Why does "Giving" work so well?
THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING
Those who quote the Bible often point to the admonition, "Cast your bread upon the water, for after many days you will find it again."
"Cast your bread upon the water" is a Hebrew expression which means, "Give generously." The Living Bible more aptly states this particular verse in the following manner: "Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later." Many have attested that this system really works well. They often point to an instance in which they gave away something one day and received a great reward shortly afterward.
Is there a Cause and Effect?
Most often these instances do not have a cause-and-effect relationship. Such a story suggests that a spiritual force was at work.
Organized religions almost always point to this remarkable type of event, most often before passing the collection plate. Since a small token of giving promises great rewards, most members will drop a few coins into the plate, only half believing that the coins will really be returned the following week.
“Have faith that it will happen” (Ecclesiastes 11:9) and “ Whatever a man sows he shall reap (Galatians 7, Living Bible) could very well be slogans offered by the state lottery system in hopes of increasing its revenues. Surely the Bible had some other purpose in mind for making these incredible statements. However, the event happens much too often to be dismissed lightly and cast aside as a total misconception.
The Scientific Approach
Is there a law of giving? Is there a balance of nature that says that a giver will almost always receive something back for his efforts without divine intervention? Other laws of nature seem apparent too, like "You can't have something for nothing, " which most often is an action attempted by takers.
What is the act of giving?
Most of us would say that true giving is done without the certainty of reward. Something tangible or intangible would be passed from you to another individual with no anticipation that the receiver would ever repay you. You would expect to sacrifice some of your resources so that another person could benefit.
This could also take into account that you probably felt that your survival was somewhat assured without the item that you managed to give away. Certainly no one would give away an item that was essential to his own personal survival or allow something that he gave away to threaten his survival.
However, his personal survival could be slightly one less item, bringing you one step closer to not surviving. Possession of material goods is directly related to anyone's survival. Whenever something is given away, we have fewer possessions.
Assuming that a person's income and consumption were exactly equal, if he gave away an item occasionally, his original equity would eventually be lost and he would be penniless. Since no one would place himself in this precarious position, we could calculate that most givers would be earning more than they consumed.
Many times the item given away is actually totally worthless to the giver. How often have we all given an old coat or a pair of pants to the Salvation Army simply because we wanted to give to someone less fortunate than ourselves? We feel better giving something away for a worthwhile cause than simply throwing it into a trash can.
Since a giver must be earning more than he consumes, he is actually transferring some of his purchasing power to someone else. He is in effect saying, "I do not need to consume more. I've consumed my share, now it is time to allow others to consume a portion of my assets.”
Many Wealthy Individuals tend to be Generous
This is why, in my opinion, most wealthy people are very generous with their wealth. They realize that it would be impossible to personally consume all the wealth they have accumulated and decide to share it with their fellow man. It’s a kind of “Thank you,” since it was their fellow man that created the wealth for them in the first place.
Giving is not all about Money
The giving of intangible items like cheerfulness, hope, optimism or love attracts the same feelings. We can all attest to this force of nature from our own personal involvement with it. As a school teacher, I can easily transform grumpy, sleep-eyed students on a rainy morning into cheerful, happy students.
~*~
Discover a path to great wealth.
This article taken from Born to be Rich
Discover the Wealth that has always Belonged to you
Comments
That is very useful. I voted up for sure.
I am aglad that I have just read a nice HUB. I like the discussion of "Cause and effect relationship" in context of Giving and its reward. And I totally agrees with you. Even in Quran Allah mentioned that for those earning in excess of their need have share of those who are not so blessed in terms of wealth. And that this difference in wealth is just to test people for their faith.
You gotta One UP one AWESOME and one INTERESTING.
very nicely you have explained the importance of giving and i believe giving is gift bestowed upon you by lord..this is because you can give only when you have enough and i am not talking in terms of materialistic things. so when you give someone your love, care, respect or any of the materialistic things you acknowledge good things life has given you. Giving calls for a Big heart and that you can possess only when you are blessed by none other than supreme lord.When you are a giver, you tend to be winner in your life in long run. :)
Inspirational and well written! Giving doesn't need to be something we have in excess or just plain don't want anymore. Reasons can be many. One of my personal favorite reasons for giving, tangible or intangible, is for the simple reason "because it makes me feel good"! I am looking forward to reading more of your material in the coming days.
wonderful hub. I vote it up.
This is the link to the hub I was telling you.
It's a good one to read, if you have a few minutes to spare.
It's a different time zone here.
Great Hub....giving is important and an essential part of live. I believe that it is our duty to give, not just money but also love, time, joy, and ourselves to others as you stated. We have the ultimate example of what it means to give because of Jesus Christ who freely gave His life for us. This was a great Hub....Be Blessed
Yes giving is important it makes the reciever feel understood and wanted but I believe that you must truly want to give and give with your heart and soul.
You need to read drbj's hub about making people feel important.
Both her's and your articles compliment each other very well, and both are excellent.
"Long after people forget what you did for them, they will remember how you made them feel." Walt Disney
I must say, Mr. Jay, your students are very blessed.
"Possession of material goods is directly related to anyone's survival." Unless of course you are buried in material goods... in my youth I was like Hyphenbird, a minimalist. Friends often commented that I lived a "Spartan" existence. Now after suffering marriage, kids, suburbia, it's time to return to minimalism. As for a scientific relationship between reaping what you sow... likely this was meant literally as well, as in sowing seeds to grow crops. I spent 15 years working with emotionally troubled teenagers but haven't yet seen much of a crop. How about, "no good deed goes unpunished"? :)
Indeed an interesting Hub you have here. You have many fine points.
"Since a giver must be earning more than he consumes, he is actually transferring some of his purchasing power to someone else. He is in effect saying, "I do not need to consume more. I've consumed my share, now it is time to allow others to consume a portion of my assets.”
This is what I have done in choosing to become a minimalist. My closet is not even half full and I still have plenty to wear. My furniture is sparse yet our home looks and feels beautiful and peaceful.
Being a giver frees one from the materialistic pursuit of more and ever more.
Again, you have a great Hub here.
Great hub, Mr. RJ. And you are certainly correct. I have come to find that giving is not only a good thing to do, but also sensible in some respects.
I am learning to be more of a giver myself. Sometimes, giving a kind word or a smile is enough to brighten the day of someone who may not be feeling well.
Voted up, up and away!
Very interesting piece of writing.
Excellent, interesting, Hub!
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