If someone gave you $20, what could you do with it?

You could go out for dinner, or maybe take a friend to a movie. You could buy two albums on iTunes or half a tank of gas. You could stash it in your fund to buy a Wii, or (if you’re feeling super responsible) put it in your savings account for college or a car. It won’t go that far, but every bit helps, right?

Did it even cross your mind to give it away? Twenty dollars would send a kid in Haiti to school for a month and provide them with lunch every day. It’s more than enough to buy a chicken for a family in a third-world country, providing them with nutrition and a source of income for years. You could donate bed nets to keep a family in Africa malaria-free or sponsor a couple so they can be house parents for a family of street children in Guatemala.

In many countries of the world, if students are lucky enough to find a way to make money, it all goes home to their families in hopes that, together, they can scrape together enough to put food on the table that day. Most of us, if we get a job in high school, will put the money toward a cell phone, car expenses, new clothes, fun outings with friends, and pretty much whatever we want. And even if you don’t have a job, you probably expect to get many of those things from your parents or with your Christmas money from grandparents.

The fact that not every penny we see has to go toward providing our basic needs means that we’re incredibly blessed. I love the simple joys of buying a new sweater, enjoying a caramel macchiato at Starbucks, owning my own car, and listening to my favorite music on my iPod. But when there are millions of people who can’t afford to eat today and all my money goes toward things I want, my life isn’t reflecting the gospel.

1 John 3:17 says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”

Ouch.

You may not feel like you’re making a lot of money in this season of your life, but all of us have material possessions. And so all of us have the responsibility and privilege of being the hands and feet of Christ to the world by giving of what we have. It may be money. It may be time. It may be clothes that sit unworn in our closet. But we are called to joyfully and freely give to others because of what God has given to us.

According to some studies, the average church-going American gives 2.58% of their income. That means for every $100 we make, we’re giving $2.58. More than 97% of what we make we’re keeping or spending for ourselves.

Somehow I don’t think that’s how Jesus would live.

Did you know that if all church-going Americans tithed just the basic 10% of their income, there would be an extra $168 billion available to the church every year? That’s more than enough to bring clean water, food, basic healthcare, and primary education to everyone in the world.*

This Christmas season, as we think about giving and receiving and all of the blessings God has poured on us, will you commit to two things?

1. Be obedient. Tithing is a command of God (Malachi 3:10), and it’s an important expression of our trust in him as Provider. Start now to give 10% of everything you receive, however little the amount, and it will soon be a habit you can continue for life, making a radical difference in the world.

2. Be generous. Go above and beyond what’s expected, and honor God by loving his children around the world. Talk with your family and find some special ways you can give to people with less this Christmas season. Surprise your friends by paying for their latte on occasion. Send an unexpected gift to your favorite missionary family, or bring some things you can do without to your local Salvation Army. Start seeing the money you make as an opportunity to invest in something eternal and to bless others, not just as a means for getting the things you want.

I think you’ll be amazed at the blessings God has in store for you as you learn to give sacrificially!

1. *from The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009, p. 218)
   

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what God’s Word says about giving