SHOW NOTES
Lessons Learned, pt4
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 164
Lesson #1: Anger is a manifestation of selfishness.
Lesson #2: Slow down.
Lesson #3: Become a listener.
Lesson #4: Be a giver.
There are two types of people in this world—givers and takers. There are people who look at their life and say, “I have something to give,” while others say, “You owe me something.” The latter is entitlement.
There is as much entitlement in the church, as there is in the world. There is much entitlement in ministry, where people feel like they are owed something. We cannot forget that Jesus called us to be givers.
We give our 3 T’s:
1. Time
2. Talent
3. Treasure
When God wants to adjust your heart, often He messes with your treasure. Giving is one of those spiritual growth things. You don’t hit a level and stop. You have open hands. Everything you have belongs to Him.
People who think that tithing is the beginning and ending of giving are cheating themselves. Until you give 11%, I don’t think you have started giving. The Bible says bring “the” tithe. I don’t think you give a tithe. It is God’s, and the purpose is to demonstrate to God that all belongs to Him.
We want to always have the heart of a giver. One of the ways you know you are not doing well in your walk with the Lord is when you start feeling stingy, when you start looking at other people being blessed and feel jealous rather than rejoicing. It’s OK to look at someone being blessed and wish God would do that in your life, but it’s not OK to move to judgment and think you deserve it more than they do. That’s not the heart of the giver. That’s the heart of the taker.
Being a giver is not always easy, but it is responding to the Lord.
Years ago, I had a missionary friend in another country who suffered a tremendous earthquake. I was traveling and spent most of Saturday night calling pastors. I got ahold of about 20 pastors who committed to take an offering over the next few weeks to help this missionary. As a result, thousands and thousands of dollars came in. After all of it was done, I felt pretty good about myself and what I had just done for God. Then I got one of those Holy Ghost taps on my shoulder— “What are you going to do?” I realized that raising all those funds was something I did, not something I gave.
I had a tractor at home, a skid loader, that I used on my 25 acres. I used it a lot. I loaned it out some, and used it at the church as well. I felt like the Lord asked me to give the skid loader away. I called back home and told our missions director to get rid of the skid loader before I got home so I wasn’t tempted to keep it. It got put on a barge we had in Miami that was taking a bunch of stuff over to this missionary. I gave with a full heart, and, of course, God blessed me and took care of me.
Even when you are being moved to give your time, talent, and treasure, that doesn’t always mean you will be giddy about it. It just means you know it is the right thing and you are honoring God. It’s OK to not trust yourself. I didn’t trust my flesh with that tractor. I think I could have even justified writing a big check instead of giving up the tractor, but God asked for the tractor.
I didn’t do it for this reason, but that made a big impact on my kids--especially my boys who understood the value of that machine and how hard I had worked to save for and buy it with cash. They are very, very generous givers today, and they still bring that story up at times. Sometimes God is doing something in our heart and in our life that we are not even aware of what He is doing.
As you go through life, giving should be a sport. Giving should be an engagement. Giving should be something you are looking to improve.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.
One of the Kingdom principles is that things reproduce after their own kind. If you give mercy, you can expect mercy. If you give kindness, you can expect kindness. If you give money, you can expect money.
The purpose for expecting money is that He gives seed to the sower according to 1 Corinthians 8:9. What is the purpose of God blessing you? Here’s the heart of the giver—When a blessing comes in, ask where it should go. I always give more than a tithe from the blessings I receive when I travel. I also set funds aside, just like I save for purchases (a cash-family), so that when a need comes up, I am able to be crazy generous above what my income would indicate.
Check the tenderness of your heart. How much are you enjoying giving your tithe? After that tithe, ask God what else He is asking for. Learn to be a giver. Give with a smile on your face, even when it hurts. Jesus was a giver. Let’s be like Him.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
