Generous Giving: A Reflection of the Heart?

Our finance officer today made this comment to me, to encourage me:

"You can really tell where someone's heart is by how they choose to give."

I would actually refine this reflection to,

"You should be able to tell where someone's heart is, in part, by how they choose to give."

I've added the word SHOULD because, intention and action should be linked. ie. We can say we want to live our life a certain way according to certain principles - for example to care for the environment, and to help those who are disabled - but if we actually never act with these priniciples in mind - for example we never recycle, we never talk with our disabled neighbour, or give money to a disabled charity - then our idea is just 'hot air'. And the same goes for giving money - this is one resource we have which we can use to reflect our priorites in life.

However I don't think the link between money and heart is even this simple though, for three reasons.

First, many people have never been taught or be exposed to the idea that their money can be used to benefit others, that their is a joy in that, and a 'comeback' in that too. I was lucky enough to work for IFES in the fund development department, and during that time read lots of web-articles on the joy of giving, especially by a network in the United States called Generous Giving Foundation - started by a group of businessmen and women who earn buckets and then give buckets to good causes. They beleive that a little education goes a long way. So do I. How we see our money changes our percepton of a lot of things.

Second, God has distributed different spiritual gifs around, which means that some people have the gift of giving, some do not. This means our finance officer sees a reflection of commitment to our organsiation through the exercise of just one type of gift: the spiritual gift of giving. But it might well be that someone with a gift of serving is just as dedicated to the organsiation and serves people late into the night, even though he wouldn't give much money each month. This is why I have written IN PART in my defination: "You should be able to tell where someone's heart is, in part, by how they use their money."

Third, people's fixed income and expenditure is different. A single person living in a cheap part of town can, for example, live incredibly cheaply: partly through the choice to live simply, but also partly because thier financial needs simply aren't as great as someone with a larger family in a more pricey part of town.

I would want to encouarge everyone to give generously, as God rewards those who do, plus it really does help people. However I think the above three points should also remove any smugness from those who do give generously. Joy is the word.