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DO YOU TEND TO LOOK INTO YOUR WALLET EACH WEEK AND THEN DECIDE WHAT TO GIVE AT MASS?
Did you ever miss giving at Mass and thought, "Oh well, I'll make that up next week," and then forgot again? I've been there and done that. For me, it wasn't that I didn't want to give appropriately; it was that I didn't grow up learning how to properly share my treasure. I'd always been comfortable sharing my time and talent, but I knew that I needed to do a better job with my treasure. In asking friends for advice, I discovered that some were very disciplined in their giving and either tithed or had a goal of tithing. I was actually surprised at learning this. Yet, the biggest surprise was their JOY in giving. Yes, these friends are thrilled to be able to contribute their gifts of time, talent, and treasure to Church and other causes they support. Even stranger to me, these friends were trying to find ways to give more as they felt so enriched by their giving.
Wow! How can they do this? I had to know more to better understand their generosity. I began a journey of asking my friends and other people about why and how they give and how they feel about their giving. Following are some of the things I've learned, particularly from those who make giving (tithing) a top priority:
$ They feel blessed with the gifts God has bestowed upon them, regardless of health or financial position.
$ They have a very positive outlook, reinforced by their
giving, which helps them to feel even better about
helping others.
$ They like to share their story of giving, not in the way of bragging about what they've done, but rather to tell of all the great ways their giving has helped the Church and other charities, and the positive impact of giving on their own lives.
$ They are disciplined in their giving. They discuss their goals for their philanthropy and adhere to those goals or exceed them.
While
each person I've talked with had many wonderful things to say, I
want to share specifically what I've learned in discussing their
financial discipline in giving. Most of these people had grown up accustomed to seeing others throw some money in the basket at Church, toss a few coins in the Salvation Army kettle, or watched their parents contribute to the latest school fundraiser. Somehow, they all came to the conclusion that there had to be a better way to give. With a lot of thought, prayer, and discussion, each family decided to formalize their giving by budgeting their gifts of time, talent, and treasure. For some, this was simply forming a plan mentally and then discussing it with their family. For others, this meant writing down their objectives with a plan on how to meet each goal.
For my wife Tammy and I, we've made it a habit to openly discuss why we want to give; to whom we would like to give; how much of our time, talent, or treasure we would like to share; and how to give over time. This thought process has moved us from a willy-nilly approach to a more disciplined approach which we find much more gratifying. As we've grown in our approach to gifting, we've found more and better ways to give.
We take full advantage of employer and other gift matching programs that double, triple, or otherwise magnify the use of our monetary gifts. We've learned of the benefits of giving appreciating assets, including stock and property to charities, and found it relatively easy to do so. We've also enrolled in electronic giving programs that automatically give from our paychecks and bank accounts.
To prepare our children to be good stewards, my wife and I
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