Learning generosity
When I was 10 or 11 years old, I used to grow rabbits...My parents always told me, whatever profit you made, you put 10% for charity. That’s kinda stuck with me over the years.
I've heard the same stories featuring different animals as well! I have a treasure trove of stories of how people learned to be generous. Faithful donors shared their stories with me, often in church basements. Without exception, these donors are grateful people who trust God. They tell me:
“whatever I have given away, I have never, ever missed it.”
The quotes below are based on interviews.
Kitchen table generosity
Dad was paid in cash and counted out piles on the kitchen table each week: a church pile, then a grocery pile and then if there was anything left, a third pile for everything else.
People who grew up with weekly demonstrations of generosity like this learned young and learned well. Many older donors (people in their 70s, 80s and 90s now) learned to give as children. The rest of us need more encouragement and discipleship.
Here’s another story:
In 1961, a young couple has a baby on the way and the husband has been laid off from his job. Their church was building a new building and asking for pledges. The couple prayed and they pledged. The man telling this story, decades later, says “the next day the Ford Motor company called me. I got the job. God is faithful.”
It’s humbling to hear these stories. Why not ask family members or people in your congregation who taught them to give?
Not too late to learn
If you didn’t learn young, it’s not too late!
Some people learned generosity from the example of others in their congregation. Being the treasurer can be an eye-opening experience, for instance.
I met people who learned generosity from their employer who donated a percentage of pretax profits to missions. It’s humbling to consider who might be watching our giving.
Here are some more quotes:
If I only have $20, that total $20 goes to the church because I know what it’s like to receive and how grateful one is... I think I’m a better giver now and a better receiver. [laughter]
they prayed with their partner and read Scripture and books on Christian giving: “we run on a pretty tight budget and we make it through every month”
What if I can’t afford to give 10%?
Younger donors have asked “what if I can’t afford to give 10%?” My answer is that making generosity a habit matters more than the amount. When you learn to give when you don’t have much, it’s easier to give more later. The very generous elderly man at your church might once have been the laid-off young husband.
Regardless of circumstances, people with a habit of generosity have learned that giving will not impoverish them. Anything can be taken to extreme, but donors tell me that God has always taken care of them. They tell me that practicing generosity strengthened their faith. Being generous with a little helps you to be generous with a lot.
When you learn to give when you don’t have much, it’s easier to give more later
How can we be generous today, in this moment, with what God has given us? What small act of generosity can we make now? That is how a lifetime of generosity begins: with a single step taken in faithfulness.
Prayer
“Lord, help me to be generous” makes a good starting place. Who better to teach us generosity than our generous God, giver of every good thing?