Every generous act matters. Every moment of generosity moves your community forward, whether an inch or a mile. Imagine if you took the plunge and dedicated each of the next 40 days to generosity, no backing down, even when it gets tiring. And, imagine if everyone who signed up to 40acts this year did, too.
Green: Set a reminder for each of the next 40 days to prompt you into that day’s act.
Amber: Get an accountability partner who’ll keep you to your word (and your acts).
Red: Write a post on social media for each day’s act. Alternatively, start a daily diary or blog. Boldly let the world know what you’re doing.
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
(Acts 5:42 NIV)
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I used to be a bean counter. Literally.
When I worked with World Vision, I was part of a team in Northern Tanzania getting alongside a group of bean farmers. Our goal was to help them to grow more and find markets for their produce.
One day, a generous group of Americans came to visit the project. They were almost all business owners, many from rural communities themselves. They got what the bean farmers were trying to achieve and soon realised that they had more in common with the farmers than charity and more gifts to offer than just money. God had put them in relationship as a group of Christian business owners; they were brothers and sisters in Christ.
These Americans ended up buying the farming company and investing heavily, and they are now in business with their friends in Tanzania. They had listened to God’s prompting to give generously, taken a big step and, as a result, they found themselves in a new, transformational relationship.
See what generous opportunities come your way today as you prepare to live in generous community and get ready to open yourself up to what God has in store for you.
And finally, as you start your 40acts journey, remember this:
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6–8 NIV)
Are you ready?
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