The Heart of Giving

“For all things come from you, and from your hand we have given you.”
1 Chronicles 29:14b

---

Your heart for the global church is a constant source of encouragement to me.

We often share charitable planning ideas that can help you give more strategically while providing for your loved ones and reducing taxes.

But behind all of the mechanics of charitable planning, there is the heart of giving. Behind the how of giving, there is the even more important why of giving.

If I’m honest, I have to admit that I wrestle with living in relation to my possessions in a way that is consistently filled with contentment, gratitude, freedom, and generosity. My heart is often shaped by a culture that says “it’s mine” rather than a faith that recognizes all I have belongs to the Lord.

One practice that has been so helpful for me is a liturgy we recite every Sunday at our church. This liturgy is based on a prayer book called Every Moment Holy and it has encouraged so many people in our congregation that I want to share it with you.

What might it look like to be molded by words of grace and truth in relation to our possessions and our call to be generous?

Read on below to find a liturgy that I hope will guide your heart into joyful generosity

A Liturgy Before Giving*

Leader: In truth, we have nothing but you, O Christ, nothing that we might call our own. 

All: So let that good confession now compel a better stewardship. 

Leader: First, teach us to treasure you, Jesus, above all things. 

All: Then let that increasing devotion be increasingly demonstrated in a joyful generosity. 

Leader: For to give is to live out the declaration that you alone are our provision and supply. 

All: We need not fear what comes tomorrow. 

Leader: When we give to meet the needs of others… 

All: When we give to the work of those who serve the poor, the sick, and the oppressed… 

Leader: When we give to the service of your Body and your Kingdom… 

All: We give not what is ours, but only what is already yours. 

Leader: With every charitable act we are simply practicing the fact that nothing which passes through our hands belongs to us. 

All: O generous master, make us your faithful trustees, teaching us to live as a wiser conduit of your grace, learning to hold loosely the things of this world. 

All: Let us love well in our giving, even as you, O Father, have loved us so well by giving us all things in Christ. Amen. 

---

As you have pondered these words, I hope you find your own heart filled with gratitude for the Lord’s generosity. May the Lord grow us all in our freedom to live generously, even as those who have received so abundantly.

We thank God for you. You are part of an incredible community of Langham friends around the world who give generously through regular gifts and by including Langham Partnership in your will or trust. Your gifts are strengthening the Lord’s church as we partner with God’s people to equip pastors and leaders throughout the Majority World.

And if you would ever like to talk about the why—or the how—of giving, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to email me at kevin.vandenbrink@langham.org.

---

---

* From Every Moment Holy: Volume 1, by Douglas McKelvey. Published by Rabbit Room Press, Nashville, TN.