Giving Because He Gave

We can rejoice that God has given so much to us.  We have celebrated the gift of His Son, sent to
earth to redeem us, and our lives can be a reflection of His great love. 1st Timothy 6 states:
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

The apostle Paul deals in this chapter with the idea of, as Jesus taught in Luke 12, being "rich toward God." That means we are to place the will of God above our own and the interests of others, as Philippians 2 teaches, above our own.  With a sense of humility, we can remember the One who humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross, so that we may be saved.  Humility and compassion communicate powerfully the presence of Almighty God in us.

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Because God, in His great love, has given so much to us, He calls us to be people motivated by and
acting in His love. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus shared the parable of a rich man - we pick up here:
18 So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." '
20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'
21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Over the past 10 years, the most generous nation on earth is...the United States of America.  That is according to an article on the MarketWatch website, covering what is called the World Giving Index.  The story states that the index is "a ranking that measured how likely residents of 128 countries were to practice acts of generosity." It goes on to say: "The index, from the U.K.-based nonprofit Charities Aid Foundation, is based on Gallup’s World Poll surveys of 1.3 million people."

The top 3 most generous nations: the U.S., Myanmar, and New Zealand.  The bottom 3: Yemen, Greece, and China. The article states:

The U.S. peaked on the World Giving Index in 2014, but has declined since then. The report authors called this a “worrying trend” that’s also happening in other developed countries.

The U.S. scored 64% in 2014 and 58% in 2018. The score is the average of “yes” responses to the three key questions asked in each country.

What were the three questions? They had to do with whether or not, in the last month, the respondents had: "helped a stranger or someone they didn’t know who needed help, donated money to charity, or volunteered their time to an organization."

The article also stated that, "While charities in the U.S. took in $427.71 billion in 2018 — an increase in total dollars from 2017 — giving by individual Americans dropped by 1.1%, a June 2019 Giving USA report found." It went on to say, "The overall amount given to charity increased because donations from corporations and foundations...increased by 5.4% and 7.3% respectively in 2018."

Interestingly enough, as a subhead in the article notes, "Both rich and poor countries are generous."  The story also notes:

“There is no one trait that points to a country’s generosity,” the World Giving Index authors said. The highest scoring countries “represent a wide range of geographies, religions, cultures and levels of wealth,” they noted.

And, apparently, Americans want to give more, according to a LendingTree survey that was referenced by MarketWatch.  While two-thirds of Americans have given to charity in the past year, just over 70% say that debt keeps them from giving as much as they would like to give.  Just over half of those surveyed said that income constraints kept them from donating more.

So, what do you make of this?  Well, for one thing, I believe that Americans are conditioned to give.  It's really part of our culture, and when you consider our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, we know that compassion is a characteristic that many Americans possess.  We have a propensity to give back, and even the younger generations are driven to give to causes.

Specifically, God's people, who call on the name of Christ, have been given an innate desire to be generous.  If we are loving God, then it follows, as Jesus taught, that we would love our neighbor - and that goes beyond possessing good feelings and being nice - true Christian compassion involves giving of ourselves, and that includes the resources with which the Lord Himself has blessed us.

We also know that debt is an inhibitor of generosity - if we don't see the resources there, it is very easy to become discouraged. But, as it's been said, even someone who is trying to work through debt can give something, and in that obedience, it could release the power of God to more effectively work through those restrictions.

The Bible is a book of giving.  God is described as the giver of all good gifts, and He has shown His love for the people He has created by sending Jesus to give His life for all humanity.  As we reflect on how generous our Savior has been toward us, we can show our appreciation to Him by giving of the resources He has entrusted to us, not holding back, but allowing His love to flow through us.