I have recently taken up the position of Treasurer for our Parish of Langdon Hills and would like to share some of my thoughts with you on giving, but firstly I would like to say a BIG thankyou to those who already give so generously in so many ways. It makes a huge difference to our Parish.

I always find that I need to reflect and remind myself that everything I have belongs to God; I am just a steward of God’s gifts. The Bible encourages us all to be generous givers.
We can be called to do this in several ways from tithing, which means giving a percentage of our income, to giving our time and talents to serve the Church and Gods people.

In Giving, I believe the most important thing to God is our attitude of heart. Is it to Glorify God? Is it out of Love and Adoration for our Father? Is it to become more like Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives? Are we loving our neighbours as ourselves by showing generosity, kindness and love? Are we giving to grow Gods kingdom locally and around the world?

If I give my money and time, but my heart is heavy because I feel that I don’t really want to give, then I am not giving Freely, ”willingly and readily” to God.

I should give because I want to have faith and learn to trust that my wonderful Heavenly Father will provide for my EVERY need. I choose to serve because I love others and want to show this love through acts of generosity and service. None of us is perfect but God wants us to persevere with serving and giving of ourselves so that we can grow in our faith and receive many blessings along the way.

Jesus said, “When you give (Matthew 6)“, not “If you give“ which implies that we are called to give in whatever way we can. ”Lord what can I do to honour and serve you today?“ could be our daily prayer.

If we want to be more like Jesus and love others like he loved us, then in Freely giving our money, time, talents we are showing our Father how much we truly love him and our deep desire to honour him in every way we can. Giving of ourselves (all that I am, all that I have) is an act of love and devotion which God sees and truly rejoices in.

You do not have to be rich to give, just give what you can with a joyful spirit and a thankful heart. Please take some time to pray about generosity and ask God to fill you with his grace, allowing you to trust, serve and be moulded to become a generous giver in every aspect of your life.

If you would like to find out more about how you can give your time, money and talents to help our Church serve the local and wider community, please feel free to contact myself, Colin  or Anna.

Kind regards

Jill Hurley -Treasurer - PCC of Langdon Hills