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How to Cultivate a Heart of Generosity

Woman sitting on a bench watching the sunset

You will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:11
(emphasis added)

Give — to offer to something higher, to make a present of, to place in the possession of another for their use.

What’s your most prized possession? It might be the most valuable thing you own, like the house you’ve worked your whole life to afford. But it could also be a photo from a special time you spent with someone you loved. Or it could be a meaningful gift from a friend.

The value we assign to our “things” is tangled up with our emotions. How we choose to use the things we cherish most reveals our true priorities.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

MATTHEW 6:21

There’s nothing wrong with having things, or with enjoying them. The problem comes when our things have us. God modeled what generosity looks like when He sacrificed his greatest treasure for us. When we give like He does, and we honor Him with that giving, it draws us closer to Him.

This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

JOHN 3:16 (emphasis added)

Here are 3 simple ways you can begin to practice generosity:

Invest Your Time

Are you engaged in what’s going on in your community? On your street? With your next-door neighbors? You can practice being a better listener almost anywhere: taking your trash out, shopping at a grocery store, working out at the gym. Look for common ground with people, and meet them wherever they are in life, with kindness and respect.

Challenge: The next interaction you have with someone, ask how their day is going. Then listen. Be genuinely interested in them. Make the moment about them, not about you.

Invest Your God-Given Gifts

In what areas are you uniquely gifted? Are you putting your gifts and talents to work in ways that will point people toward Jesus? One of Jesus’ most famous parables is about making the most of what God has given us.

Challenge: Find someplace where you can begin using your gifts to serve others. Start small and local, or go big. Just start.

Invest Your Money

The body of believers that you consider home is the first place where you should invest.

Beyond the tithe, here are two options to prayerfully consider giving to:

Bible Translation

Green arrow

Take part in the vision to see the Bible translated into every language.

YouVersion

Green arrow

Support YouVersion’s mission of helping people pursue daily intimacy with God.

But these are just two ideas. God is moving in the hearts of His people all over the world.

Challenge: Find a movement of God that you feel passionate about, and put your treasure where your heart is: Give.

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Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:7

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What’s your favorite Bible version?

We’re blessed, so that…

We can experience God’s Word through paper books, by searching for passages online, and hearing it spoken to us through our smartphones. Most of us even have “favorite” versions, ones that are easy to read, or that closely match original manuscripts, or even just because we like the speaker’s voice. But…

More than a billion people don’t have any of God’s Word in their language.

Bible For Everyone

…we can be a blessing.

Our partners are already working to get the New Testament translated into most of the world’s languages by 2033. Through #BibleForEveryone,* we’re helping them fund high-impact projects that can be completed quickly. Give now, and you can help the Doondo people of Africa get their first Scripture ever.

Your gift will impact the 123,000 Doondo speakers who live in the Republic of the Congo!*

Just imagine standing before God’s throne one day… and seeing some of the very people that your gift helped bring there:

After this I looked, and there in front of me was a multitude that no one could count, people from every tribe and every nation.

REVELATION 7:9

Give Now

* All contributions received through the #BibleForEveryone campaign will be used exclusively for the purpose of Bible translation. Life.Church is contributing $1 million over the four-year period from 2017-2020. During each calendar year, Life.Church is contributing $250,000, spread across different, high-impact translation projects. As each project is completed, any remaining funds are then applied toward the next translation project, as selected by YouVersion and its partners. (See original blog post for full details.)

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Help these 800,000 people get God’s Word in their language.

Bible For Everyone

You know we love you, right?


We love because God loved us first.

1 JOHN 4:19

We do. That’s why we do everything we can to encourage, inspire, and challenge you to connect with God daily through His Word. Because we want you to experience the same intimacy with Him that we enjoy. But did you know…?

More than a billion people still can’t experience His Word in their language.1

Join us, and let’s share our love with them.

…Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

1 JOHN 4:10-11

Ministries are already working to get the New Testament translated into most of the world’s languages by 2033. Through #BibleForEveryone, we’re helping fund high-impact projects that they can complete quickly.2 The YouVersion Community has already helped more than 1.5 million people get Scripture in their language.3

Here’s how. It’s simple, practical, and immediate.

…if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

1 JOHN 4:12

Give now, and help the Aja people (pronounced AH-jah) get the New Testament and Genesis translated into their language. This one simple act of generosity will help 800,000 people in Benin and Togo4 in Africa hear from God through His Word… just as we do.

Give Now

As the family of God, one day we’ll experience the great joy of meeting the brothers and sisters in Heaven whose lives we touched here on Earth.

…I looked, and there in front of me was a multitude that no one could count, people from every tribe and every nation.

REVELATION 7:9

Notes

1 See illumiNations’ website for details.

2 All contributions received through the #BibleForEveryone campaign will be used exclusively for the purpose of Bible translation. Additionally, Life.Church is contributing $1 million over the four-year period from 2017-2020. During each calendar year, Life.Church is contributing $250,000, spread across different, high-impact translation projects. As each project is completed, any remaining funds contributed to this campaign are then applied toward the next translation project, as selected by YouVersion and its partners. (See original blog post for full details.)

3 In Zambia, Tanzania, Southeast Asia, Gabon, and Ethiopia.

4 The Joshua Project: Aja.

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Help these 20,000 people get their first Scripture ever.

Bible For Everyone

Do you believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word?

Do you give God’s Word a voice in your life?
What if the Bible didn’t exist in your language?
For more than a billion people, it doesn’t.1
You can help change that…

What if everyone had the same opportunity to hear from God’s Word?

Ministries are already working to get the New Testament translated into most of the world’s languages by 2033. Through #BibleForEveryone, we’re helping fund high-impact projects that they can complete quickly.2 So far, the YouVersion Community has already helped more than 1.5 million people get Scripture in their language.3

This is your chance to make an eternal difference in the lives of 20,000 people.

Give now, and help the Mosiye people of southern Ethiopia get the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as several key Bible stories translated into their language, Bussa. Your generosity can help give these 20,000 people4 the first Scripture they’ve ever had. It’s simple:

Give Now

As believers, one day we’ll experience the great joy of meeting people in Heaven whose lives we touched here on Earth.

…I looked, and there in front of me was a multitude that no one could count, people from every tribe and every nation.

REVELATION 7:9

Notes

1 See illumiNations’ website for details.

2 All contributions received through the #BibleForEveryone campaign will be used exclusively for the purpose of Bible translation. Additionally, Life.Church is contributing $1 million over the four-year period from 2017-2020. During each calendar year, Life.Church is contributing $250,000, spread across different, high-impact translation projects. As each project is completed, any remaining funds contributed to this campaign are then applied toward the next translation project, as selected by YouVersion and its partners. (See original blog post for full details.)

3 In Zambia, Tanzania, Southeast Asia, and Gabon.

4 The Joshua Project: Bussa.

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Take your place in Bible history.

Hopefully, you’ve already been hearing about #BibleforEveryone, the plan we’ve coordinated with partners to accelerate Bible translation. It’s hard to imagine, but more than a billion people still don’t have a complete Bible in their language.1 In fact:

Thousands of the world’s languages don’t have even a New Testament.

But we’re changing that… together.

Last year, the YouVersion community accepted a generosity challenge from Life.Church.2 Since then, together you’ve already funded Bible translations that could potentially reach over 1.45 million people: in Zambia, Tanzania, Australia, and Southeast Asia.3 Most recently, your giving is helping local churches in Gabon, Africa translate the Gospel of Luke into three more languages: Kota, Obamba, and Teke!4

To get Scripture circulating quickly, each time they complete a new chapter, they’re releasing it as audio recordings and in print booklets. When they finish the final chapter, they’ll compile the completed book — and we’ll include it in the Bible App!

Give Now

Even if you missed that last opportunity…

When regular church attender Prescillia received the first Bible text ever available in her native language, she said:

“Pastors and churches had to preach in French. Many speakers of regional languages don’t understand, thinking God is the God of other people. But now, when we hear Scripture in Obamba, we know: God speaks my language! He’s our God, too!”

Don’t miss this one.

Men reading the Bible

Local churches are already well underway translating God’s Word into those three languages, but it’s not too late for you to take part in the next language: Wumbu. Just imagine over 18,000 people getting to read these words of Jesus, for the first time ever in their heart language!

“…blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

LUKE 11:28

Get in now on this worldwide move of God.

Pray with us, and ask God to continue accelerating the process of getting His Word into every language. Ask Him to prepare the hearts of those who will be hearing about Him for the first time. And give. Then one day, you’ll share in the great joy of standing before God’s throne and seeing people that your gift helped bring there:

“…in front of me was a huge crowd of people. …so many that no one could count them. They came from every nation, tribe, people and language… They cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God!”

REVELATION 7:9

Give Now

Notes

1 See illumiNations’ website for details.

2 All contributions received through the #BibleForEveryone campaign will be used exclusively for the purpose of Bible translation. Life.Church is contributing $1 million over the four-year period from 2017-2020. During each calendar year, Life.Church is contributing $250,000, spread across different, high-impact translation projects. As each project is completed, any remaining funds are then applied toward the next translation project, as selected by YouVersion and its partners. (See original blog post for full details.).

3 Original posts: Zambia, Tanzania, Southeast Asia.

4 Blog post, “We serve a God of second chances.”