How Generosity Gives Back

First of all, we give generously because the church needs the money to complete her mission. Time and time again I hear of excellent initiatives by fellow Catholics–great ideas for evangelization, assistance to the poor, expanding the church, educating the young and they all cry out for funding. Think what we could do if all Catholics tithed! We wouldn’t need all these gala dinners, golf tournaments, bake sales and umpteen other labor intensive, time intensive projects to raise funds. We could use the time and energy to get on with God’s work instead.

But there is more to it than the practicalities of fund raising. We need to give because we need to give not because other people need our money. When we give generously we break money’s hold over us. The biggest obstacle to spiritual growth is not wealth, but our attachment to wealth. We trust our money rather than God  and that means we are making money our God. This doesn’t mean we have to be vulgar millionaires splashing out on a lavish lifestyle. It might simply mean that we hold on to our money and never give because we don’t have enough trust in God to give.

So when we give generously until it hurts we are breaking the hold money has over us. Suddenly we take a quantum leap forward spiritually because we are free to serve God and not our bank account. This is when the blessings really start to flow. Once we break the power of money over us and we are truly free to love God and serve God, then we find that our attitude to money and possessions changes.

As we stop caring so much about money we find that we have more money. Why is this? Because our attitude to all that stuff we were thinking we needed also changes. When we break the power of money in our lives we break the power of dependence on all the junk we think we need to be happy.

Why do we have more money as we give more? Because we need less and spend less. The desire to go to the mall and buy stuff we don’t really need evaporates. The need to buy a beach house, a boat or a fur coat all fade away. You want fun on a boat? Great. Rent one for a day. You like a beach house? You’ll probably find a friends who will lend you one for a week. As you break the power of money in your life your whole life becomes simpler and you really do want less so you spend less and that means you have more money.   Continue Reading