One of my newest favorite quotes is “when life gets better don’t raise your standard of living raise your standard of giving.”
Too often we think about giving in simple terms of money & finances.
The truth is that giving is so much more than just money.
It’s about knowledge, time, love, encouragement, and yes also finances.
Think back for a couple of seconds to the last time when somebody gave you something.
What was it?
How much did it help you?
How much did it mean to you?
How long did you utilize it?
Are you still learning from it?
Recently my wife and I have moved into a new season of life, a different season than we’ve ever been in before our youngest kid is now nine and our oldest is driving.
we’re thinking about the future in a different way than we’ve ever thought about it before.
We know that God has provided us with blessings and we have been helped more than we could ever imagine.
We understand just how blessed we are.
As we navigate our way through this season a few things have come to light for me.
One of those is that we have to continue to give back more than receive.
By giving back we are allowing others to move forward with their dreams and ambitions. Could you imagine if you never received any advice or encouragement from anyone?
Recently my wife and I attended a fundraiser for a local nonprofit. It was a Christian ministry that was raising funds for its operation.
They had an amazing event that really helped us to see their values and what they were trying to accomplish.
By the end of the event, I went up to the CEO of the organization and offered to sit down with them to help them learn about marketing and growing their audience.
2 things that if you listen “between the lines” of their presentation you would have known they wanted most.
Just because we were not in a place to give them a big financial donation, that didn’t stop us from giving back to them to help them grow.
Just the other day I sat down with an author that published her first book and really wanted to take the next step in her journey but didn’t know where to go. She sent me a message and asked if I could spare a few moments to talk to her.
After a short conversation, we scheduled some time to sit down together and make up a plan to help get started on her next book, and even brainstormed the beginning of her value ladder.
You see, you can give back even when you don’t have money.
we don’t give because we feel like God gives us more when we give to others.
No, we give because we know how much we received and still received to this day.
The truth is that when you do give back God gives you even more than what you’ve given someone else.
I remember when we first started our business. There was this one guy who told me, “Hey you should be selling this to everyone you meet. Especially on work trips.” And this was my boss. Needless to say, I didn’t take his advice (deep down he was trying to get me fired for conflict of interest)
Instead, I listened to others around me who told me to hustle when I wasn’t on the clock. We built our website on nights and weekends. Met with people for lunch and dinner every chance we got to learn from them. We bought them the meal, even when it was hard for us to afford our own groceries.
We listened to them and took notes, then implemented the crucial tasks.
WE TOOK ACTION.
Just like giving back, when someone reaches out to you or sees a way that could improve someone’s business or wellbeing, TAKE ACTION.
Stop sitting on the sidelines of giving back, stop saying that you will give back when you have more money, or when I’m not as broke as I am now.
Donate some funds to a worthy cause.
Share your knowledge with someone who needs/wants it.
Give some encouragement to someone who is not as confident.
Take time to give back NOW, because when you give back, others around you will be propelled forward!
Now get out there and TAKE ACTION!
