To my beloved children:

I am certain you know that your mom and I are faithful givers of tithes and offerings; however, I’m not sure if you actually know the real reason for why we do it. You see, besides the desire to honor God first in our finances, we are faithful givers of tithes and offerings because God is a faithful Giver who is for giving and He has forgiven us much.

The truth is…there was a time in my life when I was not a giver and I was not for giving. In fact, I was quite the opposite. I was a taker and I was for myself. As a result, I was very selfish and my time, my talent, and my treasure was used for myself which led straight into sin through the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes. Furthermore…if not for God being so totally for giving towards me, redeeming me, and restoring my life…my life at best would be a wreck, and at worst, I would be dead. Therefore, because God is so over the top for giving towards me, my true heart’s desire is to be for giving like Him, even though I can never give Him as much as He has given me and continues to give me every day of my life.

Please understand clearly that my giving comes from desire and not duty because without question, everything I have in life, God has given me and I am grateful to Him for giving me everything. He has given me my spiritual life, my marriage life, my family life, my relational life, my physical life, my financial life, and my vocational life. Every good thing I have comes from God because He is a faithful Giver who is for giving! How can I be anything other than a faithful giver myself who is for giving? So now you know. By the grace of God, I am a faithful giver who is for giving because God is a faithful Giver who is for giving. He gives me everything and He forgives me greatly! My prayer is that each of you will also experience for yourselves, the radical over the top for giving nature of God that makes you desire to be a faithful giver who is for giving like Him.

With God’s grace, you’ve got this and you can do it!!

Your imperfect loving,

Dad

For Giving Copyright 2016, Gary J. Borgstede.  You have permission to reprint the letter, For Giving, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.