When I began my career, I received a lot of information from my employer about insurance, benefits, pay, and the like. One of the emails talked about the importance of giving. They said that giving money is a principle of wealthy people and I should make a goal to give money at least once per month. The excuses began to enter my brain again. Why should I give? I’m a newly married person with a low-paying job trying to save up for a house. I cannot afford to give away money. I realize now that I will always have an excuse for the rest of my life. Soon it would be that I would have a new child. Next, the car would break down. Then I would have another child. Then my children would be going to college, and I would have to pay for that. As I received pay raises, my expenses would rise with them.
My wife and I have become much more generous with our giving. We are now buying wedding gifts and giving away money monthly. Each time we give money, I feel the excuses start to float into my head about why we cannot afford to, but I choose to give anyway. I have learned an important lesson. We don’t miss the money once it is gone. We don’t think about that money anymore. Money comes into our bank account, and money flows out, and we don’t remember it once it is gone. The thought of giving hurts worse than giving itself.
