Guideline for Success: Put First Things First
When Stan and Carol Sewell married in 1968, they looked forward to a happy life. But the reality didn’t match the dream when the money got tight.
Carol admits, “We were floundering.”
Stan went through a period of unemployment and job searches, then a series of part-time, low-paying jobs trying to make ends meet…
“I knew that I needed to do something different, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what that was to push on through,” Stan says. “We knew about tithing. We knew what it was, but we never did it.”
That’s when the Sewells began watching The 700 Club and learned biblical financial principles.
“We made a decision to put God first,” Carol says, “to put His Word first and to do what His Word said.”
Carol and Stan began tithing 10 percent of their income.
She recalls, “Even on those unemployment times, we tithed on our unemployment checks. People looked at us like we were nuts. We didn’t think about not doing it. This is the way we live. We put God first, so that’s what we continued to do.”
Stan says God lead him to the commercial real estate business, and his sales took off!
Carol says, “When he closed his first big real estate deal, I laid awake all one night writing in my mind, ‘How much am I going to give to this ministry?’ It was so much fun.”
Carol and Stan remain faithful to CBN as 700 Club Gold members.
“The 700 Club reaches a whole lot of people,” she continues. “Now it’s all over the world. So we wanted to sow seed into a ministry that could reach far more people than we ever could.”
Today Stan and Carol are living their dream. Stan’s business is succeeding, and they both enjoy spending time with their grandchildren.
Stan says, “We give because we want to give. We’re not expecting a return, but we know it’s going to come. Even if it didn’t, we’d still give. Do what you can do. If you start with a dollar, start with a dollar, but be faithful at it. You will be amazed. It won’t be long before you’ll be able to give two dollars, then four and then six and then you’ll be able to give the 10 percent. It will happen, because that principle works. If you put it to use, it will come back to you.”
Stan and Carol saw the rewards of applying the Law of Reciprocity -- "Give and it shall be given to you" -- by giving to CBN. Here is your chance to give to the Lord and see your dollars bring truth to hurting people, feed and clothe needy children, keep The 700 Club Prayer Counseling Center phone lines operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provide medical care to those who need a tangible touch of God's love. Become a CBN partner today!