At the National Christian Foundation, we serve many wonderful followers of Jesus who have reached a place where they want to update their estate plans. As I have written in a separate blog post, we encounter folks wherever they may be on a journey toward increased Kingdom giving.
The journey generally goes from:
- Give it all to the kids.
- Give the Lord some bequest off the top, with the rest to the kids.
- Remembering that Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourselves, allocate the estate into equal shares for each child and a favored “neighbor” charity, i.e., their church or favorite non-profit, or both. As an example, with three kids, that means four units.
- Determine “how much is enough” or “finish lines” for lifestyle expenses, long-term financial security, empowering, not destructive inheritances for the kids, with everything else going to the Lord.
For purposes of this post, I want to emphasize the HUGE transformational change that often happens when these dear people decide to open their hearts to include a significant allocation to a “neighbor” beyond their historic giving.
It begins with the thought of giving more at a later date. But their conscious commitment to do that later often opens the spiritual door of their lives into creative thinking about what might be possible sooner.
What that means is that they not only plan to bless others in the future, but they often reverse-engineer that Kingdom mindset into their current giving. They take a fresh look at their spending on their own family and rethink their capacity to carve out more for others.
The rewards are not only downstream for those in need but also upstream for the donor family. They experience a flow of “feel-good” brain chemicals, such as serotonin, which God designed into our DNA to reward our generosity. Increased creative thinking and action on how favorite causes can be served is often triggered. A sense of purpose and belonging to something Jesus cares about invades their soul. And, therefore, they end up with a more intimate walk with Jesus.
We have before us a multi-generational opportunity to develop a giving strategy, training up those we love to have a “consciousness of neighbor.” That can become an immense character trait, and it does not need to wait until we update an estate plan. We can be about it now.
We may no longer control every member of our family, but we can influence them. The best way to do that is to model generosity toward neighbors in a peaceful and winsome manner. We never know just who might be looking. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.