In Your Interest – by Valerie Rumbough

Recently the Chronicle of Philanthropy published a study on giving in America. There were some interesting points made.

Rumbough

For instance, South Carolina ranks fifth in the country for discretionary income giving, at 6.4 percent. Utah, which is “home base” for the Mormons, gave 10.6 percent in comparison, and ranked first. The country as a whole gave 4.6 percent of discretionary income. National giving averages were also interesting, with those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 giving 7.6 percent of their income, while those earning $100,000 or more gave 4.2 percent.

I am reminded of the story of the individual who came to his pastor for advice. When he earned $10,000 per year, he had no problem giving $1,000 to the church. As his income increased, so did the difficulty in giving. Now, earning $100,000 per year, he really struggled to give $10,000. The pastor responded by praying for the individual as follows: “Lord, please reduce the income of this dear saint to $10,000 per year again so that he will again find it easy to tithe.”

Isn’t that how we usually act? The more we receive, the more we want. Before long, we find ourselves in a vicious circle, wanting more, earning more, leading to wanting even more, and so forth. Greed can easily set in, causing us to justify reducing what we know rightfully belongs in the offering plate.

May we not be like the rich man who chose to build bigger barns to hold all his riches, and that very night “his soul was required of him,” so that he was not able to enjoy any of it, as described in the book of Luke. On the other hand, may we be like the person described in Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.”

– Rumbough, CPA, CFP, is chief operations officer with the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina. Contact her at 800-723-7242. In accordance with IRS Circular 230, any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.