Excelling in the Grace of Giving

Dannah Gresh: Randy Alcorn says there’s a sense in which true givers are also receivers.

Randy Alcorn: The more we give, the more we experience the grace of God in our lives.

Dannah: I’m Dannah Gresh saying welcome to the Revive Our Hearts podcast on December 1, 2022. Our host is Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: I have so enjoyed our conversation with Randy Alcorn this week, talking about The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving. That’s the name of a book that Randy has written. 

We’re making it available to any of our listeners this week when you make a donation of any amount to help support the outreaches and ministry of Revive Our Hearts . . . calling women to freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ. And that’s going on around the world—in a lot of ways we’re aware of and a lot of ways that we won’t see the details until eternity.

We’re pouring our treasure, our lives, our time into reaching the hearts of those women. And when you support this ministry, you’re a part of helping to make that happen. And to encourage you and to say thank you for your generosity, we want to give you this little book.

This is going to be an investment in your life. You’ll thank me in eternity if you take time to read this book, to ponder it, to meditate on it, and then most importantly, to live out its message.

So, Randy, welcome back to Revive Our Hearts. Thank you so much for coaching us, mentoring us, and encouraging us to think God’s way about the treasures that He has given us to steward.

Randy: Thank you, Nancy. It’s just so good to be with you. 

Nancy: One of the things I’ve heard you say a number of times over the years—and you talk about it in The Treasure Principle book—is that “we need to live, not for the dot, but for the line.” Help us understand what that means.

Randy: Yes. So we could look at our limited, finite life on earth in terms of eternity as just a small dot: it begins, it ends, it’s brief. Scripture attests to this, and just as we look around . . .

Nancy: Even if it’s eighty years, it’s still brief!

Randy: That’s right, it’s still brief. That’s the “dot.” But from that dot proceeds a line of our lives that goes out for all eternity. If we have a relationship with God, we have eternal life. We’ll live with our King Jesus forever and with the family of God, and that life will never end!

So that “line” that proceeds out of this dot. That line that goes right on after we die and is no longer in the dot of this brief life. If we are smart, we’re going to not live for the dot, we’re going to live for the line, because that’s our eternal life! 

Every decade that goes by, or every hundred years, or every millennium, will make it that many more times longer than this dot that is our present life. And what happens so often is, we’re just looking at the dot, we’re just looking at our life here as if that were the ultimate.

And what it says in 1 Timothy 6:17–19 is, we’re “not to be haughty, nor to set [our] hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God . . .” (ESV). Then the passage says we’re “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the [coming age] . . .”That’s the line! “. . . so that may take hold of that which is truly life.” 

I love that! What’s truly life. What I love is that yes, we’re thinking about the future, but we’re thinking about that future age in light of the reality that right here and now we’re truly entering into life!

It’s not just, “Okay, let’s set aside the good things of life now so that we can enjoy great treasures in the eternal life to come.” But it’s, “Yes, let’s invest in the eternal life to come with our treasures, by giving so that now we can live the life that is truly life—here and now!”

It’s not, “Wait ’til then,” but “Live it right now!” So it both invests in eternity and frees us up in our present lives to have more of a kingdom, Christ-centered focus here and now.

Nancy: And in that passage that you’re referring to there, this is tied to generosity. It’s tied to giving. It’s tied to not holding on to things but investing in the kingdom of God, in that which matters for eternity. 

So it’s not saying we can’t buy a refrigerator, we can’t buy a car, we can’t buy a house, we can’t buy clothes. But it’s saying those things are all a part of living for the dot. How can we spend our money, give our money, use our resources in such a way that we’re doing it, mindful of the line that goes on for all eternity?

Randy: Yes, the word “rich” in this passage is used four times, “As for the rich in this present age . . . ” By the way, that’s pretty much all of us. (There are different online services. I don’t think GlobalRichList.com is active anymore. But there are other alternatives where you can find out where you stand in the world, in terms of your income.)

The vast majority of people listening are probably no lower than the ninetieth percentile, and many of them will be in the mid-nineties, and quite a number in the upper ninety percent of all those on the globe! So pretty much almost all of us are “rich in this present age,” even though we don't always feel like it.

“. . . charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (v. 17). So right in the middle of this passage on radical giving, God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy!”

This is not asceticism. We can enjoy good things in this life, and God intends for us to enjoy them, but then goes right on to say, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works” (v. 18). God richly provides for us. We are to be rich in good works, and we are the rich in this present age, but we’re not to set our hope on the uncertainty of riches.

So just define riches and understand riches and understand that God is not stingy with you. He does intend for you to spend some of what He entrusts to you on yourself and your children and the house that you live in and the car that you drive, or whatever.

We just need to ask ourselves how much is enough and how much is too much in light of world need and an opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven?

Nancy: Are we setting our hope in the uncertainty of wealth? Are we putting our sense of well-being, our sense of how we compare to others—how we look, how we measure up—are we measuring our happiness by the uncertainty of this temporal wealth?

And are we, in the process of spending and living, also being generous and willing to share? In regard to that passage, we can’t say, “Oh, I’m living moderately and temperately compared to . . . Well, I don’t live an excessive lifestyle.”

Well, who determines what excessive is? It’s the work of God’s Spirit in each of our hearts, to say, are you living in such a way that you can be generous? Randy, you think about how many people can’t give what they might want to give to ministries because they’re living head-over-heels in debt! 

They've been so focused on living a lifestyle and in a way that maybe God hasn’t provided for them to live. Then they say, “Well, I can’t be generous. I can’t give to this need in my church, I can’t give to this other believer who has a need.”

I’ve loved watching over the years here at Revive Our Hearts and our parent ministry, Life Action Ministries, many of our staff raise their monthly support as faith independent missionaries do. That’s a concept many of our listeners will understand.

There are many on our staff who could be making a whole lot more money working somewhere else, but they want to invest their lives in eternity. They’re willing to be content with less than they might otherwise have. They’re here to serve, not to be wealthy in this world’s eyes.

And then I watch—this is what amazes me! I’ve been here forty-some years, in this ministry. I watch the lateral giving that takes place between staff when one has a need. Man, I’ve seen some of our poorest staff by earthly measurement . . . In one case, a lot of children, they were feeding themselves out of vegetables and potatoes that they raised. I watched them come to a meeting one year bringing sacks of potatoes to share with staff, out of what they had, out of their need, to give to meet the needs of others. It is a beautiful and joyful way to live, that I think most believers never get much more than a very small taste of.

Randy: Yes, that takes me back to that passage, “Excel in this grace of giving.” What I love about that is that you would think that it would say maybe, “Excel in this duty of giving.” It is a duty; it is a responsibility. But “excel in this grace . . .” 

Okay, so grace we almost think of as the opposite of excel, because excel is like more works, what you’re doing. But those things are completely compatible with the Lord, because they are the good works that come out of the reality of grace in your life.

So, giving is a grace, but it’s also something we can get better at, we can do better at. It involves discipline and training and experience. And usually the more we give, the more joy we get out of giving, and then the more natural our giving becomes, as guided by the Holy Spirit. It just becomes so much a part of us.

And what you just described, people who don’t have a lot giving a lot, and a high percentage of their giving . . . We see this not only in 2 Corinthians 8 with the poor Macedonians who gave so abundantly, but of course we see it with the poor widow, who Jesus commended for giving all that she had.

Now, what would we have advised? I mean, let’s say that I was still a pastor and this woman in our church who had almost nothing, maybe virtually bare cupboards, said, “Pastor, I feel led of the Lord to give the last five dollars that I have to the church.”

Nancy: And that passage says, “all she had to live on” (see Luke 21:4). It was the basics.

Randy: Right, it was! But, I mean, “This is it. This is all I have, and I want to give it to the church.” Well, what would I have done? I would have immediately said, “Oh dear, God knows your heart and you want to give, but if you’re telling me this is literally all you have . . . I mean, you don’t know where the next meal’s coming from. Then don’t give it to the church! In fact, we’ve got a fund here at the church, and we’ll give to you!” 

But in doing that, at the same time I could have been guilty of robbing someone who feels led of the Lord and trusts God for where it’s going to come from. This probably wasn’t the first and only time that the poor widow gave away all that she had. She probably did that fairly often. And Jesus was commending her for it. Now, of course, I don’t want to neutralize our responsibility. And yes, I don’t want pastors to encourage people to give away their last penny. 

Even as I’m saying that, I feel conflicted, because Jesus is commending somebody who did give away their last penny. But in any case, we have to figure out how that works. But what a joy that a poor person can have in giving all that they have. Let’s not rob them of that joy, but let’s also help the poor and those who are in need.

But for those of us who have more, the more we give, the more we experience the grace of God in our lives. In some ways, churches that are always struggling even though they have a lot of wealthy people, but they never have enough money to pay for the ministries and to pay the salaries of the pastors . . . I think that’s a pretty strong sign that the grace of God is not as present in that church as it should be. 

So that’s a chance to go back and say, “Okay, let’s not even talk about giving today. Let’s do a series on the grace of God.” Part of that, sure, is giving. But, “Let’s talk about God’s giving to you, His grace to you. Are you entering into that grace? Because if you’re not giving, you’re not entering into the grace of God.”

Nancy: As we give, one of the things I love about giving is that it is part of the sanctification process in our lives. It’s part of helping us to become more like Jesus, because giving generously above and beyond what might be expected norms—giving radically—confronts my selfishness. It confronts my pride, it’s humbling, it confronts what I'm hoping in, what my contentment level is. It’s really a part of becoming more Christ-like.

 

We’re investing in the lives of others, we’re investing in other ministries and in the work of God around the world, but we’re also investing in our own spiritual growth and maturity as we learn to give God’s way.

Randy: It really strikes me how in the 1 Timothy 6 passage that we looked at, it says, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desire that plunge people into ruin and destruction. . . . wander[ing] from the faith and pierc[ing] themselves with many pangs” (vv. 9–10). Okay, that’s early in 1 Timothy 6.

Later in that same chapter comes the solution, which is, 

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of [the life that] is truly life. (vv. 17–19)

And surely Matthew 6 and what Jesus said about storing up treasures in heaven is on Paul’s mind. 

Okay, “taking hold of the life that is truly life” through this generous giving is exactly the antidote to the problems he spoke of just maybe ten or fifteen verses earlier in that same chapter, of a life that is wrapped up in materialism and is self-destructive.

So, once again, you’re not just giving to alleviate the world’s problems. You’re giving to alleviate some of your own problems that relate to having just too much. Because, you know, things have mass, mass has gravity, gravity holds us in orbit around these great massive things that we can accumulate.

I have a friend whose next-door neighbor owned some property in Florida, and storms were on the coast of Florida, which is a fairly common thing that happens. He had planned on going golfing that day with his son.

He’s going out to his car and driving off, and my friend says, “Hey, where are you going? I thought you were going golfing with your son today. What’s going on?” 

He said, “Ah, I’ve got to fly down to Florida and just look at the damage to the house and figure out the insurance and the repairs and all of that.”

So, there’s an example of something . . . It’s not that it’s wrong to own a house in Florida, especially if you live in Florida! But my point is just to say, look at how his wealth put him in bondage. He was going to have a day with his son, and instead he gives up that day because his life is being ruled by what he possesses.

Nancy: Those things have a lot of power. My dad used to say to us, “The more things we have, the more things can break, the more we have to focus on those things.” God did bless us with things more than what we needed. But there was always this heart that I loved hearing in my dad of the difference between needs and wants. 

He said, Don’t let wants begin to define your existence. Have a contented heart, whether God provides beyond your needs or not (with food and clothing and shelter). Let’s be content, realizing that as we give, it is helping wean our hearts from being too connected, too latched onto, things that are not of eternal value.”

Which leads me to just one more thing I’d love to hear you address, Randy, and that is the matter of our children and what we pass on. Robert and I were having dinner not too long ago with a couple who has been blessed with a large business, and they have generous hearts.

But the subject came up of their young adult children, and I said, “Have you given any thought to how you want to plan for not only giving now, but giving later—your planned giving after you’re gone?” They’re kind of in my age group, so these are things they should have been thinking about long ago! Things like, “What you’re leaving to your children?”

They looked at us and they said, “No, we really haven’t thought about that. We haven’t worked on it. One thing we know,” they said (and I don’t know their kids, so I’m not commenting on it), “For sure, our kids don’t need what is going to be left after we’re gone.” They knew that there was something in their kids’ hearts or lives or walk or whatever that was not going to be helped by . . .

You know, Proverbs talks about “an inheritance quickly gained” brings sorrow and sadness and grief in the end. ( Prov. 20:21) So help, if you would, just say a few words as parents are thinking about their will, their trust, their planning. How to talk to their children about that, how to think. I know no two situations are exactly alike, but what are some guiding principles that you think would be helpful there?

Randy: Yes, I’ve had a recent conversation with a man in our church who owns a nursery. His kids aren’t involved in the work, on the land, and all that. The value of land has just gone up and up and up over the years.

He’s trying to figure out, “So, do we just leave this behind for them? It’s in our will right now, and it would go to the kids.” It would be millions and millions of dollars, even though he’s just your average, middle-class person. But the value of his land is now huge!

And the irony that I see so many times is that you have young people who grow up that go off to school. They don’t stay in their parents’ business (and I don’t think you have to stay in your parents’ business), but it’s normal now to not do that. 

They might become a doctor; they might become a lawyer; they might become very well-paid people who are actually more well-paid than their parents were in their day, in some cases. Then they get this windfall. Well, it’s like winning the lottery because the value of property now is incredible!

The house that we lived in, that we bought for $49,000 (according to the property taxes we now pay) is worth about fifteen times what we paid for it back in the late seventies. Okay, so we’re very middle-class people. I mean, at one point, arguably, lower middle-class people, in terms of what our income was. But the value of just that little piece of property and the house that’s on it has just accelerated! 

So the question then is, even in our case . . . Now, I have daughters I fully trust, absolutely! Would they be responsible stewards of everything that’s left to them? Absolutely, yes! But they don’t need it, and I am not their primary provider. Their husbands have the responsibility of providing.

I think they would handle the flow of cash well, but there are lots of families that wouldn’t. Somebody that has a temptation toward laziness, drug abuse, immorality are easily funded by more and more wealth. People can be harmed greatly by that inheritance that comes to them.

But the other side of it is, look at what could be done. Even middle-class people giving away more of their money now in this life, which I highly recommend, but leaving the larger portion of their assets to God’s kingdom if their kids don’t need it. 

You can say, “How would our kids feel about that?” Well, talk to them about it! We talked to our kids years ago about this. The majority of what we leave behind—the value of retirement programs or Social Security, whatever—the value of that and the value of our house primarily will go to help the poor, to fund kingdom causes, to spread the gospel, to translate Scriptures into the languages of unreached people groups. They’ve known that all along.

They know they’ll get a small amount, but even a relatively small amount will be significant, that will be able to help them. But it is not enough to make them go, “Okay! We’ll buy a brand-new house with this, and we’ll go on luxury vacations!” 

Not that our kids would do that, but lots of kids would do that. (The more I say “kids” now, I’m talking about grown people with their own families). Again, with our grandchildren, we’ll help them in college. We’ll do all of that that we can do along the way. We’ve been generous with our kids and downpayments on their houses, portions of it, and all of that.

But we want to do that in this life and not saddle them with temptations. And above all, we do not want to rob the kingdom of God. The final thing I would say with this is, if it was a choice between the welfare of children overseas who I’ve never met and the welfare of my grandchildren, I would choose my grandchildren.

But when I look at this money that would greatly help these children over here and would not greatly help my grandchildren—and might even hurt them—given that choice, I’ll invest in the children overseas.

Nancy: I love that. I can’t thank the Lord enough that my parents took a similar approach to what you’ve done with your kids. They let us know early on . . . My dad believed (I’m sure this wasn’t original with him), “Do your givin’ while you’re livin’ so you’re knowin’ where it’s goin’.” 

 

He died at the age of fifty-three, dropped dead of a heart attack, unexpectedly, and he had made provision and plans that when he was gone, the proceeds from his business and his estate would largely be given to kingdom ventures and kingdom work, and we celebrated that. I still celebrate it.

He didn’t want us ever to be in a place . . . (Of course, we were young then. As the oldest of seven children, I was twenty-one, so we were still very much kids when he died.) He wanted to make sure that if we were kids, that our needs would be met. But he didn’t want us to be in a place where we didn’t need God. I’m so thankful for that wisdom!

Randy, one of the things that you say in The Treasure Principle, I’m just going to read a quote. It’s a probing question. You say, “Ask yourself, ‘Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance?’” And then you say, “When you come up with an answer, why not give it away now?”

What am I hanging on to that the Lord may want me to give away? And the answer to that question may look different for you than it does for me or somebody else listening. But what we want for all of us is for our hearts to be in heaven, and our treasure to be in heaven, and for us to be living in this present age as those who know that this is just a short time span we spend here. 

I don’t think any of us will ever get to heaven and say, “I wish I hadn’t given so much!” We may be saying, and most of us probably will be, “I wish I’d given Him more! I wish I’d given Christ more.” 

So, thank you Randy for challenging us. This treasure of a book that you’ve written! We’re so thankful that it’s available to share with our listeners this week. 

If you’ve read it before, read it again! Get the newer edition we’re offering this week that has some additional thought-provoking content in it, when you say, “I want to have a part in this ministry,” with a gift of any amount this week.

You say, “I want to send my money ahead in ways that Revive Our Hearts is serving and blessing others.” Or, you may send it somewhere else. But make sure you’re giving it toward kingdom-minded values. And then, it will be our joy to send you as our way of saying “thank you” a copy of Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle.

You need to read it, but not just read it—reread it. Get it into your heart, get it into your life, and see what the Lord does with your heart, with your marriage, with your children, and for all of eternity as you celebrate what He has done by His grace flowing to you, and then through you to others. Thank you, Randy. I’m so, so grateful for this conversation!

Randy: Thank you!

Dannah: Again, Randy’s book The Treasure Principle is our way of saying “thank you” for your donation of any amount today. Request it when you contact us with your donation at ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959 and ask about the book on giving.

Tomorrow we’ll hear the story of a couple who has experienced God’s grace on a deeply personal level. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is inspiring you to excel in the grace of giving as you live out your freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the ESV.

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