God’s grace helps church leaders deal with the frustrations that can come in managing church facilities. Here we want to consider how grace affects one specific frustration — when giving isn’t as it should be. After all, it does take money to pay for and maintain our buildings.
God’s Grace Affects Giving by Providing the Motivation
When giving is down or people aren’t living up to their commitments, leaders might be tempted to apply a little guilt manipulation to coerce people into giving. The Christ-like response? – Grace! God’s grace works so much better as a motivator.
Consider the early New Testament church. Since they didn’t meet in buildings like we do today, their financial concerns weren’t about paying mortgages and utility bills. However, great needs existed among them that were met because of God’s grace at work in them.
And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales … (Acts 4:33-34)
When writing to the church at Corinth about his expectations for their giving, Paul pointed to the grace God had given to the Macedonian churches who displayed generosity though they themselves had needs. He desired for the Corinthians to “excel in this grace of giving” not to compete with the Macedonians but because of God’s grace. He said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9)
Getting people to give, especially sacrificially, takes more than a pep talk. It takes grace, the grace not only exemplified in Jesus, but available to us because of and through Him.
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. (Jn. 1:16)
…. be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 2:1)
All Posts about Budgeting and Finances:
- Budget Fit Your Church Purpose?
- Budget Process of Body Life?
- Budget Fostering Body Life?
- Church Financial Management & Budgeting Resources
- Budget Reflect the Great Commission?
- Church Finances & Christlikeness
- Praying About Church Finances is the Christ-like Thing to Do
- Encourage Integrity in Giving
- Managing Finances with Integrity
- Finances & The Way the Church Functions
- Gospel Affects Even Our Finances
- Grace Affects Giving
- Financial Consultants & the Church
- Financial Management in the Church
- Church Finances & the Spiritual Gift of Giving
- Prayer an Integral Part of Church Finances?
- Perspective When Praying about Finances
- Priorities When Praying about Finances
- God’s Word Helps with Church Finances
- Generosity Affected by the Name of the Lord
- Help for Working on Church Budgets
- Before Closing Your Doors, Remember God’s Resurrection Power
- Impact of Leaders’ Example on Church Finances
- The Impact of a Leaders’ Attitude Toward Money