The Gift of Giving
As a Christian and Stewardship educator, this is one of my favorite spiritual gifts. The fact that it is also one of my gifts is probably also why I like it so much. Spiritualgiftstest.com says “The gift of giving gives an individual the ability to make a wealthy living. If an individual is blessed with the gift of giving, then they should offer those earnings by tithing. God would want an individual to do divine good with the monies.” While I disagree that it takes an individual who has the ability to make a wealthy living, I do think it takes an individual who looks at what they have as being an abundance—a faith asset—rather than looking at what God has given each of us with such scarcity eyes that we hold tight to all we “have” because we may have need of it. And this leads to not being able to share our “wealth” with others. I know plenty of people who have the spiritual gift of giving who have always been poor by our world’s standards yet continue to give of themselves.
There are so many stories in the Bible that speak of people who have a gift for giving. In fact, the story of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of giving for us. The one thing these stories, our faith history, have in common is that all these givers were not afraid. They were willing to risk—their possessions, their time, their wealth, their lives—to give to others. And as it is with us today, their giving blessed them too.
For those of us who do not have the spiritual gift of giving, we are still called to exercise this gift with the possibility of gaining skills in this area. So here are four ideas to ease into the spreading of the gospel while using some of your God-given spiritual gifts:
1. Volunteer Ops
Contact a local non-profit in your area and ask them what they might need your help with. They are always looking for someone to help with something. If there is a volunteer event in your community that gives some choices, you might volunteer for things such as cleaning out a storm drain to help area rivers and streams stay clean, or making cards to put in boxes that go to sick kids or people in need. If your area doesn’t already have one of these events, encourage non-profits to band together to put out a list of volunteer opportunities. If you need an example, go to the Volunteer Odyssey Facebook page and look at their Virtual Volunteer Day information.
2. Give a Percent
Seek out a charity or a non-profit (it may even be your own church) and make a commitment to give a percentage of your money, your time, and your talent to them. If it is your church and you tithe, you are already one step there as far as the money goes. Your time might be that you do something regularly like teach a Sunday school class or participate in a workday. As for the talent, commit to playing an instrument for church or a fundraiser. Or especially in this time, offer to help with IT work.
3. Shh! It’s a Secret
Plan to do something kind for someone. You may do this individually or as a family but plan to do it anonymously. Try to choose someone who may live alone and needs an emotional boost or someone who has given so much to you. If you have young children, you might want to make a game of the “secret” by leaving something at the door, ringing the doorbell, and running to the car. However old your family members are, be sure to talk about giving and how in giving ourselves we pattern ourselves after God—Creator, Redeemer, Comforter—giver of all things.
4. Pay a Debt
As young adults are coming out of college with more and more debt, we need to be mindful of that and help if we can. Encourage your family or church family to begin offering gifts to young people in your church who are in college or have just completed college. You may know of their debt from a family member or talk to the school about paying their outstanding debt. In addition to this, you and your church may want to send a gift box to college students filled with snacks, office supplies, and other goodies that help supplement what they are already having to buy.
Look for ways you can make your money grow beyond a dollar amount and into prosperity amongst the world and God’s people.