Changing the Generosity Index

 Ps 112:5: "Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely").

We live in a want want want world with a spend spend spend mentality. Now that Black Friday is over I wanted to give you a few facts to think about.

           The United States Charitable Index is only 1.38% of our personal income.  That means that if you add  all the individual tax returns and divide that by the itemized charitable deductions (all donations) Americans only give 1.38% of their income. Christians on average only give 2.3% of their income according to the 2010 figures!  The facts even get more depressing when you realize that people that earn $20,000 a year or less are twice as generous as people who earn $100,000 or more!

          Let’s change those figures. Let’s be a nation that helps others. I understand that many of us do not have extra money to give away at the end of the day.  You can give with your time and kindness too. Debbie Macomber wrote a lovely book called “One Simple Act, Discovering the Power of Generosity” this is a poem from that book.

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.”

― Debbie Macomber

         The widow in Mark 12:41-44 is the perfect example of giving with a pure heart. She was a poor widow but still gave what she had with a pure heart and with no expectations for her personal benefit. Pastor Matt Anderson of McDowell Mountain Community Church said, "Generosity isn't about money, it is about our hearts." In The Simple Truths, Kent Nerburn states: "Giving is a miracle that can transform the heaviest of hearts. Two people, who moments before lived in separate worlds of private concerns, suddenly meet each other over a simple act of sharing."

Let's start giving generously today!