I have a new yearly goal that went into effect starting today. Each year I’m going to find an additional charity or organization to begin supporting financially on a monthly basis aside from giving to my church.
Last year I started with Three Angels Relief to sponsor a child’s education at the orphanage in Haiti, and this year I’m adding Charlie’s Lunch Ministries, which provides food worldwide after a 5-year old disabled kid made it a point to give his lunch away. I’m only giving a couple bucks a month, so don’t hold me up on a high platform for this. But do take a minute to read up on either of those organizations if you’re curious. I’m excited to do this for a couple reasons, and I’ve come to see that the Christian attitude of giving is so far superior to a warm and fuzzy confirmation of feeling good about myself. It’s bigger than that. Maybe the missionary who spoke in my church yesterday, Peter DeSoto, put it best when he was talking about the people down in El Salvador serving the community by building a water pipeline in unity with their pastor to provide clean water to residents where it’s desperately needed. “It’s not really a sacrifice. What you give up is so little compared to what you gain.” …And this is coming from a guy who went down to serve the people, got shot in the neck by a gunman, recovered in the hospital and went back despite his vocal cords not working the same after the bullet’s damage to his throat.
So if you like this idea about giving, the biggest compliment you can pay is to imitate it on your own, or make up something similar and stick to it. Talk or write about it too, if you feel like that’s appropriate in your circumstance. Notice I blended the financially giving aspect with the physically serving aspect, because I think they go hand in hand. And if you can only do one or the other due to things you’ve committed yourself to or the high standard of living you signed up for, then maybe it’s something you can’t change until those things are first changed (IF possible; I’m not in favor of you neglecting family needs!). In Mark 12:41-44 I’m reminded that this little goal is actually pathetic because I’m still just giving out of my extra instead of giving all I have, as in that example Jesus praises the widow for what she did. And hey, if your local church is in need of the money to help the poor, certainly give help them out instead of just any organization.
Someday hopefully I learn how to prioritize both giving and serving better than I do now. I’m trying to remember who I heard speak a couple years ago that had the personal goal of increasing his percentage of financial giving each year, not just upping the dollar amount when the paycheck got fatter. That’s radical.
This is going to be awesome. I love living this stuff out.
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