? To grow in our relationship with God, we must face change — change in our circumstances, change in our actions, or changes in our thoughts. These changes are often the nudges we need to grow, trust, create, and work alongside Him — in our faith and in our giving decisions.”

Ingram doesn’t pull any punches in his truth. “We can give in a way that doesn’t affect us. Our lifestyle isn’t impacted, our plans aren’t altered, and we can still buy everything we were going to buy anyway. That still counts as giving– and can still be considered ‘generous’ — but it isn’t sacrificial.”  

In that sharpness, he walks us through an excellent thought process that elevates all the trade-offs and reminds us of our responsibility, and the genuine rewards we enjoy in seeking this kind of closeness with our Creator God. It’s truly abundant living.

Grab this book from Chip Ingram, even if you’ve read it before. It feels like a brilliant coach, encouraging our genius back out on the court and energize our generosity for the best kind of win.

About Chip Ingram

Chip Ingram’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways.