The Gates on the Giving Pathway

An Initial Giver

is someone who decides to give for the first time, out of a response to God’s Word about giving. This is someone who decides to give something and trust God and the leaders of the Church with this gift. (2 Corinthians 8:7-15)

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A Consistent Giver

is someone who decides to give something and to give it on a consistent basis to exercise the discipline of giving on a regular basis. Often, someone who decides to make their gift an online recurring gift will be someone who is learning the behavior of consistency. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

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An Intentional Giver

is someone who is beginning to think about their giving in relation to other things on which they spend their money. This giver starts to make their giving an intentional choice that reflects how they prioritize it in relation to other things they spend their money on. (Luke 14:28-35)

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A Sacrificial Giver

is someone who recognizes the cost that Christ paid on the cross for us and surrenders to honoring God with 100% of their resources as a result. A Sacrificial Giver is someone who gives in a way that changes them, in a way that reflects that their giving is governing their spending/saving rather than their spending/saving governing their giving. (Colossians 1:15-18, 22-23)

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A Lifetime Giver

is someone who is thinking about the longer term of generosity rather than just the shorter term of month-to-month or even year-to-year generosity. A Lifetime Giver makes decisions in the short term that have longer term effects as it relates to their generosity capacity. A Lifetime Giver might be someone who has a lifetime giving goal, something that will govern their larger-ticket decisions. Much like a Sacrificial Giver makes a commitment that will govern his/her monthly and annual decisions, a Lifetime Giver makes a lifetime or longer-term giving commitment that governs his/her larger-item purchases like homes, cars, investments, and the like. (1 Timothy 6:6-19)