Most people are looking for the cue from others when it comes to giving. Consider some of the recent campaigns for various causes that have gone “viral” – people follow leaders in giving. But many don’t know what it means to enjoy generous living. Despite the viral campaigns that catch our attention the facts remain, tax returns show only 23% of Canadians give anything at all. Truth is generosity brings contentment. Generosity breaks the bond of materialism and discontentment.
Generosity provides meaning and purpose……that means that 77% of Canadians are discontent!
Generous living directs your focus on one goal: Be rich towards God.
Consider the clear picture Jesus portrayed in the parable of the Rich Fool.
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
‘Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’
‘But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.’
Luke 12:16 – 21
Jesus did not call this man a fool for being rich. Jesus called him a fool because he didn’t know why he was rich. He wasn’t criticized for having extra, but for thinking it was for himself. Jesus contrasts the difference between storing up selfishly and being rich towards God.
Discontentment and confusion are all around us. What you do with your extra resources gives a clear picture of what controls your heart. Most of us think we are generous but until you look at your tax return and see the percentage of your giving, you really don’t know if you are generous.
In the book Generous Living: Finding Contentment Through Giving, Ron Blue uses a pyramid to help us understand why people don’t give and how we can find contentment through giving.
Why Christians Don’t Give
- Spiritual Problems. Personally reading the Bible and Treasure Principle, I discovered the essential connection between giving and contentment.
- Financial problems. Debt leaves 70% living paycheck to paycheck. Balanced and Total Money Makeover help people get out of debt build wealth and become generous.
- Limited Vision. Are you a spectator watching life unfold a day at a time? Or is there intention and vision guiding your actions. Life Plan and The Principle of The Path help us understand how to end up “somewhere on purpose”. Treasure Principle, Fields of Gold, How To Be Rich help us understand we can store up treasure in Heaven.
- Limited Relationships: Most people only give to people they have a relationship with. Bo’s Café helps us gain insight into what should characterize true friendships.
- Don’t know they can; Few people know how much they owe or their net worth. Fewer still sit down to consider long term giving goals and how to plan to reach them.
- Don’t know how to: Generous Living helps people create a giving plan and helps people take hold of life that is truly life and experience the joy of giving.
- Don’t plan to: Up to 70% of Americans and Canadians die without a will.
Organizations like the Canadian National Christian Foundation, and Advisors With Purpose help you increase often five fold the amount of money you can give away.
Order Generous Living and in just a few hours you’ll understand how to find contentment through giving. Picture learning what generous people know; that makes them give gladly and liberally of their time, talents, wealth and resources. Learn how to leverage the resources of this life into the currency of the next.
Attitude Humbly consider whether you are a generous person.
Action Order and read Generous Living to find contentment through giving.
Question Have you found contentment in generous living?
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