Spiritual Health - Giving

Why giving matters.  What does the Bible say about giving?  What are different ways to give?  Giving helps your spiritual health, your mental health and your financial health.  It's a foundational building block of a truly amazing life.

Transcript

Hello, my name is Tiffany, and welcome to the podcast Working on Amazing. This is a podcast where we talk about the work that it takes to rebuild an amazing life.

And I say rebuild because we're specifically designed for women who feel like they're starting over in the middle of their life.

Maybe it was divorce, maybe it was a loss, maybe it was something else, but your plans for the future went up in smoke, and it really feels like you're starting over. If that's you, you are in the right place. Welcome.

I'm so glad that you are here. So today's episode, we're going to talk about spiritual health.

If you remember in the beginning, I said there were five areas I focused on when I rebuilt my life and that was spiritual health, mental health, physical health, financial health, and growth and goals.

So today I want to talk about spiritual health, and I want to talk about giving, and what the Bible says about giving, and how that spiritual principle is super important.

And I know it sounds odd, and it sounds counterintuitive, and why are you making this one first? There's so many more important things, like talk about forgiveness. Giving is probably more important than you realize.

It's a biblical principle. I feel like giving affects your mental health, your financial health, your spiritual health. So it hits three of the five in just one thing.

It's a simple thing, and we write it off like, yeah, of course, whatever, blah, blah, blah. But I want to talk about it. I want to challenge you to engage in the giving process.

So first of all, why is it a spiritual principle to give? Well, the Bible says that we need to tithe, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, and a tithe is 10%.

So what the majority of people do, especially in modern times, you know, in the olden days, it was different, but you tithe 10% of what you bring home, what your paycheck is, right?

In the olden days, maybe you would tithe 10% of your grain or 10% of your flock of cows or whatever. But 10% of your money that you make, you give that away, and that's your tithe. You tithe to a church, you tithe to a organization like that.

That's important. I strongly recommend and think you should do that. And 100%, yes, please do that.

If you're not doing that, look into that. I understand sometimes when you're going through a difficult season, your church may shift or change.

I was going to a church very regularly, and then my marriage got really dark, and I just didn't feel like going to church anymore. It wasn't anything that those people did. It's still a great church.

I still like those people, but I just couldn't go and show up at this place I'd shown up as a family with everybody else. It was just, things just shifted in me and my heart.

So I understand if you're in a place where you can't tie to, but find a place. It is a principle, and it matters.

It's like God set out these rules in these things, and we do them, we obey them, like our parents told us to come in when the streetlights came on, or whatever.

We do it, we obey it, we don't always fully understand it, but over time, it begins to make sense, and you see the benefits of it, right? So, tithe, it matters. The Bible says to do it.

And I know it can be counterintuitive when you're trying to save money. You wanna win with finances. You wanna have enough saved up.

You wanna grow your savings. You wanna, and I want that for you. I want you to win.

Giving is foundational to being good with money. Giving, having a heart that wants to give, giving just automatically like a tithe, these things are foundational. And if you're gonna succeed with money, this is a foundational principle.

And that's why we've got to talk about this before we get into other details about money and finances and how to pay down debt and all that kind of stuff and talking about money and really winning with it. This has to come first.

This matters so much. So even though it sounds counterintuitive, let's just listen to what people smarter than me and you, the Bible says about giving, and it says to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.

Jesus said, it is better to give than to receive. We all remember that one, right? Sometimes we tell that to our kids when they don't want to share their toys.

What else did Jesus say about giving? I think this applies to giving. You can tell me.

But when Jesus said at the end of time that the father would separate the sheep from the goats, do you remember that story that Jesus told? And what did he say?

He said, he would look at the sheep and he would say, for I was thirsty, and you gave me a cup of water. I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was naked, and you clothed me, and the list goes on.

And he said, Jesus, Lord, Lord, when did we see you thirsty and give you water? When did we see you hungry and give you food? When were you naked and we gave you clothes?

And the answer was, if you've done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto me. If you've given to the least of these, you've given to me. I see that as a principle about giving.

So when we give, we're given unto the Lord. When I struggled with money and finances, and I wondered, why are we always living paycheck to paycheck? Why do I always feel like we don't have enough?

I prayed about it. It was just laid on my heart that I needed to give more. And we did tithe, but I just felt like I needed to give more.

I needed to be involved in the process. So the deal was, I made with myself, me and God, I guess, is that if somebody asked me for money, I would give it to them.

And at the time, where I would grocery shop and do my shopping, was a place where a lot of people would ask for money. They would come up to you in the parking lot. They would be on the street corners.

It was common. It didn't happen all the time, but it happened frequently. So if somebody asked me for money, and I had it, and I was able to, I would give it.

And it was just a rule I made with myself, between me and God, you know? Somebody asked me for money. I only have $2, or I only have $20.

You give a $20. It was based on what I had, what I carried it. At the time, I carried cash today.

I think that's so weird, because I don't even carry cash today. But back then I did. And over time, every time somebody asked, I would give them what I could.

And it just became like the sneer jerk thing. Yeah, I've got something. Hold on.

It changed my mental health, because I no longer felt like I didn't have enough. I felt like I had more than enough. I had enough to give away some.

It really changed my perception. It didn't change the amount of money that was coming into the household. That remained the same.

My perception of the money changed, and I went from feeling like we never had enough to feeling like we had more than enough, and I had extra to give. It also took the focus off me and put it on somebody else, and that was a beautiful thing.

When we're going through a hard time, the focus a lot of times is on us, like internally in our head. We just see all the negative things that are going on. We ruminate on them.

We remember them. We replay them in our head. And when you give to somebody, it just takes you out of that really negative head space, makes you smile.

It makes them smile. It's pretty. And for the people who say, you shouldn't give money to people on the street.

You don't know what they're going to do with it. This is my two cents. Everybody has a different opinion.

But it was my job to honor the agreement I made with God. God asked me to give. And it was more important for me to honor my agreement with God than to worry about what they were going to do with it.

So my responsibility was to honor God. God said to give. Their responsibility is what they do with that money, and that's between them and God.

That is not my responsibility. How they spend it isn't my responsibility. My responsibility was to honor the agreement I made with God.

And then between them and God is what they do with it, and that's up to them. But I had to be responsible to what God asked me to do, and what I felt in my heart to do. So that's how I see that.

I handle that, but I do understand their differing opinions. But when you give, it does take the focus off you and puts it on somebody else. So what other kinds of things can you give?

Sometimes money is tight. Maybe you can bake a cake. I'm not a good baker, but there are a lot of people out there who are.

So maybe you have a coworker who's going through a really tough time. Maybe a cake would brighten their day. Maybe that's what you can afford to do.

Maybe you can say, hey, let's hang out after work and go somewhere. Just sit down and talk. You need to talk.

Maybe you give your time. The other thing I want to mention when we talk about giving is what you are giving. So there is a story in the Old Testament about David, and I love David.

David is amazing. He has so many highs and lows, and we watch him go up and down, up and down. Good moments.

Man after my own heart. These destitute moments of just utter despair. And somewhere along that roller coaster ride up and down, we can all identify with David at some point, right?

He has such a wide, wide variation, but he has a heart for God. He loves God. So the story about David is David had messed up, so he was in a low point, okay?

And he is repenting for his mistake. And God tells him to build an altar. And where he ends up building the altar ends up being where Solomon's temple is built, which is in Jerusalem, which modern day temple is found.

So this is a very significant place. This is the first religious thing that has been done here. And God tells David, I want you to build an altar and make a sacrifice as part of your repentance.

So David goes to build the altar, but he doesn't own the place. He doesn't have that land. Somebody else owns it.

And the man who owns it, of course, knows King David. King David is a popular king. And he says, I'll give it to you.

And I'll give you 50 oxen. I'll give you all this other stuff for your sacrifices. You know, I want to help out too.

And as nice as it was of him to offer, to give that to David. David knew he needed to make a sacrifice. David knew he needed to repent.

And what he said was, I will not give to the Lord that which cost me nothing. If you give it to me, I can't give it to the Lord like it's my sacrifice. It didn't cost me anything.

So when we're talking about giving, it kind of needs to cost us something.

So I'm not talking about the jeans that are torn up so bad, you put in a bag to gift a goodwill, and you've driven around in the back of your car for two months, and you finally drop it off. No.

I mean, yes, do that, because you don't need to have that clutter in your house, and that's more like home maintenance to get rid of the things that you do not need that are causing clutter.

But when I'm talking about giving, I'm talking about giving of your time. You would rather go home and chill out, but this friend needs you just to talk, taking the time to make somebody a cake, giving them some money if you have money.

What you give, it can't cost you nothing. It has to cost. It has to matter.

So if somebody gives me $10 that I didn't expect, and I turn around and give that immediately to somebody else, I had no plans for it, it didn't cost me anything, right?

And it's a beautiful thing to do, but when we talk about making giving part of our life, also hold that thought in mind, it's gotta cost us something. We can do hard things, right? Beautiful girl, you can do hard things.

You can give something that costs you. And it doesn't have to cost you everything. It doesn't have to be the alabaster jar that was a year's wages.

But when I gave the money, that was the cash that was in my pocket, that was cash maybe I was setting aside to get my nails done. And if I gave that away, that meant I wouldn't be able to do my nails. So it cost me something, right?

It wasn't the biggest thing. I understand there are lots more things, and please don't ever give away your rent money. Don't ever give away the money that you're gonna use to feed your kids.

But how can you incorporate giving into your life? And when we talk about giving something that cost us, I have a story of my grandmother. You're talking about during World War II when there were sugar rations.

And so my grandmother had nine children. So it was a big family. And she had been saving up her sugar stamps to make a cake for my uncle for his birthday.

And he was a very rural area, very, very, very small town. So she got enough and she made a cake. Now, nobody would blame her or think anything.

Nobody would think twice if she served that cake to her family. She has nine children, and they always had somebody else staying with them on top of that. Big family, cake could feed everybody.

But no, she took the cake to the school because all those kids weren't having sweets either. All those kids' families were on sugar rations too. So she saved up her sugar rations.

She made a cake, she took it to the school so all the kids could have a little bit of cake. Very small school. It cost her, it cost her something.

She had to save up to have enough sugar to make a cake. And then she said, this isn't just for my family. It needs to be for all these kids because they don't get cake either.

It cost her something. So what cost you something? So I'm not, like I said, asking for the alabaster jar, the year's wages, but she saved up the sugar rations.

What are you saving up that you can give? Little things, simple things, but they cost you something. Does that make sense?

And how can this be a part of our life? Part of the rhythm of how we do life, day in and day out, this idea of giving. Yes, I want you to tithe, but tithing is a couple clicks on your phone from your bank app to wherever it goes.

Can we get more engaged in the process? And when we do it, when we hand somebody a $5 bill on the side of the street, that's unto the Lord. I know I'm putting that in this person's hand, but it's the least of these, and so I've done it unto the Lord.

What are the things that cost us just a little bit? We feel that. What can we give?

What are our sugar rations? What can we do? What are we saving that we can say, You know what?

I can give this. How can we engage in the process? Because I think it's so cold and sterile to just click buttons, and it's necessary and it's important, and I'm not saying don't do it, but when you time, that's great.

But how can we incorporate tactile giving? When you go to get coffee, can you give them a $10 bill? We'll keep the change and put it towards the person's tab behind me.

I don't know what it looks like for you. I don't know if it's spending time with a coworker who just needs somebody to listen to them. I don't know if it's baking a cake for the family next door.

What does it look like for you? But let's make giving tactile. Let's get involved in the process.

Let's do for other people and get engaged. And yes, give to your church and yes, tithe, because that is really important and a real kingdom principle. Well, let's engage with it.

Let's give to the person on the side of the street. Let's get involved in giving. How can we do that?

And let's think outside the box. I'm going to make a cake. OK, well, I don't bake.

What can I do? Well, I do marketing. So I can sit down with somebody and help them with their marketing.

You know what? You're trying to launch a business. You're in business for yourself.

Let me help you with that. I know these couple of things here. I can take time with you and show you things and set things up for you.

That's what I can do. What can you do? Maybe you are the baker.

And if food is such brings so much comfort to people, we say the term comfort food because food does bring comfort. Some people just need a hug for crying out loud. That's one of the things I missed so much during COVID was a hug.

Sometimes I just needed a hug. What can you give? What can you do?

And that's what I want to challenge you is to think about how can you give? What do you offer? What can you do to get engaged in the process of giving and make giving just a piece of your life?

It's not a number on a spreadsheet, which it needs to be, and it should be. But it also is this act that we are engaged and involved in and do. That we give, that we have enough.

I have enough resources of my time, I can give you time. I have enough resources of food, I can give you food. I have enough resources of money, I can share my money.

It does help your mental health. And you go from that, it helps eliminate that feeling of lack, of never having enough. Giving is foundational.

I know I said that in the beginning. It is, it's so foundational. So tithe, yes, if you tithe, good job.

It's so important, and it's so necessary. But I'm challenging to get involved in tactile giving, get engaged in the process, doing unto others as we would unto the Lord.

If Jesus were to walk into our house, we would go all out, make a really nice meal, do all these things, right? We would like put on our best behavior, pull out the china, whatever it is, right?

But if you've done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto God. So how can we give, how can we share of ourselves, our time, our talents with other people as unto the Lord?

When I sit down and help somebody with simple things in marketing, they're simple to me because I know them.

If I help them set up their social media account or something in Google for better search and optimization, I can do that for them as if I'm doing it unto the Lord. Because that makes me happy. That makes me feel good.

I'm contributing. Once again, it's helping your mental health. It's helping your spiritual health because you're following these principles, and these principles were put into place because it's good for you.

It helps. You're helping your financial health because you will reap the benefits. It's like seed, and you just put, you give just a little bit.

You have a little bit to give. You give a little bit. You sow the seed into the ground.

And I don't know how it works. I can't unravel all the mysteries, but I know that where I'm sitting today, is because I sowed seeds of giving. And I get to reap a harvest of joy.

And it is over time, and it's in seasons where you don't feel like you have enough, and you just got to keep plugging away. And you see somebody, and you give to them, and it takes your mind off whatever funk you're in. It is a principle that works.

It works. Trust the process. Find a way to give to somebody today.

If you can give anonymously, that's great. If you can sit back and watch something play out, that's awesome. However you choose to do it, whatever your gift is, find a way to give it.

The world needs givers. We've got lots of takers. But let's be givers.

Let's give what we have to give. And I believe that you will be richly rewarded for that. It's a principle.

And maybe the reward comes in a better perspective, in a better outlook, in better mental health. That is a true reward.

I'm not saying what the reward is because I don't know, but I know if you follow this, this idea that you will be rewarded, whatever that reward looks like. And it, I believe, is slightly different for everybody. Give.

Give today. Find a way to give. Bring the max of kindness, whatever, but make it part of the rhythm of your life.

Gratitude, giving, these things are so important. So when we shift our perspective and when it feels like we're kind of starting over and our life fell apart and we're in a new space, this gives us a chance to start new things. You are a giver.

You are grateful. These things become who you are and who you're known as. And if you're gonna rebuild your life, you've got to start over from the ground up.

These are the foundational elements that are gonna build a strong structure, a strong and healthy and vibrant life. This is a foundation piece. Giving matters.

I would really love to hear the ways you're learning to give. Please look me up on Facebook, Working on Amazing. I would love to hear what you have to say and see how you're doing in your journey.

Thanks for listening today, and I'll talk to you next time.