"Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is not satisfied with their income." -Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)
I think it's time for a mystery of the universe: Making tons of money might still leave you wanting more. Sometimes, as we start earning more money, we think, if we just made $5,000 more dollars a year, if we just made $20,000 more per year, our current troubles would disappear. But then a funny thing happens: sometimes we’ll get the promotion, we’ll get the pay increase—and the thought doesn’t stop! It just resets: we make the amount we were wishing for, but then it just turns into, “If I just made $10,000 more a year; if I just made $50,000 more a year.” As writer Morgan Housel often says, it’s as if the goalpost keeps moving. How do we get the goalpost to stop moving?
There might be a powerful action to combat this phenomenon, and turns out the Bible has laid it out all along. What if instead of taking more in, we gave more away? What if we went from a sense of scarcity to a sense of abundance?
Generosity keeps us grounded. Generosity can help get that goalpost to stop moving. When we give away our money, our time, and our resources, it’s as if magic things start to happen in our hearts. What I’ve found, and what I’ve seen, is that the more you give of your money, your resources, and your time, the more grateful you become for what you have. And hey Christians: it’s not our money anyway! Generosity is a recipe for contentment, which is really very hard to create or manufacture. I'll be sure to invest when they figure that recipe out.
Here's a great story of this phenomenon playing out in real life for one of my college friends:
“Over Christmas our family finalized the sale of a large tract of land and wanted to generously share some of the proceeds of the sale. They explained that there were no strings attached to the money—they only hoped it would help us be more generous in our friendships and communities. In essence, it was a gift to gift others!
The money sat in my bank account for a while as I contemplated what to do with it. It would make a huge dent in my student loans—but how was that being generous? My dad talked to me later about how he defined generosity: it isn't about the money he and my mom give; it’s about how they give of their time, their abilities, and their respective gifts. So I paid off my loans and used the money, time, and stress that my loans occupied and now I give, in any way I can—both large and small. A card and candy for a hurting co-worker, going out to lunch with a new acquaintance, and a plane ticket to visit some faraway friends in Seattle—each of these has blessed me far more.”
There was a splashy study back in 2010 about how happiness and money essentially hits a plateau: that up to a certain level, more money made people happier. The magic income? $75,000. But then another study came out in 2021 that backtracked the previous study, and found there wasn’t actually an inflection point, but that income is only a modest determinant of happiness. In short, the goalpost keeps moving, and the problems don’t always go away with more money.
I find this study oh-so-intriguing, because it's essentially saying in giant letters: BEING RICH DOESN'T MEAN YOU'LL BE HAPPY. That's a culture shock in America. It goes against our entire ethos.
If you're a religious sort, this post is nothing new. Christians have tithes and offerings, the Bible talks often about being generous with the resources you’ve been entrusted with. This mandated "open-handedness" keeps your perspective in check, and dare I say it sometimes becomes a joyous, delight-filled occasion: a moment of worship.
So if you’re someone hunting down the secret to true wealth, here's what I'm saying: more money is not the whole picture—it might not even be a big piece of the picture. And hoarding money? Unwise. Unhappy. The recipe of a grouchy old curmudgeon.
What would it look like for you to be more generous this week?
TEN WAYS TO GIVE YOUR MONEY AWAY
1. Buy dinner for friends, buy drinks for coworkers, buy lemonade from the neighborhood kids.
2. Remember birthdays and anniversaries. Give gifts, turn into Santa Claus for a day.
3. Sponsor a child through World Vision or a similar company. $35 a month gives kids food, education, clean water, and healthcare.
4. Getting coffee? Pay for the person behind you. $5 to make someone's day: Talk about return on investment.
5. Part of a church or other religious organization? Give your money with open hands.
6. Give a Kiva loan. For as little as $25, you can can empower people to make a better life.
7. High schooler going on a missions trip? A neighbor kid comes to sell you something? Open hands.
8. Do you have your own soapbox? Find a non-profit that is preaching what you care about, and support them financially. Consider making it recurring monthly to give them a steady predictable stream.
9. Donate to a local homeless shelter.
10. Throw it out the window. But seriously, you know where the money is needed most in your city or town. Get it there.