Being rewarded by God for faith-based giving.

Author Ryan Thomas describes faith-based giving as giving money generously to God (meaning, the church) with the expectation that God will bless you in return. You of Little Faith How Bold Giving Leads to Great Blessings presents Thomas and his wife’s faith-based lifestyle. The journey includes their decision to give 50% of their income, the struggles they faced to meet their financial promise, and how God rewarded them time and again.

You of Little Faith asserts that faith-based giving is a primary way to increase our faith and develop a stronger relationship with God. Mr. Thomas is articulate, presents his points well, and has an engaging writing style. He lays out the concept and his application of faith-based giving in an organized and understandable way. His financial sacrifices and the rewards he received were both commendable and miraculous.

The author contends that our materialistic society can easily lead people to idolize money and that when money becomes our idol, it separates us from God. (I wholeheartedly agree.) But charitable giving and generous giving (anything less than the normal 10% tithe) are not enough. We must give to the church until it’s a true sacrifice or hardship before God will reward us.

If you’re like me, you’ll be challenged by the premise of this book and the weak attempts to show a biblical basis. If you’re interested in the idea of faith-based giving, this book is a good choice to guide you.

How this book affected me:
My excitement over reading this book evaporated with the first paragraph of the Introduction when the author (a pastor) said he doesn’t agree with or participate in charitable giving. But the book isn't about charitable giving, so I moved past that, but things just got worse. The faith-based giving concept had me reeling. I found a few nuggets of agreement with Mr. Thomas and he challenged me to consider being even more generous with my money, but his book will haunt me for some time to come.

Who would enjoy this book:
People who’re trapped in a materialistic mindset could benefit from this book. Anyone interested to understand the concept of faith-based giving would learn all they needed to know from this book.

Our Christian Book Reviews:
The Book Reviews at Finding God Among Us focus on Christian books - adult and children, fiction and nonfiction. We're proud to be included in the Top 50 Christian Book Review Bloggers. I chose to read an ARC from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. This review is my honest opinion.

I love books like this that take an aspect of 'orthodoxy' and remind you that you're probably following a man-made assumption rather than a God-led one. The story of this couple faithfully giving in good times and bad - for the purpose of God rewarding them - is challenging to the 'selfless' mindset we are supposed to have. But... even in Malachi God's people were told to tithe so that God could bless them more than they ever expected. I will talk to friends about this book.