This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. December 1, 2014 The Paradox of Generosity Happy Givers Eric Metaxas COMMENTARIES Advent Preparation By John Stonestreet A Film for Our Time By Eric Metaxas A Life of Giving and Thanksgiving By Eric Metaxas Separating Civil and Christian Marriage By John Stonestreet Science confirms what faith tells us: Generosity and happiness go hand in hand. We’re all familiar with our Lord’s words that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive.” As it turns out, this maxim is not only true as a matter of faith, it’s empirically true, as well. This is the subject of a new book, “The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose,” by BreakPoint favorite and Notre Dame Professor Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson, a doctoral student at Notre Dame. The book is based on research from Notre Dame’s “Science of Generosity” initiative. As Smith and Davidson write in the introduction, “By grasping onto what we currently have . . . we lose out on better goods that we might have gained . . .” One such good is happiness. We often hear that “money can’t buy happiness.” Whether most Americans actually believe this is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that generous people are more likely to describe themselves as “happy” than people who aren’t generous. For purposes of their research and the book, the authors define “generous” as giving away ten percent of one’s income. People who do this are nearly half again as likely to say that they have a strong sense of purpose in their lives. The same holds true with what they call “neighborly” and “relational” generosity. People who volunteer are significantly more likely to have a strong sense of life purpose compared to those who don’t. As Smith and Davidson write, “Giving money, volunteering . . . being a generous neighbor and friend . . . are all significantly, positively correlated with greater personal happiness, physical health [and] a stronger sense of purpose.” That’s why they can claim that “by failing to care for others, we do not properly take care of ourselves” and that “It is no coincidence that the word ‘miser’ is etymologically related to the word ‘miserable.’” Think about the most famous literary miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. As his nephew Fred tells his guests, “his offences carry their own punishment.” Scrooge made himself miserable in this life and he still had Hell to look forward to. As Smith and Davidson document, generosity is the remedy to the human tendency toward what they call “maladaptive self-absorption.” A friend of mine, who suffers from mood disorders, has found that when he feels most anxious or depressed, praying for others and performing little acts of kindness and generosity makes all the difference in the world. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: We humans are made in the image of God, who, in His very nature, is relational and all-giving. What should come as a surprise is how few people actually practice generosity: Notre Dame found that that “only 2.7 percent of Americans give a 10th or more of their income to charity, at least 86.2 percent give away less than 2 percent of their income and nearly half give nothing.” Sadly, as our society has become more post-Christian, it has become less generous. And less happy. Before I leave you today, I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that today is “Giving Tuesday.” Giving Tuesday is an international day focused on charitable giving. It’s a direct response to the consumer holy days of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.” This year, BreakPoint is asking our listeners to consider donating to Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree, which provides Christmas gifts and the Gospel message to the children of prisoners. To make a donation and to help make sure that these boys and girls receive a gift and the Savior’s love this Christmas, simply go to Angeltree.org/givingtuesday. Thank you. FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION More on This Topic Gather more information on todays Daily BreakPoint by visiting breakpoint.org. Next Steps: Today, “Giving Tuesday,” is a good day to reflect on God’s generosity to us—and to examine how well we mirror His generosity in all we do. As Eric mentioned, BreakPoint is asking its listeners to consider giving to Prison Fellowships Angel Tree program. Click here for information and details on making a donation that will enable gifts and the gospel to be delivered to prisoners children this Christmas. Resources: The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose Christian Smith, Hilary Davidson | Oxford University Press | September, 2014 Share Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Forward This Email Subscribe/Settings FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA BREAKPOINT BLOG Back to Bedford Falls For All Your Christmas Shopping Needs AD: First Look Two Takes on Ferguson Visit Our Blog Page Christian Worldview Journal VIEWPOINT Worldview from the Colson Center The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview is continuing with its TV series on the NRB Network (National Religious Broadcasters) airing Monday night 8:30 PM EST NRB Listings here We encourage you to share this newsletter on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Help us spread the word and please share your opinions. Visit the BreakPoint website to read related articles and to hear the latest radio broadcasts. View Todays Commentary on the BreakPoint website. This is a rush transcript. This copy may not be in final form and may be updated. BreakPoint is a program of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview Copyright 2014 The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. All Right Reserved. BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview 44180 Riverside Parkway | Lansdowne | VA | 20176 ________________________________________ Subscribe to BreakPoint. You are receiving this message as a subscriber to BreakPoints daily newsletter. Update your BreakPoint/Colson Center subscriber preferences. Unsubscribe from all BreakPoint/Colson Center emails.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 07:31:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015