Financial Freedom Quick Tip #12: Give generously
If your goal is to achieve financial freedom, the idea of giving money away doesn’t seem to make sense.
It is counter intuitive, but having a generous spirit is extremely beneficial to yourself, it is very powerful, and it will probably help you to achieve financial freedom much quicker.
The fear of loosing money
It is possible to have a lot of money, but to be utterly unhappy, and not have any freedom. The problem is that you may become trapped by a fear of loosing your money.
I am speaking from personal experience. I have been trapped by both the lack of money, and when I did have money, the fear of loosing it.
Trust me: Neither are worth it. It just steals your freedom and your happiness. It can even steal your physical health.
Giving generously will help you to not get attached to your money in an unhealthy way.
Confidence
Giving generously will also help you to remain thankful, happy, and confident.
This is the reason why having a generous spirit will help most people to achieve financial freedom much quicker.
It is much easier for a thankful, happy and confident person to work harder, stay motivated, remain inspired, have discipline, and spot opportunities.
Happiness
Giving with a free spirit brings immense joy to the giver.
This is not merely a Biblical saying. I read a report about a study a few weeks ago. The investigators were surprised to find that giving things away brings more joy to the person doing the giving, than the person doing the receiving.
Hidden investments
Giving is also a weird type of investment. It is weird because there are no guarantees. It just somehow comes back to you. It also doesn’t work if you think of it as making an investment. It only works if you expect nothing in return. Like I said. Weird.
I will explain with a personal example.
Several years ago I gave a fairly large sum of money to a friend of mine. I’ll call him Jack, although this is not his real name. He didn’t ask me for it, I just felt I wanted to for some or another reason.
I didn’t know this at the time, but Jack had made a loan from a friend of his, and invested the money in a scam. He lost it all! Jack was feeling very embarrassed about it, and because he couldn’t keep his promise of repaying his friend, it would have damaged his friendship.
My gift saved Jack this embarrassment, and possibly his friendship.
To this day Jack will give his right arm to help me out if I am ever in need. Literally. He once offered to physically endanger himself to help me out, when I was in a pickle. I’m also guaranteed of a place to stay, should I ever find myself without a home.
How do you put a value on a friend like that? It is worth far more than a hundred times the amount of money I gave to him!
Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many, for in the days ahead you yourself may need much help.
Give generously, but don’t be stupid
Make giving a part of your life, but don’t give away money you don’t have. That is just stupid.
Your gifts should be a part of your budget. You should plan for them like for any other expense.
Every one must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don’t force anyone to give more than he really wants to, for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes.
This tip is part of the Financial Freedom Quick Tips series. If you want to receive a notice every time a new quick tip is published, you can subscribe to Liberta.
July 28th, 2008 at 02:44 pm
i enjoyed the post. yu know, i never thought about making it a part of our budget. thanks for the advice!!
July 28th, 2008 at 04:01 pm
we tried a few times to get out of debt without giving (tithing). the long and short of it, it didn’t work. so when we committed at the beginning of the year to become debt free, i knew i had to make giving a part of it. you’re right-mathematically it makes no sense. but as Jesus promises, it has been given back to us overflowing (Luke 6:38)
July 28th, 2008 at 06:48 pm
@jamie:
I’m happy you liked it!
Learning about giving, and giving as you’ve decided to give in your heart, brought me a lot of freedom.
@Nate:
Yup, I’ve had similar experiences.
Many times it seemed that the moment I changed my attitude towards giving, opportunities would start popping up everywhere. Counter-intuitive, but it works!!
July 28th, 2008 at 07:54 pm
i noticed that nate categorized tithing and giving in the same category. we tithe and that is in our budget but giving i see a little different. yes when we tithe we are giving to the church but when you say “giving” i think about giving to someone or group that might come up like a need for a specific person or disaster.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
@Jamie
You guys have a good approach – you’ve decided to give by tithing (I assume you mean 10% of your income), and then also some more where God places the desire to do so on your heart.
Personally I don’t distinguish between tithing and giving, it all falls under my “giving” budget entry.
I don’t think God is so concerned with who we give our money to, or even how much we give. I think He’s concerned with our attitude in how we give, and how we value money.
He wants us to give “as we have purposed in our hearts”, i.e. as we have decided we want to give, and can do so joyfully.
He also wants us to place our trust in Him, and not in money. This is very freeing for me, because by knowing that God will provide for my every need if I trust in him, I am free to give away all my money if He asks me to do so.
At the same time it is a lot harder having this attitude in practice – to trust God completely. But I think that giving generously on a regular basis helps you to maintain this freeing attitude, and keeps you from placing your trust in money.
July 29th, 2008 at 03:05 pm
[...] Financial Freedom Quick Tip #12: Give Generously by Francois No Comments Leave a Commenttrackback addressThere was an error with your comment, [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 02:22 am
[...] wrote a post about the power of giving generously a few days ago. But is it possible to harm someone, and yourself, by helping that [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 02:57 pm
Tell me this…be honest…what happens when:
1)Jobs & work are at an all time low (our area of 28k people have lost over 3k jobs in the past month)?
2)Hubs paycheck isn’t enough to cover the mortgage.
Hubs doesn’t have the ability to get another job. I’m doing what I can to cover expenses. Savings is going to last only a few months.Do we tithe?
July 30th, 2008 at 03:14 pm
@Mandy
Phew. Tough one.
This is my opinion. Whatever your circumstances, if you cannot give freely, with a joyful spirit, and without feeling you are compelled to do so, then it is better for you NOT to tithe.
I don’t believe we are under the law. God made us free. He wants us to give freely.
If you cannot give freely, then ask yourself: Why?
- Is it because you were not a good steward of your money?
- Is it because of something completely out of your control – e.g. a natural disaster, or a sudden illness?
- Is it because you have money, but you are afraid to loose it, because your trust is in your money, and not in God?
To really answer these questions you have to be very very honest with yourself. E.g., you may argue that some circumstances were beyond your control, but were they really? Did you use debt to buy things you could have done without?
Answering these questions should also not be to hit yourself over the head and feel guilty about.
Many mistakes we make with money are not sins (e.g. making too much debt), they’re just not in our best interest. They keep us from living the great lives God intended for us.
It is for you to figure out why you are in the position you are in, and what is preventing you from experiencing the immensely powerful benefits that come from being able to give with a free and joyful heart.
Then look forward, and resolve to put yourself in the position where you can give freely, and experience the benefits of that.
Sometimes things happen that are genuinely out of our control. E.g. I have a friend who became seriously ill, and cannot work at the moment. She was living a very healthy lifestyle – this was not due to her being irresponsible.
For someone in her position, I’d say the reason why she can’t give freely is because she doesn’t have anything to give, and therefore it would be silly of her to do so.
You can only give what you have.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:18 am
Several things are contributing. We DID accure debt for years until last Aug. when we decided enough was enough. We paid off all small debt & started saving our 3-6 months.
Then the RV market took a huge dive. 40% decrease in pay meant tightening purse strings. We weren’t able to get more than a few thousand dollars put away before things went south.
Then the well’s pump went out, a kid went to the ER…Murphy’s law right?
Now we barely have enough to get through a few months. Checks aren’t enough to cover basic living expenses at this point.
I normally LOVE to give. I have a heart for that. Maybe that’s why I’m struggling. I want to, but can’t.
Thanks for the response. I’ll keep praying about it.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:22 am
@Mandy
Firstly, I commend you guys that you managed to save at least a little, and pay off some of debts. That was very well done.
Imagine where you would have been if you didn’t do this wise thing?
Secondly, remember there is no judgment here. You know your heart, and that is what God sees. Also, like I said, making a lot of debt is not a sin, it is just not wise.
And lastly, you’re doing the right thing by asking questions, and evaluating the things you’ve done that were clever and not so clever. Once you get through this, you’ll have a lot more wisdom to tackle the future.
I pray for you guys.
Francois
August 13th, 2008 at 04:03 pm
[...] how you can choose to use your financial-freedom, to show God’s love to someone else, by giving generously. I’d like to find a family in real need that cannot afford Christmas (from a tree and [...]