Arachnophobia, Claustrophobia, Xenophobia, Acrophobia…and the list goes on and on. I Googled phobia to check the spelling of a few and found page after page after page. Fear of almost anything has a name. However, I couldn’t find a phobia for giving or generosity. Yet isn’t it true that we fear giving away what we have? After all, maybe we won’t have what we need down the road.
Andy Stanley, in his book, Fields of Gold, addresses the idea of how fear keeps us from “sowing” the seeds of generosity in order to reap a spiritual harvest that far surpasses anything we could imagine.
“Under the mounting weight of uncertainty, it’s easy to become irrational about our possessions. We lose sight of who really owns them. We fail to grasp how we should be sowing them for God’s kingdom. And we get confused about what we should really fear regarding our finances in this life – like facing eternity having sown only a few handfuls of our personal wealth for God’s kingdom.”
The end of the first chapter reminds us to examine what Jesus had to say about fear. “In Matthew 6:33, Jesus assures us that when we seek His kingdom first with our seed, we need not fear being wiped out:
‘…he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.‘ (NLT)”
This short book is truly a treasure full of exhortation from scripture as well as personal stories from Andy’s own stewardship journeys. Share with us some of your journeys. How has God lead you to overcome fear in the area of giving?
Once again, we’ll be selecting a winner form this week’s comments to receive:
Fields of Gold by Andy Stanley and a David Pendleton Comedy DVD
Congratulations to last week’s winner – Laura!
Renae Nanney
Keynote, Development Team Coordinator
{ 6 comments }
Your comment about a “fear of giving” is an interesting one. I definitely enjoy giving but sometimes I struggle with the balance of giving along with the concept of planning for the future. I can tell that is going to be a life-long journey for me as I listen to God’s voice for widom there!
I agree Rich.
I’ve also had times in my life where it doesn’t very so much like fear but more like dwelling (which is probably the same thing). I notice that throughout the day my mind keeps coming back to spending money on that one item or gift. Almost a pre-buyers remorse. I’m thankful that usually that doesn’t come for me with giving in the same way as buying. But I do know that I can quickly fall into believing that my money is mine and forget that I am just a steward of God’s money.
Yeah, it’s weird. We’re affraid to give, yet, the things that we should give away [i.e. finances, our time, talents, the Gospel, etc.] aren’t really ours to begin with; they’re Gods. Perhaps we’re more affraid, like the man who burried his treasure, that we won’t give these things correctly, as we should? Therefore, out of fear we hide the things that we should really share. It is out of fear that we hold back; and it is out of fear that we miss a blessing from our giving. We need to replace our fear with faith and hold onto God’s promises for provision of our “needs” so that we don’t hold onto our “wants.”
Great comments! I was pondering some of this over the weekend and realized that I don’t really wrestle when it comes to normal giving, like tithing and other ministries that I have been supporting for a long time. However, I see fear creep in when it comes to a challenge to give more to something special. I find myself more apt to do some number crunching to see if I can do it. when , in reality if God is truly prompting me to give, I want to be able to step out on faith and give without being slowed down by the fear of whether I can.
Renae
Good prompt for serious thinking, Kristen. A friend challenged me several years ago– “just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you should buy it.” That has stuck with me and continues to affect how and why I buy things… most of the time! While buying a wishlist item often won’t endanger my ability to pay my bills, it does limit what I’ll be able to give later when, for instance, an earthquake devastates the lives of millions. Had I not ordered that stuff from Amazon with “my” Christmas money, someone in Haiti could be eating better right now. Maybe a little simplistic, but then again, maybe not.
Great blog , love the template. Seriously considering migrating to this cms now!
Comments on this entry are closed.