Don't Rob
Your Own Heart
I wanted to share a powerful transformation taking place through relational ministry.
Partner Testimony
For the longest time, I struggled with giving.
As a child, I watched my parents faithfully give their 10% no matter what. Through my childish perspective, it seemed like every time they gave, my dad had to work twice as hard to make up for what they had given. I knew my parents struggled financially, and it made me angry with God. I couldn’t understand why He would ask them to give when they were already struggling.
Years later, I found myself wrestling with God about giving again after a message at church offended me. During that time, I felt God speak to my heart: “You need to let go of that offense toward Me and what your parents went through. You only saw what was happening on the surface. You didn’t see what I was doing behind the scenes.”
For a long time, I didn’t know what to do with that. Eventually, I reached out to Haans about my struggle. He challenged me to give to his ministry because it would benefit my heart, even if it was only a dollar. He told me, “God doesn’t want your money. He wants your heart (motive). But money is needed to advance the Kingdom here on earth.”
I decided to take him up on the challenge and started giving with every paycheck.
Three weeks later, a friend showed me an item in a store that I had wanted for a long time but couldn’t afford because of my financial situation. He looked at me and said, “God wants me to get that for you.” The value was more than $1,000.
I was blown away—and honestly, I was surprised by how unworthy I felt to receive it.
Shortly afterward, another friend encouraged me to go to the VA and get checked out because he believed I might qualify for service-related disability benefits. Sure enough, I received a disability rating that provides me with a monthly check and also waived the VA funding fee, potentially saving me thousands of dollars when I buy a home.
Then, just last week, I felt God prompting me to do a longer fast (helping to remove my own doubt and unbelief). On the day I completed the fast, my boss told me that we had done well in the second quarter and that I was receiving an unexpected $2,000 bonus.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Last Friday, I was invited to a meeting with Dennis and Denise Capra. (capramin.com) (If you want to partner with them.) I felt God tell me what I was supposed to give, so I gave it. The very next day, I went for private shooting lessons. The instructor attends my church, and he told me he wanted to bless me by giving me the lessons for free. The value of those lessons was more than ten times what I had given.
A few days before that, a friend at church told me he wished churches would stop teaching the traditional idea of “you’ve got to give” and instead start teaching people about partnering with God through their gifts, their time, and their resources—coming into covenant with Him.
God gave me a picture of a train car sitting on a farm during harvest. In the first picture, the train car was perfectly aligned with the grain chute, and the grain was pouring directly into the car. In the second picture, the train car was misaligned, and the grain was falling everywhere except into the car.
He said, “That’s a picture of you and giving. When you align yourself with me through giving, you put yourself in a position to receive what I want to pour into you. But when you harden your heart and refuse to give, the gift is still there—you simply miss it.”
Needless to say, God has shown Himself faithful to His Word yet again.
I’m not sharing this because I believe giving is some kind of transaction where we give God money and He gives us things in return. That’s not what this has taught me.
What it has taught me is that giving has very little to do with money and everything to do with the condition of my heart. God was working on my trust, my fear, my offense, and my willingness to surrender what I thought I needed to hold onto.
For years, I saw giving through the lens of scarcity.
God has been teaching me to see it through the lens of trust.
And once again, He has shown Himself faithful.
I asked God to remove every obstacle between Him and me, and my heart posture towards money was the big one. He changed my perspective from offense and lack to generosity and opportunity to participate in His Kingdom.
~Rob B.
I want to thank our partners for helping us to teach, coach, and encourage people in the unconditional love and grace of God. We share equally in those victories and harvest for the kingdom. I want to challenge people to give more from the motive of the heart, because the Word of God promises to benefit them rather than merely the amount they give. Giving is transformational because it looks beyond our transactional world and displays value for eternal things in the lives of others.
-Generosity is God’s motive toward us with the Gospel, and we reflect that in our hearts toward others.
-Generosity is a supernatural force of our New Creation reality in Jesus that works with God’s Word in our hearts.
-Generosity extends the Kingdom of God to others.
Promises to meditate upon
2 Corinthians 9:7
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Proverbs 11:25
The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.
Phillipians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Psalm 35:27
Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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Don’t Rob your own heart!
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