Earlier this year, my life and business were stuck in a plateau. I wasn’t making any progress and I could feel it—that stuck, lost, frustrated feeling I’m sure you can relate to.

So I decided to change up everything, to change up the way I approached my online business in order to feel more aligned with how I believe I’m called to live my life as a believer. One concept that created a big shift in momentum for my life and my business was cultivating a heart of generosity, and here’s why and how I believe it can work for you too.

It follows the example of Jesus.

Jesus is the ultimate giver. He sacrificed his life to give spiritual freedom to all of mankind, but he also spent his days giving his love, his power, and his wisdom to those who followed him. In fact, it was those very things that drew others to him.

As believers, we are called to be like Christ. Being generous in our businesses and with our lives every day is to follow the example that Christ set before us and it’s one way people can know we are his disciples.

It builds credibility.

How did you first come to recognize your favorite leader as an expert? You probably heard them speak, saw a video of them, read their book or their blog post. They put their knowledge on display in a way that you can interact with it.

The wide reach of the internet today gives us that same opportunity without the many hoops to jump through to sign a book deal or get hired to speak at an event. You have the opportunity to be an authority in your area of expertise just by sharing your knowledge in an accessible way each day online.

Over time, your generosity creates a reputation for you in your area of expertise. It gives you credibility to the audiences you want to reach and creates opportunities to lead that you wouldn’t if you kept it to yourself.

It creates connections.

Business is all about relationships, and relationships are based on trust. When you are building a business, especially online, your generosity can help build that trust faster.

Just like you build credibility when you share your knowledge and gifts, you are also building a sense of trust with your potential customers and clients. You are becoming the “go-to gal” and allowing connections to be made.

These connections can result in sales results because people trust you and, by extension, your products, and services, but they can also result in a community of colleagues for you to support, challenge, and encourage one another.

It leaves room for faith.

Generosity can be scary. It is a challenge to an old mindset of keeping the best for those who pay, and it can make you worry that if you share too much or give too much that no one will pay you to do it.

But being generous also creates a unique circumstance where you have to do your best and depend on God to provide. It creates a need and some space for us to expectantly believe in God’s ability and desire to provide for his children.

The truth is, we are always counting on God to provide for us, but it’s not until we purposefully put ourselves in a position of needing him that we open our lives to special opportunities for him to surprise and delight us with his presence.

Just like we are meant to give back to God from the first of our fruits in faith, we are also meant to give the best of our knowledge in faith that God will turn that into his provision for our lives.

In a world increasingly connected through screens and curated portrayals of our lifestyles, I believe that creating deeper connections and relationships through authenticity and generosity will be the next wave of how business is done and lives are built.

You have the opportunity to share all you are and all you know with people who live far away and need the help you can give. If you step up to lead through generosity, you can make their lives better and, in turn, reap the rewards in your business and a life of fulfillment.

Like Kate says, generosity can be scary at first. What is stopping you from being generous? What’s a small step you can take this week to show more generosity towards others?