Generosity is not limited to what we place in an offering plate or contribute online. We give whenever we share what God has entrusted to us for the flourishing of others.
In Holy Currencies, the Rev. Dr. Eric H. F. Law describes six resources that can flow through a community as blessings. His framework invites us to recognize that each of us has something meaningful to offer—and that generosity takes many forms.
Give Your Time and Place
You can give your presence, attention, and availability. You can also share the spaces entrusted to you—a home, church building, meeting room, garden, vehicle, or table.
This might look like:
- Volunteering for a ministry you value
- Making time to listen to someone
- Providing transportation
- Welcoming people into your home
- Opening church space to community groups
Give Through Gracious Leadership
Leadership is not simply holding a position. It is using your abilities and influence to help others participate, contribute, and flourish.
This might look like:
- Mentoring a new leader
- Sharing professional knowledge
- Inviting someone else’s voice into the conversation
- Organizing people around a shared concern
- Using your influence to open a door for someone else
Give Through Relationships
Relationships carry trust, encouragement, knowledge, and opportunity. Introducing people, strengthening connections, and showing up consistently can be profoundly generous acts.
This might look like:
- Connecting someone with a helpful person or resource
- Inviting a neighbor into community
- Checking on someone who feels alone
- Building partnerships across organizations
- Repairing a strained relationship
Give Truth
Truth helps communities see clearly, learn honestly, and grow faithfully. We give truth when we share our stories, speak with courage, listen to experiences different from our own, and name what others may prefer to overlook.
This might look like:
- Sharing a personal testimony
- Offering honest and constructive feedback
- Asking a question that needs to be asked
- Speaking against injustice
- Passing along knowledge or wisdom
Give Wellness
Wellness includes the practices, care, and resources that nurture wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. We give wellness when we help create conditions in which people and communities can thrive.
This might look like:
- Preparing a meal for someone
- Offering respite to a caregiver
- Creating spaces for rest, prayer, or play
- Supporting access to food, healthcare, or counseling
- Establishing healthy expectations and boundaries
Give Money
Money remains an important form of generosity. It can move quickly, respond to immediate needs, sustain long-term ministry, and provide resources that individuals and organizations could not otherwise access.
This might look like:
- Giving regularly to your congregation
- Supporting a ministry or community organization
- Responding to an emergency need
- Making a legacy gift
- Using your purchasing and investing choices to reflect your values
Let the Blessings Flow
These six forms of giving are interconnected. A financial gift may create a welcoming place. A relationship may uncover an important truth. Gracious leadership may strengthen wellness. The generous sharing of time may lead to new relationships—and those relationships may inspire still more generosity.
The goal is not to accumulate these gifts; it’s to let them circulate. When we share what has been entrusted to us, generosity becomes more than a transaction. It becomes a way of participating in God’s abundance.
Consider: What do you have to give today—and what blessing might your generosity set in motion?
This page draws upon Eric H. F. Law’s “Holy Currencies” framework. Learn more by purchasing Holy Currencies: Six Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries, published by our partners at Chalice Press.