When I earned my first real paycheck, my mom marched me down to the neighborhood bank, made me deposit 85% in a savings account, and take out 10% to drop in the offering plate at church the following Sunday. The remaining 5% (98 cents) was mine to go wild with!
Dropping 10% into the offering is a great place to start. If people of faith merely did that, the world would be a different and presumably better place. The average person of faith gives between 2.5% and 3.5% of their income each year. There is definitely room for improvement!
There is very substantial research supporting the benefits of generosity. In the book The Paradox of Generosity, the authors suggest that generosity enhances overall well-being in at least 9 ways.
Generosity:
- Fosters and reinforces positive emotions and reduces negative emotions
- Reduces stress
- Increases personal agency and self-efficacy
- Creates positive, meaningful social roles and personal identities
- Reduces self-absorption
- Reinforces a perception of living in a world of abundance and blessing
- Expands the number and density of social network relationships
- Promotes learning about the world
- Increases the giver’s physical activity, which extends life
Simply stated, generous people are kinder, healthier, happier, and live longer.
Taken from “Finishing Well: How to Share Your Wisdom and Wealth with the Next Generations” by John Busacker, a dear friend of the National Christian Foundation Twin Cities and frequent speaker on the behavioral (spiritual, relational, emotional) foundations of intergenerational wealth transfer.