Howdy,
Lot of quotation here today, but I’ve been reading Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze’s book, Smart Money Smart Kids, which is good, so I thought I’d pull some excerpts on giving.
And, no need for a disclaimer on this because I’m not a pastor of a local church; your giving doesn’t pay my salary. (Maybe someday your reading will, but I’m still working on that.) Nevertheless I wouldn’t mind seeing your generosity and blessed openhandedness being used in the world for the Lord’s work.
Without the full context of reading chapters or even the whole book, I’ll do my best to cobble a few quotes for some flow of thought. At the very least there will be some ideas if you have kids or grandkids. Dave and Rachel take on topics with a back and forth voice in their shared book, so I’ll give you a hint on who’s dropping the gold.
Dave: “If you want children who are less selfish; if you want children who view wealth as a responsibility, not a meal ticket; if you want children who look at the future as a bright place; if you want children who function with a spirit of abundance rather than a spirit of lack, then you must teach them that they don’t own money — they are simply managers, or stewards of it” (82).
Rachel: “That doesn’t mean I never struggle with a selfish thought — I’m a fun-loving natural spender, remember? It just means that even when I get distracted by selfish things, I can always go back to the starting point for my family: giving. Unfortunately, it’s a counterculture message that many young people just don’t get. … sometimes called ‘Generation Me.’ … Having a selfish mentality is a big obstacle for a lot of people. It’s definitely something your kids either already struggle with or will face one day. That’s because they are growing up in a culture that is obsessed with me, me, me. … I’m not saying that every young person in America is selfish and greedy, but let’s face it: The act of giving isn’t always the first thing they think about. But when your kids grow up in a house where giving is a priority, they start to see themselves differently because they see other people differently. Other people become significant, and doing things for others becomes a priority. The antidote for selfishness isn’t a theory; it’s an action, and that action is giving” (84).
Dave: “Stewardship is really not a Christian word, but an Old English word from around the time of the King James translation of the Bible. The word in feudal economic times described a person who didn’t own anything, but managed the affairs of the lord of the realm. This manager’s title was ‘steward.’ He had a nice house, beautiful clothes, and fine foods, but it wasn’t really his. He enjoyed all of the benefits of the lord’s wealth, but he felt no sense of ownership over it. Similar to those medieval stewards, when we realize we are simply managing someone else’s money, it changes our focus.
For instance, it is easier to give away other people’s money than it is to give away your own money. The first and most important lesson about money that Sharon and I taught our children is that money is not theirs. As a family of faith, we believe that God owns everything, and we are asked to manage it for Him. We don’t own it, which makes it easier to give” (82).
Rachel: “The Give envelope was extremely important in our house, which is why it was the first thing we did with our money. By the time I was six, my parents had stopped giving me their money to drop in the offering plate at church, and I took my own money from my Give envelope. Giving his own money changes a child’s whole understanding of giving” (34).
Rachel: “ … be good managers of everything that God has given us, and that includes more than our money. It’s so easy for families to fall into the trap of giving a percentage of their money without ever stepping outside their comfort zone and really giving of themselves in the world. That’s why I teach families the ‘Time, Talents, and Treasure’ idea of giving. In addition to giving our treasure (money), we should freely give from all of our resources, especially our time and talents” (89-90).
It can be a bit different than what you may here from other financial advisers out there, but you can see that Ramsey and Cruze have a good, and healthy, perspective on money. I’d recommend reading this book and others by them.
To give, or not to give, that is a question that’s hard for all. And settled for most by habit.
Which habit?
That is the question.
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.