THF_2025ImpactReport_Digital - Flipbook - Page 5
But God is pleased when obedience and attitude align, as the apostle Paul’s
discourse on generosity in 2 Corinthians 9 makes clear. In verse 7, Paul writes,
“God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” Other passages in both the Old and
New Testaments (for example, Deuteronomy 15:10; Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:30;
Romans 12:8) bear this out. Generosity done grudgingly is still obedience,
and the donor’s attitude has little effect on the benefit to the recipient.
But generosity done joyfully is far better—for the giver!
Since God himself is generous (James 1:5), when we respond in obedience
to God’s commands to be generous ourselves, we are acting like God
(Ephesians 5:1-2). That means generosity is participation in the mission and
character of God. It also means that not only must Christians be generous
themselves, but they should encourage and invite others to be generous as
well. This is what we mean when we say that God’s people should be engaged
in creating and fostering cultures, not just obedient actions, of generosity.
Since its founding in 1963, Tyndale House Foundation has been committed
to carrying out our founders’ commitment to radical generosity. Over the
decades, we have become increasingly convinced that generosity is not only
a mandate, and not only results in divine blessing, but makes everyone and
everything better, because it reflects and welcomes the coming Kingdom
of God. That’s why we not only strive to be generous with Tyndale’s resources
but encourage others to be generous with their resources as well.
• Leaders of THF partner organizations are intentional about not only being
generous but modeling generosity to others.
• Generosity is contagious—our partners that have been recipients
of generosity feel encouraged and empowered to be generous themselves.
• Generosity looks different depending on cultural context.
• Our partners face various challenges in their pursuit and exercise
of generosity.
• God’s favor and blessing is often shown through the giving as much
as through the receiving of generous gifts.
As you read, I hope you’ll be encouraged that our partners are indeed
working to create and foster cultures of cheerful generosity in their contexts.
They are not only obeying the biblical mandate to be openhanded with what
has been entrusted to them but are actively working to make life better
for those around them by being generous and encouraging others to live
generously in Jesus’ name.
As you’ll see in these pages, the theme of this report is generosity
as manifested in the actions and attitudes of our partners toward the needs
of others. We reached out to hundreds of current and recent THF grantees
and asked them ten questions about their organizations’ approaches,
practices, and attitudes of generosity, and we received a tremendous
response. Here is a preview of what we learned:
• Generosity is important to nearly all THF partners.
• THF partners have a deeply biblical and theological understanding
of what generosity means and the role it plays in the lives of individuals
and organizations.
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