Discernment on Personal Giving

Submitted from Faith & Money www.umfne.org to the Peoples Church blog at www.peoplesnews.blogspot.com

Maimonides Ladder

Maimonides, a 12th century Jewish scholar, invented this eight rung Ladder of Giving.

1. The Lowest: Giving begrudgingly, embarrassing the recipient.
2. Giving cheerfully but giving too little.
3. Giving cheerfully and adequately but only after being asked.
4. Giving before being asked.
5. Giving when you do not know who is benefiting,
but the recipient knows your identity.
6. Giving when you know who is benefiting, but the recipient does not know your identity.
7. Giving when neither the donor nor the recipient is aware of the other's identity.
8. The Highest: Giving money, a loan, your time or whatever else it takes to enable an individual to be self-reliant.

Note: The concept of giving anonymously without knowing the recipient traces back to ancient Israel. Beggars would regularly congregate next to a wall of a courtyard and donors, being aware of this, would face the opposite direction and toss coins over the shoulders in the direction of the wall. Therefore, the recipients of the charity would not feel ashamed or indebted to the giver. How bold are you in your giving? For more examples of each level, Click Here
Source: http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/eightrungs.html

Quotes

* When we give to God, we are just taking our hands off what already belongs to God.
* We should give according to our income, lest God make our income according to our giving.
* Two things ruin a church--loose living and tight giving.
* With the price of everything else going up these days, aren’t you glad the Lord hasn’t increased the tithe to 15%?
Source: www.kluth.org