5 Reasons to Participate in #GivingTuesday
Institute students visit neighboring elderly during one of their Wednesday service projects.
Giving Tuesday 2021 is tomorrow, November 30 — the end of the special days following Thanksgiving and leading up to Christmas (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.). No matter your age, participation in Giving Tuesday is a helpful practice that can be good for your health and good for others. God commands his people to generosity, and Giving Tuesday is one day we can celebrate the practice together. Here are five big reasons why you should consider participating this year.
As a missions college, every student will spend 20-40 weeks abroad before they graduate. Immersing themselves cross-culturally often leads to life-changing practices of generosity because the poor are not just someone they read about, they’re their friends.
Giving is Good for You.
Money can't buy happiness but giving it away might. Research shows that giving to charities was tied to increasing happiness levels, while money spent on yourself and new stuff did not affect happiness. One of the best things you can do for your health today is to give something to someone. The act is related to lower blood pressure, lower stress levels, less anxiety and depression, and increased self-esteem. According to Cleveland Clinic, when you look at the functional MRIs of subjects who gave to various charities, scientists found that giving stimulates the reward center in the brain -- releasing endorphins and creating a "helper's high." This "high" is the reason you feel excited when you're giving someone a gift or why you feel great after a volunteer experience. Especially after isolation during a pandemic, giving helps you feel connected to others and is one of the best things you can do for your health.
Though science is catching up to this fact, God's Word said it first: "a generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed" (Prov. 11:25).
2. You're Richer than You Think You Are.
Only 6 percent of the global population has a college degree or is on the path to getting one.
Only 40% of the world has access to a toilet and an even smaller percentage who can flush their toilet paper.
Your kids (or your siblings, or you!) were able to continue schooling during COVID, while 168 million children had no such option.
When Paul writes to Timothy that the "rich in this present world" should be commanded to "do good, be rich in good deeds, and be generous and willing to share," (1 Timothy 6:18) he wasn't writing only to Bill Gates. He was writing to you and me, who have a car to drive, the ability to work an extra shift, and enough resources to share with those in need.
3. Matching Funds make your Donation Go Further.
On Giving Tuesday, many charities make use of matching funds to double your donation. Bill Gates does provide this via Facebook donations but be warned - when competing with the whole world; the matching dollars are gone in seconds. If you want to ensure your donation gets matched, look for an organization that offers its own matching funds via a private donor. Then, you won't be competing for a match; you'll be sure to get it.
Note: Global Outreach Developments International has $25,000 in matching funds available to double all donations over $100 given on Giving Tuesday!
The Institute is participating with Global Outreach Developments International, its parent organization, with a goal to raise $250,000 this holiday season. One of our projects is translating Bible courses into Spanish to help learners throughout Latin America.
4. Show the Holidays who's Boss.
If you didn't silence your phone at Thanksgiving dinner, you'd barely be able to enjoy it with your e-mail blowing up with Black Friday deals. Cyber Monday has now extended to "Cyber Week." Most Christians feel some degree of tension between the consumeristic madness that characterizes the "Christmas" and the birth of our Lord and Savior who lacked any proper resources. Giving Tuesday allows you to get control of the holidays at the beginning of the Advent season and make sure they're representative of your faith.
Our on campus organic farm, Hopewell Farms, shares their produce with refugees in Nashville. Giving financially is just one way to share!
5. Generosity is an expectation of living your faith.
From the onset of Israel, God instructed his people to open their hands to the needy -- giving generously and doing so ungrudgingly (Deuteronomy 15). Generosity is tied to prosperity (Ps. 37:21, 37:26, 112:5)-- "the generous themselves will be blessed, because they share their food with the poor" (Prov. 22:9). Practicing generosity is part of how we image God, who also gives generously (James 1:5).
Giving Tuesday is, in reality, "just another day." A life of generosity has to go beyond it. But, a marked day of generosity and giving during a crazed consumeristic season seems like a good thing to participate in and invite friends to do the same.
1 Timothy 6:18-19 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
