So Many Causes, Only So Much Money to Give

Have you ever gone to your mailbox with anticipation, perhaps expecting a letter or card from a family member or friend (increasingly rare these days), a check you’ve been waiting on (also not as common as it used to be), a package, or your favorite magazine? You open the mailbox and…no letter, no check, no package, no magazine. Instead, all you find – besides the usual junk mail – are several envelopes from a variety of charitable organizations. 

 

There’s a letter from a veterans’ organization, asking for a donation. A couple from Christian ministries you support occasionally, asking for another gift. Some organization that’s dedicated to fighting a dreaded disease is asking for your help. An international organization that assists impoverished families has a heartfelt plea. And there are a couple of other “asks” from charitable causes you’ve never heard of; they probably got your name from another organization you support that sold their mailing list.

 

How do you handle all that mail, besides throwing them into the pile you’re saving for recycling? It’s not all “junk mail,” because many of the causes are worthwhile, but you can’t support everyone, right? 

 

Some folks don’t do much charitable giving at all, so this isn’t a great problem for them. If they don’t give anything, ministries and non-profits won’t be asking them for more. But for those of us who believe that as followers of Christ one of our responsibilities is give to charity a portion of what the Lord has given to us, it can pose some difficult decisions.

 

The Scriptures state that some people have the spiritual gift of giving – “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously…” (Romans 12:8). I believe that refers to individuals God lavishly entrusts with money and material resources they eagerly pass on to others. As one philanthropist told me, “The Lord shovels it in and I shovel it out – and He has a bigger shovel.”

 

However, even if our spiritual gift isn’t giving, we’re still commanded to give as God enables and directs. Proverbs 3:9-10 exhorts us to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

 

Jesus explained it this way: “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). 

 

So, for the obedient believer giving isn’t an option. The question is where or to whom to give, and how much. The Bible teaches a primary recipient should be the local church. If we are benefiting from being part of a local congregation and believe God is accomplishing His work through it, we should certainly support its staff, activities and programs. However, there are other causes that deserve to be considered. How do we determine who receives our contributions – and who doesn’t?

 

There’s no single answer to that question. Each of us has certain causes and ministries that capture our interest. We should trust God to guide our decisions, particularly since He’s the one who provided us with the resources. He might lay a special need on your heart that doesn’t resonate with someone else. We do have an obligation to give wisely, knowing our contributions are, to borrow a phrase from the Salvation Army – one of myriad worthy causes – “doing the most good.”

 

Whenever I’m faced with charitable giving decisions, I’ve found great encouragement from the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

This tells me, first of all, that when we give to meet a specific need as the Lord impresses us to give, we can trust He’ll be faithful to meet needs that we have. That our giving, done wisely, won’t result in not having enough for our own needs.

 

Second, if we’re giving “grudgingly,” as another translation expresses it, we’re not doing so with the right spirit and motives. We might be feeling pressured, giving out of a sense of obligation, or because other people we know are doing it. As the passage closes, “God loves a cheerful giver” – literally, a hilarious giver. That’s not someone who’s very reluctant to let loose of their money.

 

This doesn’t fully answer the question of where we should direct our charitable gifts, but it does address the “how” – cheerfully and not under compulsion, and “why” – because God commands us to do so through His Word. Unsolicited requests for donations will continue coming through the mail, just we can’t always block spam arriving in our email inbox, but at least we don’t have to feel guilty about not responding to each one we receive. 

Most of all, we must never forget “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), because as we give cheerfully and willingly, we’ll receive the joy and satisfaction of knowing God is using us to be of help to others in need. 

Giving: It All Gets Back to the Best That God Gave

Now that we’ve gotten past Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s officially Christmas season. Santa Claus, the Grinch and the Clydesdales are figuring prominently in TV commercials. Most radio stations are playing carols (for those of us who still listen to the radio). Heartwarming, timeless Christmas movies are reappearing on networks, cable stations and streaming services. Ads on smartphone apps are teasing us with intriguing gift suggestions. And today’s “Giving Tuesday.” What says Christmas more than that? 

Giving is something we can – and should – practice year-round, but Christmastime has always been regarded as “the season of giving.” There are many reasons for this, but none better than being reminded about the greatest gift of all: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17).

 

God “so loved the world that He gave….” In the Bible we find the Lord giving and giving and giving, even though we’re so undeserving. That’s a topic for discussion in itself, but considering that our Creator has given so much, how can we not be inspired to give as well?

 

Ironically, it’s not hard to turn the ‘season of giving’ around and make it the ‘season for receiving.’ We compile lists of wants, ready to share them with anyone who might be inclined to give us something for Christmas. I know, having spent many a Christmas season eagerly anticipating what might be inside the brightly wrapped and bowed gifts awaiting me under the tree.

 

But Jesus’ statement that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) isn’t a simple, nice-sounding platitude. It’s as profound a declaration as we can find anywhere. Because when we give to others we also receive, even if not in a tangible sense.

 

For more than 20 years I benefited directly from the generosity of others. Working with parachurch ministries, I had the responsibility for raising my financial support, as do missionaries who serve the Lord in foreign lands. If my support wasn’t there, there was no paycheck. So, I had great appreciation for the many people who believed in the work God had called me to do. They didn’t have to be coerced – they eagerly wanted to help in making that possible, often saying they considered it a privilege.

 

One byproduct of this was cultivating my own enthusiasm for helping to support causes the Lord has placed on my heart. It was humbling to know people cared enough to invest in the work I was doing. Often Jesus’ statement came to mind that, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return” (Luke 12:48). It truly is a joy to participate in what God’s doing in so many areas, and giving financially is one means for doing that.

 

At this time of year, I’m also reminded of a statement made many years ago by Bob Lupton, who had established an inner-city ministry in Atlanta. Experience had taught him a simple reality for the poor. He said, “The greatest poverty is the inability to give.” What I understood this to mean is that always being a recipient and never a giver can be discouraging, even demeaning.

 

We find this illustrated in the Scriptures. Writing to Christ followers in Corinth, the apostle Paul observed, “…the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability…they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in the service of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

 

Can you imagine being so impoverished and yet pleading to be allowed to give materially to support others? That’s genuine giving, determining to give even when it hurts.

 

Which brings us back to God’s greatest gift, taking on human flesh not only to teach, to minister to people in need, and to give us an example to follow, but also to give His own life to satisfy the penalty for our sins. As Paul wrote to one of the men he was mentoring, “…we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:13-14).

 

This Christmas season, let’s try to avoid having the distractions of the sparkling lights, lilting holiday songs and festively colored packages take our focus off this “blessed hope.”  

Resolving the Giving Conundrum

We’ve just passed Giving Tuesday, the last of the pecuniary “triplets” of the Christmas season, following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday opportunities for eager shoppers. Giving Tuesday is probably the most important of the three, with so many charitable organizations dependent on the generosity of their supporters.

 

This issue of giving can be a bit perplexing for me. I’m not reluctant to give charitably, but so many causes deserve consideration. How do we respond to a seemingly unlimited number of possibilities with limited funds for giving?

 

My mailboxes – both email and snail mail – have been deluged by solicitations to support a wide range of needs, from hospitals to the homeless, from discipleship to diseases, from missions to Christian media. Unless you’re a millionaire – even a billionaire – you can’t support them all. How do you choose?

 

Searching the Scriptures won’t provide specifics, like ‘Support XYZ Ministry’ or ‘Give to That Foundation.’ But in His Word, God does provide clear principles on the how’s of giving, if not necessarily the what’s and the who’s. The Lord’s greatest concern, I’ve concluded, is not who benefits from our giving but the motives behind our giving.

 

Giving and generosity can be difficult to discuss, but something stirs when we hear heartwarming stories of generous, unselfish acts. The response to recent hurricanes is one example. While government agencies seemed to be spinning their wheels at times, debating what to do, individuals and Christian organizations like Samaritan’s Purse were quick to take action.

 

But we don’t have to wait for calamities to occur. Generosity can and should be a normal part of everyday life, like breathing and eating. While one doesn’t have to be a follower of Jesus Christ to be generous, giving becomes part of our “spiritual DNA” when we become “new creations in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

 

It was Jesus Christ who declared, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). He also addressed this ‘reciprocal’ aspect of giving in another way: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).

 

It would seem, according to Jesus, that if we’re willing to share from the resources the Lord has provided, He’s quite able to replace what we’ve given with more – so we can continue to be involved in this divine cycle of generosity. 

 

I’ve had the privilege of meeting and writing about numerous individuals whose commitment to giving was lavish by any standard. Industrialist R. G. LeTourneau practiced a “reverse tithe” – giving away 90% of his income and keeping 10% – rather than ‘give 10 and keep 90’ as it’s traditionally taught. 

 

Entrepreneur Stanley Tam, who died in 2023 at the age of 107, explained in his book, God Owns My Business, how he arranged to legally give 100% ownership of his company to God, with all profits used to support charitable causes and mission work. When I interviewed him, Tam quipped, without boasting, “I shovel out, and God’s shovels in. And God’s got a bigger shovel.” Wise counsel indeed from someone who practiced what he preached. 

 

Most of us, of course, aren’t in a position to take such bold steps. We may not have the spiritual gift of giving, which those men definitely had. But this doesn’t excuse us from being generous whenever God sets opportunities in front of us. Which brings us back to the conundrum: With so many worthy causes, how do we decide which to support personally?

 

Most would agree we each should start with our own churches, where we’re ministered to through worship services and other programs, and want to support their work. But I don’t believe they should be the only recipients of our charitable gifts. 

 

There’s no exact formula for singling out other beneficiaries. But we can rely on God’s leading through His Spirit, as well as recognizing which causes we feel particularly passionate about.

 

Over the years I’ve found two Bible passages especially instructive. One of them is 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 which says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 

 

The word “cheerful” could literally be translated as “hilarious.” I think of the closing scenes of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, in which transformed Ebenezer Scrooge begins bestowing his wealth on others rather than hoarding it for himself. Having abandoned his miserly ways, Scrooge becomes giddy upon realizing how generosity can enhance the lives of others.

 

If we’re giving grudgingly or feeling compelled to do so, that doesn’t please the Lord. He wants us to give freely – and excitedly.

 

One other verse also is helpful in reminding us that giving is not a seasonal activity. In 1 John 3:17 we’re told, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” This doesn’t mean having to respond to every panhandler we encounter, but the Lord can give us the wisdom and discernment in how best to steward the resources He has entrusted to our care.

 

If God loved us so much that He gave His own Son for our salvation and redemption, how can we refuse to give as He guides?

It’s Been About Giving Since the Beginning

Do you ever get annoyed when, after making a charitable contribution, you get a receipt for your gift accompanied by another envelope? That used to bother me. It seemed as if they were saying, “Thanks for your gift. Now please send some more.”

 

There's no shortage of legitimate
charitable causes and needs
worthy of our consideration.

My thinking changed after I had to start raising my own financial support while working for a Christian ministry. That’s hard work – and humbling. Initially I felt like a kind of beggar, telling potential donors that I needed to raise my own funds and asking if they would consider becoming financial partners with me.

It was extremely gratifying when many that I approached not only agreed to contribute to my support but also said they considered it a privilege to do so. They believed in me and the work I was doing, and enjoyed knowing they were a part of making it possible.

 

The issue of the reply envelope accompanying the giving receipt was resolved one day after I had noticed one of my faithful donors hadn’t sent in a contribution for a couple of months. I gave him a call to see if he was having any difficulties, or if I had offended him in some way. Not at all, he said. In fact, he apologized for failing to send a gift as usual. 

 

He explained the response envelope served as his reminder to send another gift; apparently he’d misplaced the last one he received. He thanked me for reminding him and promptly sent not only his regular contribution but also made up for the ones he had missed.

 

Years later, I’m no longer on the staff of a charitable organization needing to raise funds. But I’ve come to see the value of receiving a reply envelope for giving to causes we want to support. The envelope is convenient – looking up addresses is bothersome. I’ve actually contacted one ministry we support on a couple of occasions, asking for an extra envelope or two, just in case.

 

The greater issue, I’ve realized, is not the envelope that accompanies the giving receipt but our attitude toward the act of giving. Whether it’s our local congregation and the pastor’s annual stewardship sermon or sifting through mail we receive from non-profit organizations requesting funds, we can perceive this as an intrusion. “They’re always asking for money!”

 

However, giving has been central to God’s plan from the beginning. It’s actually introduced in the first chapter of Genesis, the Bible’s first book. “God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has seed in it. They will be yours for food.’” (Genesis 1:29). The Lord was pleased to share what He had created with the first humans.

 

Next, he provided a very special gift for Adam: “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22). Determining the first man needed “a suitable helper,” God gifted him with a wife. To which Adam responded with the biblical equivalent of “shazam!”

 

Most of us know the most important verse about giving in the Scriptures: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16). Through Jesus Christ we can receive forgiveness for our sins, redemption, salvation, sanctification, and the assurance of eternal life – the gift that keeps on giving.

 

But the Lord didn’t intend for the act of giving to be one-sided. Jesus made this clear, addressing the subject on many occasions. Luke 6:38 recounts His promise, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

When considering a charitable gift of some kind, we tend to focus on what we’re giving up. Jesus said in essence that God’s people will never become poor by being generous. This is one reason in Acts 20:35 the apostle Paul was, “…remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

 

The Old Testament book of Proverbs contains dozens of verses offering guidance in how we should give. Among my favorites is Proverbs 11:24-25, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

 

Our motivation in giving, however, shouldn’t be what we anticipate receiving in return. Our love and devotion to God, who has done so much for us, should be our underlying motive. In exhorting believers in Corinth to cultivate lives of generosity, Paul writes, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

 

Shortly afterward the apostle admonishes, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Several times I’ve heard Bible teachers explain the term “cheerful giver” in the Greek literally means to be a “hilarious giver.”

When you have opportunities to give in support of ministries and causes you believe in, is this your attitude? Can you give “hilariously” and eagerly? Or do you give “grudgingly or under compulsion,” clinging tightly to the money or check you’ve written from your hand – or resenting the reply envelope? 

Why It Really Is More Blessed to Be Giving

Recently, I was reflecting on a now-lost tradition of the Christmas season – the wondrous arrival of the Sears Christmas catalog. Kids today don’t know what they’re missing. I’m sure there were other items in the catalog, but I recall it virtually bursting with toys of all kinds, some even beyond imagining.

 

Being a boy, I quickly paged through the dolls, Easy-Bake ovens and frilly stuff. It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for: train sets, play pistols and rifles, miniature forts and cowboy towns, model cars, board games and building kits. The images conjured up more images – those of what might lie wrapped underneath the tree on Christmas morning.

 

As a spoiled youngster, I figured I knew what Christmas was all about: Receiving. That seems true even today for many folks, except for the disappearance of Sears and its “wish book” catalogs. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bombarded with advertisements about all the goodies we can purchase in stores and online. We’ll hear sanctimonious reminders that it’s all about giving. But in reality, the commercials will underscore that this season has become the pinnacle for materialism.

 

Granted, we did recently observe “Giving Tuesday” after Black Friday and the more-recently created Cyber Monday. Snail mail, TV promotions and email were jammed with pleas to give to charitable causes of all kinds, often with promises that whatever we gave would be doubled or even tripled by matching grants. So, the giving side of Christmas wasn’t forgotten.

 

But I can’t help feeling the giving focus of this time of year isn’t nearly as sharp as the receiving focus. And that’s a shame. Because after all, we’re told, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

 

The first Christmas was unquestionably about giving – giving us a Savior who would not only teach and serve as a living example, but also become the atoning sacrifice for our sins so we might be redeemed and gain an eternal relationship with God. That’s why no one was more qualified than Jesus to say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

 

I like receiving Christmas gifts as much as the next person, but when we concentrate on the getting part and neglect the giving part, everyone suffers loss.

 

Jesus spoke about this when He explained about separating the sheep and the goats, those who were His genuine followers and those who were not. One of the indicators was selflessness, a willingness to give even when it did not seem personally beneficial. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40).

 

It’s hard to imagine how giving to someone asking for help can be, in effect, giving to the Lord. But that’s what He said. These sentiments are repeated many other places in the Scriptures, including Proverbs 19:17, which declares, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.” If the Lord asked us for something, would we say no?

 

We live in a time when many people seem to expect handouts, whether it’s forgiveness of college loan debts they have accrued, subsidies to offset economic effects of a pandemic, or the growing number of homeless people populating our streets. Admittedly, I’ve grown jaded over the years after being stung personally by seemingly legitimate hardship stories that I later learned were contrived. It would be easier to be generous if we knew for certain the needs were genuine.

 

Unfortunately (for those of us who like to make excuses and justify them), the Bible doesn’t teach, “Give only when you can confirm needs are valid.” To the contrary, we’re given only one qualification for giving. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 we’re exhorted: 

     “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

When we give, we’re not to do so grudgingly or feeling as if we’re compelled to do so. We’re also not to give in such a way that people will notice our acts of generosity. Jesus said, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

God desires that we should give, and when we do so, that’s it’s done cheerfully. Sometimes I need to stop and remind myself, but when we consider how much and how lavishly God has given to us, in so many ways, how can we not give with cheerful hearts? 

Christmas and Its Conflict with Contentment

“What do you want for Christmas?” This is a question we’ve either asked of someone, or someone has asked of us. Perhaps both. Because Christmas is all about getting stuff we want, right? At least that’s the message we receive from advertisers and retail locations big and small, both real and virtual. 

 

We’re also told it doesn’t matter whether we can afford it or not. Just pull out a credit card. The old “buy now, pay later” strategy. Preacher Alistair Begg calls this the way to “fulfill your wanting without waiting.”

 

Of course, if you often read this blog, you might agree with my contention that Christmas isn’t about the advancement of materialism. Yes, gift giving is a time-honored part of the Christmas tradition, perhaps more in the U.S.A. than anywhere else. But when we start hearing characters in holiday movies, talk show commentators and TV commercials asking the over-used question, “What is the true meaning of Christmas?” my gut response is, “Duh!” 

 

Leave the Christ Child out of the equation and all we’ve got left is “mas.” Ironically, in Spanish the word “mas” means “more,” so perhaps that’s part of the reason that for many, Christmas turns into a quest for acquiring more and more stuff.

 

For followers of Jesus, however, the understanding of the meaning and purpose of Christmas is more straight-forward. It’s an annual celebration of a unique birth more than 2,000 years ago, when “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). If Jesus, whom believers came to recognize as “the Christ” or the promised Messiah, hadn’t been born, there would have been no need for a Christmas observance.

 

Let’s shift to the consideration of the gift-giving side of Christmas. After all, even Christ’s birth was marked with the presentation of gifts. Magi, wise men from the East who were led to seek out the fulfillment of prophecies dating back to the Old Testament days of Daniel, brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh as symbols of their reverence. 

 

We could rightly conclude that the exchange of gifts doesn’t violate any biblical principles or commandments. In fact, the Scriptures strongly endorse giving and cultivating a giving attitude. We often think of Jesus’ statement, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), but we find admonitions for lavish, even hilarious giving throughout the Bible. 

 

I particularly like the encouragement from Proverbs 11:24-25, "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

 

The problem comes when we confuse strivings for more and more with the ability to feel content with whatever we already have. The apostle Paul addressed this in cautioning his disciple, Timothy, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

 

Elsewhere the apostle, while addressing the willingness of believers in Philippi to support his ministry, wrote, “…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:11-12).

 

This is the challenge we face during this special season of the year, seeking to keep separate our wants from our needs, and to cultivate contentment in what could be termed, to borrow the words of John Steinbeck, “the winter of our discontent.” 

Overcoming the Greatest Problem in Poverty

The problem of poverty is both perplexing and perpetual. It’s plagued humanity since the beginning of time, and despite the posturing and protests, lacks simple solutions.

 

Years ago I had the opportunity to visit an inner city ministry in Atlanta, Ga. on several occasions, observing firsthand how leaders there were striving to help equip down-and-outers to one day become up-and-outers. In the process of gathering information for articles I wrote about this work for various publications, I gained some unexpected insights. 

I’ll never forget, for instance, touring a ministry-supported home goods store. Merchandise at the store had been donated, so it could be sold at greatly discounted prices to low-income residents of the community. I met a young man who had been working there for a few weeks, carrying out whatever responsibilities he was assigned. Having been told it was his first-ever job, I asked him what he had learned. His response caught me off guard: “I learned how to use a ruler, and that I need to show up on time.”

 

As I thought about it, however, what he said shouldn’t have been so surprising. Think about it: If you don’t have much, there’s no need to measure it. And if you have nowhere that you must be, what difference does it make what time you get there? This helped me to realize that lifting folks from poverty involves more than telling them, “Get a job.” Because lacking basic life and job skills, in many cases not even knowing how to fill out a job application or conduct oneself in a job interview, many hurdles stand in the way of being able to obtain suitable employment.

 

But perhaps my greatest insight into the broad and complex dilemma of helping the poor was an observation from Bob, the ministry leader. He said simply, “The greatest poverty is the inability to give.” He had seen this vividly during the Christmas holidays in the ministry’s initial years, when they would go to different homes and bring gifts for the children. Their motivation, of course, was to ensure that the kids wouldn’t wake up on Christmas morning without any presents to open.

 

The moms were always receptive and appreciative, but dads were rarely seen. For them, having someone bring gifts for their children was a painful reminder of their own failure to provide for the material needs of their families. Unwittingly, generosity from others only intensified the awareness of their poverty.

 

Wisely, the ministry changed its strategies and developed many ways for enabling the disadvantaged to effectively help themselves and protect their dignity in the process.

 

Ironically, studies have shown that increase in material wealth does not result in a corresponding increase in willingness to give. In fact, one study of giving patterns revealed that proportionately, the poor were inclined to give 44 percent more of what they had, than wealthy people. So keenly aware of their own poverty, they were typically more highly motivated to help when they saw others in need.

 

We see a powerful example of this in the Scriptures: “Jesus sat down opposite the place where offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on’” (Mark 12:41-44).

 

If anyone had an excuse for not giving, it was this widow. She gave all she had, as meager as it was - some translations call it the "widow's mite" - not holding back even a single cent. And yet, it’s likely she did not feel any pangs of regret. Despite her impoverishment, she was a “cheerful giver,” as 2 Corinthians 9:7 describes it.

 

This is not the only biblical illustration of poor people displaying extravagant giving. Earlier in his letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul points to “the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints…they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will” (2 Corinthians 8:2-5).

 

We tend to perceive poverty as the inability to acquire “stuff,” whatever and whenever we want. But could it be that, as my friend Bob said years ago, the greatest poverty indeed is the inability to give? And as we participate in helping the poor to one day help themselves, we’re enabling them to escape this most profound, most painful aspect of poverty? 

Let’s Make a Deal: Manage Someone’s Money, and Keep 90 Percent

How good is your imagination? How about this: Imagine being a financial planner (unless you already are one) and acquiring a wealthy new client who proposes an unusual investment arrangement. In return for your diligent management of his finances, all you would need to do is return 10 percent. The remaining 90 percent? You get to keep it.

 

Even if you’re not a financial planner, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Having responsibility for someone else’s resources and being permitted to keep all but 10 percent. If you could find an individual willing to do that, you might be tempted to change professions, right? 

 

Of course, that’s only in a fantasy world. Or is it? Because in a very real sense, that’s the arrangement God has set up for His children. He asks us to give a portion of whatever we earn for His work, and we can keep the remainder.

 In the Bible’s Old Testament, we’re taught the concept of the tithe, which was defined as giving 10 percent of one’s earnings right off the top. In Proverbs 3:9, for example, it says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” And the oft-quoted Malachi 3:10 instructs, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” When pastors preach about giving – or financial stewardship – they often refer to these passages. And as they do so, we typically reach protectively toward our wallets.

 

The New Testament doesn’t teach tithing as a hard and fast rule, but it is mentioned. The only time Jesus was recorded to have mentioned the tithe, he was addressing legalistic religious leaders: “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone” (Luke 11:42). He doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility to give; He simply reminds us to do so with the right attitude.

 

This whole subject of giving makes many of us uncomfortable. “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do with my money!” we tell ourselves. I’ve even heard people say, “God doesn’t need our money!” He does, after all, “[own] the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). Except, as the Scriptures assert, it’s not really “our money.” 

 

Who gave us the health we have to go to work each day? Who gave us the capacities, even the opportunities, for earning a living wage? If you’ve developed certain skills over time, where did your natural ability come from, your passion for what you do? I’m a professional writer, and I’ve worked hard through the years to refine my ability to communicate through the written word. But where did my innate interest in writing come from? 

 

Whenever we feel defensive about giving, emulating the miser who insists, “It’s mine, all mine!”, we need to remind ourselves of the basics, which are expressed clearly in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13: 

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”

 

I encountered this passage for the first time years ago, and since then I’ve been using it as a reminder whenever I start feeling too possessive about my “stuff.” Even the verse from Malachi, the Old Testament’s last book, offers motivation for our giving. After reading the directive to give, we’re informed God has made an unusual promise. “’Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘ and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.’”

 

Perhaps, in the midst of this “season of giving,” it’s a good time for a refresher. We fret over getting the “right” gifts for friends and family. Sometimes this leads to great stress, shifting our focus off the real spirit of Christmas. And when charitable causes bombard us with appeals for year-end giving, we can feel frustrated, even overwhelmed. If our hearts are right, however, that doesn’t need to be the case.

 

Two New Testament passages have helped me a lot in this regard. In Luke 6:38, Jesus spoke of the generosity of God: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

 

For me that means, if we’re stingy in our own giving, we shouldn’t expect God to be lavish in His giving to us. But on the other hand, our generosity will never approach the Lord’s generosity. I’ve heard many people say, not only from conviction but also from experience, “You can’t out-give God.”

 

The other passage is 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, which declares, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver.” Some translate that last phrase as “a hilarious giver.” Have you ever given hilariously?

 

During the Christmas season, we think of the Christ Child, God incarnate. Deity invading the physical world, to serve as an example, teacher, miracle worker, atoning sacrifice, and redeemer. He offers the gift of a new, eternal life to any and all who will receive it. Without question He’s a cheerful, even hilarious giver. If we’re to “follow in His steps,” as 1 Peter 2:21 says, can we be any less?

A Time for Giving and Forgiving?

‘Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring – except for those who continued to grouse.

Gifts have been unwrapped, given and received, and for some it’s permission to shed their festive holiday facades and resume their miserable pre-holiday moods. Their inner bah-humbug can finally re-emerge into the open. As if there had been no times for glad tidings and good cheer at all. But does it have to be this way?

Leading up to Christmas we had Black Friday, then Cyber Monday, followed by Giving Tuesday. But why does the giving have to stop with Dec. 25? Perhaps there’s a need to continue giving, long after the ooh’s and aah’s of Christmas have silenced, unwanted gifts returned, and retailers resume scheming about what the hot products will be for next Christmas.

There’s a practical, fiscal reason to start with. Non-profit organizations are preparing to close their annual budgets, hoping to settle into the black as a new year begins. So, having enjoyed the blessings of material giving as both givers and recipients on Christmas morning, it might be good to designate the day after as a time for giving to noble causes we believe in, as well as rack up some last-minute tax deductions.

My wife and I make charitable donations throughout the year to entities whose services we value. These include our local church, a variety of ministries, and several agencies devoted to assisting the poor and needy. But I find it fun to give a little extra just as another calendar is ushered out. 

When Jesus said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), He wasn’t uttering an idealistic platitude. Being able to share from our resources to enhance others’ lives benefits not only them, but ours as well. This practice helps to shift our attention from ourselves and our wants, responding to the legitimate needs of others.

Can you imagine how God felt when He looked upon a broken, sin-riddled, hopelessly wayward humanity and sent His own Son to serve as the atonement for their grievous sins? I don’t think there’s any way we can fully comprehend what this meant for Him, but we do know, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life” (John 3:16). Among the many wonderful things our Lord is, He’s a giver. And perhaps we never look more like Him than when we ourselves are giving, freely, unselfishly, even sacrificially.

But there’s another kind of “giving” that many of us would be wise to pursue and apply that could be revolutionary. How about engaging in some healthy, life-changing for-giving? Almost every day we hear about someone who suffered harm of some sort, whether it was inflicted physically, psychologically or emotionally. The damage might have resulted from neglect rather than overt action. Regardless of how it came about, in its wake we find resentment, bitterness, anger, even hatred.

Sometimes wrongs committed seem beyond forgiveness; other times unresolved conflicts fester, escalating far beyond the level of the original damage. Either way, lack of forgiveness has a way of destroying the unforgiver, as well as the unforgiven.

Contrast this to the image of the young man in the news whose unarmed brother was unwittingly killed by a police officer who somehow confused his apartment with her own. Upon her conviction, the surviving brother, rather than spewing words of rage and hatred, actually stepped forward to embrace the clearly distraught woman in a grand and wonderful act of forgiveness. 

This did not bring his brother back to life. Nor did it erase the grief he felt in having lost a beloved sibling. But like chains taken off a prisoner, the young man’s willingness to forgive freed him of the burden of bitterness that was certain to remain if he didn’t.

On the cross, Jesus in the throes of deadly pain, said an incredible thing: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Those who had wrongly convicted Him of crimes He had not committed knew they were ridding themselves of a “problem,” but hardly realized the magnitude of their murderous scheming: That they were seeking to kill God incarnate, who had come to redeem fallen and unreconcilable humanity.

In 1 John 2:12, the apostle declares, “I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his (Jesus’) name.” In His so-called Lord’s Prayer, Jesus provided an example when He prayed, “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:12). When God has forgiven us for so much, who are we not to forgive others – no matter what they have done?

So if, as echoes of Christmas frivolity begin to fade, you find yourself wallowing in unforgiveness, give yourself one more gift: the gift of forgiveness. Not only for the one who has offended or harmed you, but also for yourself. This world is so filled with pain – why inflict yourself with more of it? After all, we might rightly say that Christmas is for giving and forgiving.

Giving . . . Until It Helps

One thing I like about social media – and admittedly there are things I don’t like – is what you can learn that doesn’t make headlines in traditional media. For instance, author J.K. Rowling (you’ve heard of her “Harry Potter” books, right?) is reported to have become the first billionaire to fall from the Forbes World’s Billionaires list – because of charitable giving.

Lots of rich folks have been deleted from the list simply because they no longer possessed a net worth of more than a billion bucks. But apparently, Rowling’s the first to be eliminated because she’s too generous. Seems that rather than being a free spender, she’s become a free giver.

The report said she offered a simple explanation: “You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently.”

I don’t know about you, but this seems like the proverbial breath of fresh air. There are other mega-wealthy individuals known for their largesse, notably Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who donate huge percentages of their incomes to causes they support. And just because Rowling’s now been “downgraded” to the ranks of multi-millionaires doesn’t mean she’ll have to fret over becoming a ward of the state any time soon.

But in these days when we hear so much about the needs of the oppressed, the down-and-out and the disenfranchised, it’s refreshing to hear about someone who’s as interested in doing something about it as saying something about it.

I know virtually nothing about Rowling. (I may be one of the few people who’s never read a Harry Potter book, or viewed one of his movies for that matter.) So I don’t know what sorts of charitable causes she favors. But at least she’s acting on her convictions enough to become a member of the “I Used to Be a Billionaire” club.

Chances are, you’re not a billionaire. So it would be easy to offer the excuse, “Well, if I were a billionaire, I’d give a lot of it away, too!” But we’ve all heard of billionaires and millionaires that share a common attitude toward their money: “It’s mine, mine, mine!” It seems how much you have isn’t really the determinant of how generous you are.

Rowling was hardly the first to recognize a responsibility for using one’s resources to help others. Jesus Christ made this statement about 2,000 years ago: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:48).

Elsewhere, in preparing His disciples to go out on their first missionary foray, Jesus told them, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

So even if we’re not a Rowling and never will be, the underlying principle is worth considering. For example: How do you feel when the pastor starts talking about money during his sermon, teaching what the Bible says about financial stewardship? Or when you’re watching a PBS drama or seeing a video of “golden oldies” music, and they have the nerve to interrupt your enjoyment of the program by asking you to support the network?

Do you think, “Well, that preacher done stopped preachin’ and started meddlin’”? Do you feel resentful that they would ask for your money? Do you protectively reach for your wallet or purse, as if they were planning to snatch it away from you?

Yes, we all have needs – along with our share of wants. But if we have a car, a decent place to live, a computer and access to the Internet, we’re wealthier than most people around the world. So it’s not a question of whether we can give. The issue is, are we willing to give?

So while pondering the “moral responsibility” to give, perhaps it might be good also to consider the privilege we have of giving to assist those with needs we don’t have. We just might discover the reality of what Jesus asserted: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).