Start anytime—even now, and even if it’s with a small amount. God looks at giving on a relative scale. A five-dollar gift by one person may be more significant than a five-hundred-dollar gift by another. It may be more significant in the eyes of God, although not for treasurers and accountants on earth. For further clarification, consider the story of Jesus watching how people gave money to God.
And He sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on,” Mark 12:41-44.
We aren’t getting any younger—another reason to start soon. The older you get, the less time you have to make deposits into your Registered Resurrection Account. On that note, deathbed giving is not true charitable giving. You can’t take it with you, so you must give it away. It’s forced, involuntary, and even the tax authorities recognize that. For tax purposes, you are deemed to dispose of all your assets—even though you don’t consciously choose to sell anything—at fair market value the moment before you die. Deathbed giving requires no faith in God to provide for your future physical needs—simply because you won’t have any! It’s not generosity, and may not even be philanthropy. Give generously when you can, not when you must. How much you keep for your nursing home and other final expenses is between you and God.
I am not suggesting that it is wrong to give some of your assets to charity pursuant to your will. It’s good, but it’s better to give sooner—with a warm hand. True giving is like investing into a company (kingdom) that pays you dividends forever. Here are three quick tips for using God’s banking and investment system:
- Do it. It’s not hard to make deposits. You have many opportunities. Your greatest hurdle is not a lack of opportunity, but a lack of willingness to trust God with your money.
- Give by faith. Generosity is measured on a sliding scale. God measures generosity in terms of ratios, that is, the ratio of how much a person gives, compared to how much a person keeps. Much will be expected from those who have been given much.
- Start early. The sooner you start using this account, the better. You experience God’s rewards for the faithful obedience with small, baby steps. Your faith in God will grow with exercise and nutrition. Read God’s Word for nutrition and obey it for exercise. Repeat for growth.
Learn more by studying: Generous Genevieve.
Tom Lipp