Faith, Gratitude, and Generosity

I was recently asked to share a little about how my faith has shaped my sense of gratitude and generosity. As I reflected on this, I realized that my faith journey hasn’t been a straight line—it’s had its ups and downs. But over time, it has grown steadily stronger, largely thanks to the incredible faith formation I’ve received here at St. John the Divine through Bible studies, worship, fellowship, and serving others.

I’d like to share two stories that capture how faith has influenced my heart—one in the area of gratitude, and the other in generosity.

Love as My Role

About ten years ago, I was receiving prayer during a difficult season. The person praying with me gently asked how I was feeling, and I admitted something I hadn’t said out loud before: “In my family of origin, I’ve always felt like I’m the dumbest one. They’re all so intellectual, and I’m never right.”

Then she asked a question that changed everything: “Do you want to ask the Lord what He thinks about that?”

So I reflected and felt the Lord say: “That’s not your role in your family. Your role is to be love.”

That may not seem like a lot to everybody, but to me, those few words were life-changing. They helped heal wounds I didn’t fully realize I carried. They gave me new gratitude for my parents and redeemed some of the harder parts of our relationship. That revelation allowed me to truly love and serve them during the last seven to eight years of their lives.

Trusting God with Generosity

The second story takes me back about 20 years and has to do with faith as it relates to generosity. Will and I were active members here, and at the time we were giving about 5% of our income to the church and another 5% to charities. One year, we felt God nudging us to take a step further—to tithe fully.

We talked and prayed, and decided to tithe (give 10% of our income to the church). We filled out our pledge card and turned it in on Commitment Sunday.

Two days later, on Tuesday, Will lost his job.

As you can imagine, I was panicking. That moment felt like a steep drop in faith. But Will remained calm and said, “We’re going to have faith and we’re going to trust God.”

The very next day, Wednesday morning, Will went to the Chapel for a prayer service. While there, he ran into a fellow parishioner who told him, “I’d really like you to come work for my company.” Thanks be to God for that!

A Response to Grace

When we have gone to the Lord in faith and prayer, He has responded with grace and generosity. In return, we try to live graciously and generously and give back to the Lord.

As you consider your own journey of faith, I encourage you to reflect on how the Lord has shown His generosity in your life—and how you might respond through your own gifts to St. John the Divine.