Good Shepherd Community Church

“People rightly say that money cannot buy happiness. But money and happiness are still related... Happiness can be the result, not of spending more money on oneself, but rather of giving money away to others ...The data examined here show this to be not simply a nice idea, but a social-scientific fact.”​

- Christian Smith, Sociologist

“Our brains are actually wired to serve others. When we give charitable money and service to others, our brain releases stress hormones which elevate our mood and cause us to feel happy.Serving and giving help to others makes us happier, healthier, more prosperous, and therefore greatly blessed and more successful than non-givers.”​

- Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard Professor​

Big Idea:
Giving makes God ​and us happy.

Next Steps​
​• Start by giving to our church. Begin at 10%. (If you don’t want to be legalistic, give 11%.) ​
• Give to parachurch ministries that touch your heart, seek to increase your giving percentage.​
• Consider setting that finish line, where everything above it goes to God’s kingdom.​'
• Ask Jesus whether he wants you to raise the bar of your giving. ​
• Ask Him, “What do you want me to do with YOUR money you have placed in my hands?”​
​• When money comes in, look first at where to give it, not how to spend it.
• Think first, “Lord, do you want me to increase my standard of giving rather than my standard of living?”​

Strategic question:​
Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away?

Strategic plan:​
Spend the rest of my life closing the gap between what I’ll wish I’d given and what I AM giving.​
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