A Good Friday to Give
I just came across this article as I went through my daily reads regarding the “science” of the Bible’s advice that it’s better to give than to receive:
The researchers started by asking a sample of 632 Americans, 55 percent of whom were women, to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 5, the higher the number the happier.
Then they asked the participants to report their annual income and estimate how much they spent on paying bills, buying gifts for themselves, buying gifts for others and giving to charity.
The first two were considered personal spending and averaged $1,714-a-month, the second two were termed “prosocial” spending and averaged $146-a-month.
“Personal spending was unrelated to happiness,” said the researchers. “But higher prosocial spending was associated with significantly greater happiness,” they found.
Not content with that, they then studied 16 employees of a company in Boston, asking about their happiness one month before and six to eight weeks after each received a profit-sharing bonus from their employer.
In the second interview they also asked about personal and prosocial spending and once again those who spent more on others were happier.
“The manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the amount of the bonus itself,” the researchers found.
Finally, 46 Canadian students were asked to rate their happiness and then each was given a random envelope containing money, ranging from $5 to $20. Some were instructed to spend it on themselves, others were told to buy a gift for someone else.
At 5 p.m. that day, they were called together again and asked to rate their happiness.
The amount of money had no impact on happiness, but those assigned to buy something for another person reported greater happiness than those told to get something for themselves, the researchers said.
It struck me as I read this that I am definitely happier when I give. It also struck me, quite profoundly, how much I’ve received. Not only do I have a wonderful, beautiful wife, three healthy children, and work that I enjoy, I’ve been granted the opportunity for salvation. If anyone ever exemplified what it means to give it was Jesus. John 15:13 puts it this way:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
My giving, whether it’s to my church or to another charity, has very little to do with my inherent goodness. But I recognize how much I’ve been given—I’m not talking money here—and feel that the only way to truly be happy is to try and live my life the same way that Jesus lived His.
Don’t get me wrong. I fall short many times, and I wouldn’t dare say that I’ve accomplished the task. And I know that this article is talking about money, but I can’t escape the fact that Jesus was always giving. He gave of His time to the children. He gave of His wisdom to Nicodemus. He gave of his resources to the crowds that followed Him. He gave healing to the sick. He gave forgiveness to the sinner. And He ultimately gave His life to those who required it of Him—you and me.
Maybe you believe, and maybe you don’t. That’s a decision that you’ll have to make on your own. To believe that there was a man, God robed in flesh, who lived, died for you, and rose again takes some faith. But can I challenge you today that maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t take as much faith as you think? We live in a nation governed by people we never see, can never talk to, and who make decisions we don’t understand. Yet we have faith that the roads will still be there tomorrow, that the mail will run, that we’ll be safe … in short, we have faith that the unseen will do their jobs.
Today is Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion and death of Jesus. What better day to ask yourself about what you believe? About where you put your hope and faith? The only thing you have to give is some room in your life. Room for God to deal with you about His plans for you. Room for Him to change your mind about some things that maybe you misunderstand. And room for Him to give you the greatest gift you’ll ever receive. You have to give, but today is a good Friday for it.
