What if we could create millions of dollars only to give it away?
How many missionaries could be supported? How many evangelistic outreaches could be funded? How many God glorifying books could be published? How many hungry could be fed? How many lost could be reached?
I believe there are lots of people who God wants to use as extravagant givers in this generation. People who will lay down their own agendas, change their pre-conceived notion of ”success,” and humbly obey what God has planned for them.
So what is it going to require?
Freedom from the love of money
I heard someone say that the reason God doesn’t give everyone a million dollars is because it would destroy them. Which is probably why 1 Tim 6:9-10 says this…
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NASB)
Discipline and Sacrifice
Looking at the wealthiest people I know I almost always see discipline as a defining characteristic in their lives. They learn how to consistently work hard to reach a goal, whether they feel like it or not.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 (NASB)
Obedience
I can’t imagine reaching this goal without being diligent to obey God’s Word and instructions…
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1.8
Onto the plan
So, as the title of the article suggests, this is my plan and outline for reaching this goal. I am sure God has different paths for each person, and as they say, there are many ways to skin a cat, and I guess the same can be said for giving away millions of dollars.
That leads us to the strategy. I realize that this will probably take a long time – I am okay with that. Sometimes God’s way takes a bit longer. This is kind of a long-term plan that I am still trying to figure out how to fulfill – but I happen to know the one who does know how.
Step 1 – Give
Giving sets things in motion. As repeated as it is, it can’t be said enough: you cannot reap what you don’t sow. If you put seeds in the ground, they will eventually yield fruit (and more seeds). If you don’t sow the seeds, you don’t get the fruit or the seeds.
I don’t understand how God’s law of giving works, but I know it does work. Just like gravity – it is a law that He established that we can’t really cheat – we can just learn to work with it.
“Give, and it will be given to you…” Luke 6:38
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness…” 2 Cor 9:6-10
John D. Rockefeller said this about tithing… “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”
I think God really likes it when we take the small thing that we have and do the most with it. I realize that I will never be able to give away millions of dollars unless I am continually trying to stretch my giving muscles with what I have now.
Step 2 – Pay off all Debt
It is no secret that I don’t like being in debt. I have had moments where I could really relate to Proverbs 22:7 – “…the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” So much of our country is willingly becoming slaves to lenders just so they can have more toys. It is far better to have fewer toys, and owe nothing to anyone.
Then after considering how much debt impairs our ability to give, it is easy to see why you should get out of debt. I mean, it is pretty difficult to get yourself to a place where you can give a lot if all your monthly income goes to paying interest to lenders.
We made some tough sacrifices to get out of debt years ago, but the fruit has been a lot of debt paid off and a lot more financial peace.
Step 3 – Start a business
After reading quite a few books on business and entrepreneurship I became well aware that there is generally a lot more earning potential for business owners than employees. I tried the “corporate” thing and realized that wasn’t what I wanted or what God wanted for me.
About a year before I left the Rat Race (working in Corporate America) I started this website. I figured out that I could make money with it – doing something I love and helping people in the process. It was my first attempt at starting a business. Having heard horror stories from other business owners, I just assumed it would be terribly difficult and would suck all the joy out of my life. It turns out you can run a business and enjoy your life at the same time!
That doesn’t mean it is easy – just that it isn’t the nightmare of a challenge that some people make it out to be.
In terms of reaching my goal, it seems like running a business is a great avenue. As a self-employed worker, I no longer have a cap on my income. The more I put in, the more I get out. As an employee, it seemed that increasing my income often depended on the company’s success and on whether or not I was better (or played more politics) than the other 10 people up for the promotion. I am sure some people will be able to reach their goal climbing the corporate ladder, but I prefer the entrepreneurial path.
Step 4 – Defy Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s Law states that expenses rise to meet income. So if you make $50k and then get a raise to $53K, you will quickly wonder where that raise went. In fact, in my case, I remember often feeling worse off financially after getting a raise, because I normally started spending when I heard about the raise and after taxes, I realized it wasn’t quite as much as I had thought.
This is the same reason you see millionaires go broke.
In principle, this should be easy, but in practice it is difficult. The key is to keep your expenses constant, regardless of how much money is coming in. But most of our country seems to think that if you get a raise, you have to immediately increase your standard of living.
Watch this video for more on how this works:
My plan to prove Parkinson wrong is to maintain my standard of living as income increases. Then (in theory) I will have an increasing amount of disposable income for the next step: paying off the house as soon as possible.
Step 5 – Pay off House ASAP
I still remember the joy of paying off our first house – it was years of hard work and commitment but we did it and it was worth every sacrifice we made to do it!
The thing about paying off your mortgage early is that just a little bit of effort can go a long way. Paying an extra $50/month on an average mortgage will allow you to pay it off 3 years early. What if you could jack that amount up to $200 or even $500 extra each month? It is exciting to think about how quick you could get it paid off.
And then, when it is all paid off, along with all the other debts, you are in a position to have a large chunk of disposable income. This, of course, will lead to an ability to give way beyond 10% to the local church, support missions, and other great ministries.
Step 6 – Invest Wisely
While I started investing about 15 years ago, I put most of it on hold while I was focusing on paying off my credit card debt. After all the debt was paid off I began looking for ways to invest that would help amplify the process.
While part of the investing has been in some more traditional investments like stocks and mutual funds, I plan on continuing to strategize and find ways to create businesses that help people and bring money in advance God’s Kingdom.
Step 7 – Give
It starts with giving, it continues with giving, and it ends with giving. We are designed and created by God to be givers. I remember being one of those sad souls who believed that hoarding what I had would lead to the most joy. How wrong I was.
True fulfillment comes from giving, not getting. “Things” are nice, but at the end of the day, isn’t it much more valuable to be able to positively affect someone’s life?
Summing it all up
Over the last few years, I have come across quite a few Christians who have this desire to be extravagant givers – who don’t really care about keeping up with the Joneses, but who want to dedicate their earning power to God’s purposes.
My encouragement to them (and myself) is that we have to start small. It doesn’t matter how much or little you make. It doesn’t matter how much debt you have, it doesn’t matter how much education you have.
Regardless of whether we have 10 talents or one, (read the parable of the talents for a refresher) how we handle what we have in front of us determines what happens next. We just have to use what God has given us and start moving in the right direction.
Hint: Getting in debt is probably not the right direction!
“I’d give like that too if I had a lot of money”
I remember having a cynical attitude and thinking “of course if I made a bunch of money I could give a bunch” – but that really isn’t true. God looks for people who are faithful in a small thing, that He can trust with big things. The key is to prove ourselves faithful with what we have been given so that we can do a lot more.
And just for a real-world example, I remember hearing about a woman who never made more than minimum wage who ended up leaving $3 million to a charity when she died.
Obstacles will come
While this is my plan, I know full well that challenges will come and that it will not be easy.
I also understand that being the simple guy that I am that I can’t pull it off in my own power, but I serve the same Lord who fed thousands from a few loaves and fish. God knows my heart and my desire and I am fully expecting that as I manage my talents wisely He is going to bring it to pass… for His glory.
I recently did a video about my interview with a millionaire mentor and what I learned from that – check it out below if you’re interested!
Got your point… Well written article… Will follow you on Social on networks also…Thanks for sharing
Wow Bob! This was perfect timing for me. As an Entrepreneur, I sometimes wonder and ask God “do you want me to keep working through these challenges or am I being stubborn”? Then He sends a messenger like you to answer on His behalf. Thank You.
You are welcome Nicky!
We’ve given away the equivalent of a couple of million of our portfolio over time and will continue to give as believers. Actually most people, if they tithe on their gross income will give away the equivalent of over a million dollars during a typical career, if you compare it to what that money would have grown to invested. But of course it is invested when it is given to God and His rate of return is awesome and eternal.
As Christians, we always tithe. In 2007, my husband lost his job yet we continued to tithe when he found another job even though it was 1/3 of the pay. God sustained us through those lean years and blessed us beyond all measure for our obedience.
I whole heartedly agree. I remember being challenged early in my Christian walk to be faithful to tithe, and I would be out of debt in 6 months. I yook up the challenge and got out of debt. Then, I took out a small loan later, for my education, to earn a teaching credential, thinking I could have it paid off after getting a full time job, in 2 years. Long story short, it took me 14 years. I learned to not borrow money again. I also learned its important to save for an emergency fund, 6 months of salary. I have only been able to do 3 months. I started late being able to sock $ away for my retirement and now retired early due to family issues, being the only caregiver for my 87 year old mother. It’s been strange not to work after working since I was 13. Well, I am working just not getting paid for it. It’s a new challenge for sure, trusting God for his care, tithing on my small pension. God IS faithful.
I agree, for us to be faithful in the small things, doing what we can with what we have.
A newer challenge is this, where to tithe. I have always done the local church, first and foremost, then missionaries, Compassion International as extra. I have heard my church inherited over 1/2 million from a member who passed away, so I think, they really don’t need the money, not like missionaries on the field, or other ministries we support globally. I’d rather give to them, or like more recently to those who have been devasted by fires, or floods but to their local churches. It’s a challenge when there’s so many needs!! Walking by faith in where to give.
Peace Katherine! I totally agree with you on walking in faith on where to give in this day. I am at a place where as a believer balancing my truly childlike desire to give in harmony with discernment…so that I not give what’s sacred unto dogs and cast pearls to swine. Where you give is just as important as how you give and to whom you give it which in turns determine the outcome. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in our vigilance to uphold the Faith.
Hi Katherine, I was listening to Ps. Jeff Vines on tithing and he made a really valid point that tithing is to the church. We have to trust God that He will use the church/tithes how he wants to, but without each memebers tithe the church becomes ineffective. Christ Church of the Valley has a host of missionary programs, it’s quite incredible. Yet around 10%!of the church give 90% of the funds for the projects. Imagine, if everyone tithed, how effective the church would be!? We need to become christians and churches that would be deeply missed by the community if we were no longer here.
So when it comes to giving it is very important to remember that all we are doing is managing God’s funds that he has entrusted to us. So when he is asking us to tithe, he is simply asking us to to delegate a specific portion or percentage back to support the local church. When we give to people in need, a good cause or anything else. This giving is to be an offering above and beyond the tithe. So as far as the tithe goes that is defined in the Bible to be given to support those whose full time job is ministry not those working outside of ministry.
Now I know many people might freak out at the idea of giving even more than the tithe. but the reality is, you simply can’t out give God. So don’t let fear trick you into a scarcity mindset. Because when we give our tithe, then the rest of our finances are blessed. And then, when we give an offering above and beyond the tithe, it multiplies our finances. Now I don’t know about you but I really like multiplication factors when it comes to my finances. just like Bob said I don’t fully understand yet all of how all God’s principles fully work but it’s kinda like taking our finances from simple adding and subtracting (we add $ from our job and then we subtract back to zero with our expenses and debt) then taking out finances to the next level filled divisions and multiplication (we divid the portion out to others that God gives us and then God multiplies in abundance back to us).
So really it’s just like Bob said. If we’re not willing to be trustworthy with the little bit of money God gives us to manage now, then how in the world do we think he would trust us with more money to manage. Nope, not how it works. When we are trustworthy, then he will trust us. So if your still having a hard time giving tithe or offering then the question you may need to be really asking yourself is, do you really trust God to do his part? And if not then why not?
P.S. I didn’t plan on sharing my personal website when I wrote this comment. but there is a box for a website. So I guess, here you go. Please feel free to check out my retail website. It has nothing to do with this article or my comment. other than for me it is part what God has called me to, and is a multiplication factor in my life. If the website ends up being displayed that is, lol.
Really enjoy your writings Bob. When my wife & I started giving yrs ago, we gave a dollar whn we really ‘didn’t’ have it. Then it went to ten, twenty, fifty, hundreds, thousands, & today, Praise-the-LORD!! We give tens of thousands.
You kno what’s kinda ‘funny’? We still dont have it to give. 😐
I have a simple guide to giveing: just be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit, if He says give, I (& my wife) say how much? And we leave it there & never wonder if we will have it, or if we shall git reimbursed!
As we do these things God takes care of our business needs & our employees (who we pray for daily).
ALL the Praise & Glory goes to a God who IS WAY bigger than I’m capable of imagining! 🧐
Blessings to Bob & Crew!
Love this Jerry – it does seem like He is always stretching us!
I started tithing as a teenager and trusted that God would be faithful in meeting my needs. That has always been the case. When I began working full-time my husband and I started giving support money to some missionaries as well as our regular tithe to our church. We were able to remain faithful to those commitments. We were challenged by our neighbor to pay off our mortgage early so we did. When we bought our husiness we paid off a 15-year mortgage in 10 years. That was very liberating.
I totally agree with you.
We can never out give God.
I have always tithed the income of what comes in from salary and I have seen God faithful.
I really appreciate all your posts, they are encouraging.
God Bless you and your family.
Love from GOKE A.
I read your article while having lunch at a Chinese restaurant today. When I finished my meal, my bill came with a fortune cookie. It read, “Before you receive, you must give.”
Classic! God works in mysterious ways.
Thanks for the resounding article.
Love that Barry!
Peace Bob!
Very well communicated! Thank you for sharing this post. The Most High desires only for us to hold fast unto the LordGod and know who we are in them and organikally we will be cheerful givers knowing that our worth is in The Most High via Yahushua ha Mashiach…the dollar is as to a hammer and nail to the building of YHWH’S kingdom! Utilize it with wisdom.
Great article as usual
Wow I love this Bob. I recently found you online and you are an inspiration. I have always had problems with staying focused on using the ten talents given to me. Reading this I recognize that one of my major shortcomings is lack of discipline. Well I will definitely be seeking to improve in that area of my life.
Thanks looking forward to hearing more from you.
Thanks Pamela – glad it helped!!
Hey Bob! You and I had lunch in Nashville a few years ago. Fond memories, and I hope you are doing well. All of these Biblical Principles you are teaching are true. My wife and I have experienced it first-hand. We have been debt-free for many years, and we will NEVER go back and live under financial slavery! NEVER! The Lord desires his Children to be free from the bondage of debt, and free to give generously as the Holy Spirit leads us. Our motive should not be to give in order to get. We should give out of obedience, and when we do this, the Scriptures promise us that we will be blessed, so we can continue to give and be a blessing to others. We just turned sixty years old this year, and there is no other life we’d rather live than to be generous and hold everything loosely. It all belongs to the Lord, and we must be faithful stewards of what rightfully belongs to Him. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep up the great work that you are doing!
Hey Roy! Good to hear from you!!
We had a friend who ring-fenced his spending by deciding beforehand what he was comfortable with and what was within his means. as an example he had a favorite meal at the Porterhouse steak house when entertaining clients. No matter where he ate he did not exceed what he would have paid at the Porterhouse. He did the same with his car, where he bought a suitable car for his travelling, not the top of the range nor bottom of the range. Whenever his car needed replacing he would never spend more than what the price was of his choice vehicle, irrespective of what car he bought. The advantage of this is that it kept pace with inflation but that it also kept boundaries. He applied this principle to many areas of his spending where he had discretionary choices.
As a result he ended up buying various properties that he would often accommodate missionaries that were on furlough so that they did not experience additional financial burden.
This principle was taken up by a man named Earl Pitts from Youth with a mission. His work is worth a read / listen
Thanks for the article and the steps to follow. I have been following them since finding your youtube clips to help us with getting out of debt, investing ect, ect. I have been searching for a group or someone who followed the principles of the Bible and God about how we should live and handle our finances. I’m so glad you are now headed in the direction of giving and helping others in our world. I get so discouraged with people and their outlook on life, so sad, mad at the world. They have no happiness. It’s so great just to wake up in the morning and see God’s wonders and be able to start the day with “What can I do to make today a better day and a better place than it was yesterday?”
I love this article! Giving being at the beginning and end is great. I agree about trying to keep my standard of living the same, it’s definitely tripped me up in the past. Great advice that I will try to follow. Thank you Bob!
Great articles.
Praise God .God has give you wisdom and understanding in different things .example when you give to Levi ,strangers. Orphas.and Windows you real touch God eye to give you
This article came at the right time. God used you to make me see I am on the right track. Felt like giving up on trying to get my business off the ground. God is so good and loving. I now have a fresh desire to continue the work I know He has called me to.
Hi
great article
as long term investor, I believe one need to factor in the inflation. any idea how to do that and for long term do I need to plan for an early retirement.