The average American family gives between 2% and 3% to charity. Not bad, but not necessarily great either. As a Pastor, there is a story in the Old Testament that amazes me in regards to giving. The story is found in Exodus chapter 36.
Moses and the Israelite leaders are preparing to build the tabernacle. They have asked the people to give of their time, skills, and money to complete the project. Part way through, the men working on the project came to Moses and said: “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to perform.” So Moses had to issue a command for people to stop working and giving to the project. In the text it says that “the people were restrained from bringing any more.”
The people were so excited, so happy, they gave more than enough. I think we are missing that today. There is such joy and happiness in giving, in seeing a charitable work come to completion. And we miss out on that joy when we give so little, especially when we have been blessed with so much.
Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, did a study a few years ago on happiness. In his research he noted that although money itself does not necessarily bring happiness, giving it away does! And it was shown in the study that in essence, the more people give, the happier they become!
So I guess the question becomes, how happy do you want to be? How much are you willing to give away to others?
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Sunday Thought 96
by JD on August 29, 2010
The average American family gives between 2% and 3% to charity. Not bad, but not necessarily great either. As a Pastor, there is a story in the Old Testament that amazes me in regards to giving. The story is found in Exodus chapter 36.
Moses and the Israelite leaders are preparing to build the tabernacle. They have asked the people to give of their time, skills, and money to complete the project. Part way through, the men working on the project came to Moses and said: “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to perform.” So Moses had to issue a command for people to stop working and giving to the project. In the text it says that “the people were restrained from bringing any more.”
The people were so excited, so happy, they gave more than enough. I think we are missing that today. There is such joy and happiness in giving, in seeing a charitable work come to completion. And we miss out on that joy when we give so little, especially when we have been blessed with so much.
Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, did a study a few years ago on happiness. In his research he noted that although money itself does not necessarily bring happiness, giving it away does! And it was shown in the study that in essence, the more people give, the happier they become!
So I guess the question becomes, how happy do you want to be? How much are you willing to give away to others?