{"id":301121,"date":"2006-05-25T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/experiencing-financial-freedom\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T14:56:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T19:56:57","slug":"experiencing-financial-freedom","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/experiencing-financial-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing Financial Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ron Blue talks about finding financial freedom through giving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ron Blue talks about finding financial freedom through giving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2006-05-25.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"11.35M","filesize_raw":"11902896","date_recorded":"2006-05-25 11:00:00","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2866],"tags":[4299,4710,4884],"podcast_series":[7454],"cwp_profile":[3066],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301121","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-disciplines-essentials-faith","tag-faith","tag-giving","tag-tithing","podcast_series-generous-living","cwp_profile-ron-blue","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301121\/experiencing-financial-freedom","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301121\/experiencing-financial-freedom","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"QEnp4oVSHc\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/experiencing-financial-freedom\/\">Experiencing Financial Freedom<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/experiencing-financial-freedom\/embed\/#?secret=QEnp4oVSHc\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Experiencing Financial Freedom&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"QEnp4oVSHc\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Ron Blue talks about finding financial freedom through giving.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2006-05-25.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0The Bible says that being rich can be a spiritual challenge, but just how much money makes you rich?\u00a0 And what would have happened if Tevye from \"Fiddler on the Roof,\" had had a long talk with financial counselor Ron Blue?<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0[singing] Oh, Lord, you made many, many poor people.\u00a0 I realize, of course, it's no shame to be poor, but it's no great honor, either.\u00a0 So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?\u00a0 If I were a rich man \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's the issue \u2013 what is provision and what is extravagance?<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0All day long I vidi vidi vum, if I were a wealthy man.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0And I\u2019m talking about the car you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, vacations you take \u2013 those are lifestyle issues, and that's the test of faith.<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0If I were a vidi vidi vum \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0God doesn't tell me that it's 38.5 percent of my adjusted gross income after deducting et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0I'll build a big tall house with roofs by the dozen, right in the middle of the town.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0He says I want you to live by faith, and you're going to have to come to me and ask the question of what is provision?<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0There would be one long staircase just going up and one even longer coming down \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, May 25th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We're going to talk today about not how rich you are but how generous you are.\u00a0 Stay with us.<\/p>\n<p>Tevye:\u00a0Chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks for the town to see and hear, squawking just as noisily as they can.\u00a0 And each [makes bird noises] will lend like a trumpet on the ear as if to say \"Here lives a wealthy man\" \u2013 oy.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.\u00a0 You know, if you came across a book called \"Generous Living,\" you would figure that the author would have to be a generous person, and yet as we've already heard this week, the author tells us he's not that generous, he just wrote a book on the subject, huh?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Well, hey, if you write a book on it, you've got to be generous.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0It's got to teach you \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0It's got to solve it once and for all.\u00a0 He never has a problem with it again.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0[crosstalk]<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0He's conquered greed.<\/p>\n<p>[laughter]<\/p>\n<p>And the author is Ron Blue.\u00a0 The book, as we said, was \"Generous Living.\"\u00a0 Ron, welcome back to the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0It's great to be here again.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0I want to ask you a real tough question.\u00a0 Now, you were the founder of Ronald Blue and Company, which was a company that helped people with their investments and helped them give more money away.\u00a0 You currently are the president of Christian Financial Professionals Network, a network of financial planners and CPAs who advise people what to do with their money, is that correct?\u00a0 Did I describe that right?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And you have written a great number of books on money and giving, and yesterday you mentioned a man who gave 70 percent of his income away, and yet he still confessed he was giving out of his abundance, and that wasn't really sacrificial.\u00a0 I wanted to ask you a question that I'll give you the permission to turn me down on, if you want to, all right?\u00a0 So our listener doesn't feel uncomfortable that I'm putting you on the spot here on Christian radio, but I happen to believe that one of the problems with giving today is we don't have enough models.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0I agree.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0We don't have couples standing up and saying, \"You know what?\u00a0 Here's what we do.\"<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0I agree with that.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Well, and you figure you're not supposed to because that could be self-serving or bragging or, you know, doesn't the Bible say that you're not supposed to do in public, you know \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And if that's the case, then you should never talk about that you ever pray, you shouldn't ever talk about leading somebody to Christ, and you certainly shouldn't talk about the joy of giving money away or the joy of investing or contributing to some ministry at your church or otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>So my question for you is \u2013 would you care to share with our listeners what percent of your income you give away?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Yes, and, first of all, I think there are different levels of giving.\u00a0 I think that there is the \"should give\" level, which is 1 Corinthians 16:2, \"Give as God has prospered you.\"\u00a0 That's New Testament giving, I believe.\u00a0 So you can ask the question, \"How much is God prospering you?\u00a0 It should be reflected in your giving.\u00a0 Or your giving should reflect God's blessing.<\/p>\n<p>And Judy and I set a tithe amount, if you will, of 15 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0That's where you start.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's where we start.\u00a0 The second level of giving is \"could give.\"\u00a0 In other words, I've got money in my bank account or my savings account or my retirement account that I could give.\u00a0 So when a need comes up \u2013 the 15 percent, that's the regular proportionate giving that we do week to week, month to month.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0That's like paying the bills, I mean, I don't mean to put it in that phrase, but it's \u2013 you've obligated yourself by conscience for that amount.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0We've said, \"We're going to give to our church, we're going to support Campus Crusade staff, we're going to give to Joni Eareckson's ministry, we're going to do those things, and we pre-commit to that, and we pre-commit 15 percent, so that's given at the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>But the \"could give\" is like the tsunami came along, or Katrina \u2013 that's not in that 15 percent, and we used to look around and say, \"You know what?\u00a0 We're going to give.\u00a0 And when the tsunami hit at the end of 2004, right at the beginning of 2005 \u2013 in fact, it was Christmas week of 2004, because Judy and I said, \"Well, how much are we going to give?\u00a0 We've already pre-committed the 15 percent.\u00a0 It's not going to come out of that.\"\u00a0 And I said, \"I think we should give at least as much as what we spent on Christmas this year.\"\u00a0 I mean, that was just one of those things.\u00a0 I think it was God and the Holy Spirit speaking and saying, \"You know what?\u00a0 You just spent that on yourself, can't you give that?\"\u00a0 Which we did.\u00a0 And that's the second level of giving.<\/p>\n<p>The third level of giving is the \"would give\" level.\u00a0 And the \"would give\" level is really the only time you get into faith, where you say \u2013 the first two are not by faith.\u00a0 They're just by decision.\u00a0 I made the decision we're going to give 15 percent.\u00a0 I made the decision we're going to give out of our savings or whatever.\u00a0 Now we're saying \u2013 and we're developing a plan \u2013 and we're saying can we get to 50 percent by increasing our giving 5 percent a year?\u00a0 Going from 15 to 20 to 25 and so forth and so on.<\/p>\n<p>And so we've got a plan, and you might find it interesting that I have a financial planner.<\/p>\n<p>[laughter]<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0I do find that interesting.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Yes, well, I can't hold myself accountable nor can I communicate that effectively with Judy about our finances.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0So it's really to save your marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's right.\u00a0 Plus, 80 percent of women will experience widowhood, and so the likelihood is that she will be managing money.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0So you are stair-stepping your way to more aggressive giving.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Yes, we'd like to get to 50 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And I heard about a businessman who had done this all of his days.\u00a0 As I recall, he was from Detroit, Michigan, and he started doing this when he was a young man at the beginning of their marriage, and he started at 10 percent, and he increased his giving each year, I think, by 1 or 2 percent.\u00a0 And he is now up to above 75 percent.\u00a0 In fact, his son, who has watched him make the gifts said of his father, \"My dad gives away 75 percent but he gives away much more than that.\"\u00a0 Now, that's a gift to the next generation to train them, to model for them, how to give generously.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Bob, you asked me did I believe our children, as adults now, were generous?\u00a0 And I reflect back on that \u2013 yeah, I think they are.\u00a0 I believe we could have done a better job of modeling giving in some more public fashion.\u00a0 I'm not talking about standing on the stage in front of a lot of people, I'm talking about modeling giving in front of them.<\/p>\n<p>We did a lot of giving they never knew anything about.\u00a0 And, as a result, they didn't get a chance to observe it, and if I had it to do all over again, I'd been a little more intentional about showing them what we were doing and then talking about why we were doing it.<\/p>\n<p>We have a generation of families today, Ron, that really need to look at this, because you were sharing with me before we came on air that the Christian community is giving less today than it was 10 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Absolutely.\u00a0 Ten years ago the average evangelical gave about 6 to 7 percent of their income, and today it's 3 or 4 percent of their income.\u00a0 Now, giving has not gone down.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, giving has gone up in dollar terms, because the wealth has increased so dramatically in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0So what that means is we're making more money \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0\u2026 and giving less as a percent.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0So a guy who was earning $40,000 10 years ago might be earning double that today, might be earning \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Right, he might be earning $100,000 today.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0But he's not kept his giving up with his income, is he?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's right.\u00a0 I think there are three important questions, Bob, that everybody has to ask themselves or every couple has to ask themselves and answer, number one, who owns it \u2013 because you've got to deal with that issue first.\u00a0 And if God owns it, then my paradigm, my mindset, my decision-making changes if I'm managing somebody's resources as opposed to spending my resources.<\/p>\n<p>The second question that everybody has to ask, and in America it's really relevant is how much is enough?\u00a0 Either in accumulation or lifestyle, and I've found that the biggest barrier to generosity is because of lifestyle.\u00a0 Now, I'm talking about the car you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, colleges that you send your children to, and so forth.\u00a0 That's lifestyle issues \u2013 second home, first home, vacations you take, those are lifestyle issues.<\/p>\n<p>What I found in 2 Timothy was that there are three principles.\u00a0 First of all, a man is worse than an infidel that doesn't provide for his family.\u00a0 So I have to provide for my family.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Yeah, but what does that mean?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's the issue \u2013 is what is provision and what is extravagance?\u00a0 And that's the test of faith.\u00a0 Without faith, it's impossible to please Him.\u00a0 So God doesn't tell me that it's 38.5 percent of my adjusted gross income after deducting et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.\u00a0 Or I would live at 38.7 percent.\u00a0 He says, \"I want you to live by faith, and you're going to have to come to Me and ask the question of what is provision?\"<\/p>\n<p>The second is \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0I want to stop you there for a second, because there are a lot of us who would really like the box.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Absolutely, we would.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0We would love the box, get in that box, and you know what?\u00a0 I am fully obedient, and there would be no tension at that point.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Just take the automatic deduction, and I'll live on the rest, and than I'm living in obedience.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0But God has called us to live, as you said, by faith.\u00a0 And I think this is an aspect of the Christian walk, of walking with Christ, where the reason he hasn't given us the box is because we'd get a nice easy chair and sit in the middle of the box, and our faith would deteriorate.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0That's why I don't think anybody should give 10 percent, because 10 percent becomes God's part and 90 percent becomes my part, and the reality is He owns it all.\u00a0 I tell people, \"I think you should give proportionately.\"\u00a0 But if you're going to give 10 percent that should be the starting point.\u00a0 that should not be where you stop, and there's a lot of churches that preach tithing, the 10 percent, with good reason.\u00a0 They'd like to get people to the 10 percent, and they should get there, but that's not God's part.\u00a0 He owns 100 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Okay, back to 2 Timothy \u2013 it teaches provision is required.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0And that is by faith \u2013 I have to add that's that tension of faith.\u00a0 The second is contentment.\u00a0 Paul says in Philippians, \"I've learned to be content, and in 2 Timothy he talks about contentment.\u00a0 So I think you adopt a lifestyle where you're providing for your family, and I have a contentment.\u00a0 This is okay \u2013 before the Lord, it's okay.\u00a0 The third thing he says, \"I've given \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Wait, I want to stop you on the issue contentment, because there are a couple of things I think listeners need to know.\u00a0 You sat on an airplane one time next to a woman who had a lot of money but didn't have contentment.\u00a0 There is not necessarily a direct relationship between how much money you have and how contented you are.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0As a matter of fact, there is none.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Paul said I've learned how to be content whether I'm in plenty or I'm in want, so contentment is not tied to the size of your bank account, plus or minus, right?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0And everybody out there is just like me, and that is I have to, every day, come before the Lord, and confess my discontent, okay, kind of cleanse myself, if you will, and say, \"Lord, I am content.\u00a0 I just need to thank You, praise You, for what You've done.\"\u00a0 But contentment will never be a result of having more.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0And the reason this is so important is because the culture keeps screaming at you that stuff will make you content.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Well, sure, advertising \u2013 billions of dollars are spent on advertising to tell me all the things that I didn't know I needed.\u00a0 Every time I go to the shopping center, I find out there's a whole bunch of things I didn't know I needed.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0And so every day I am persuaded, seduced, being lured, in to the idea that contentment will come with stuff, with gain, and that's the reason that I have to keep coming back to the Scriptures and reminding myself that God said contentment is found in Him not in your bank account.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And the passage you quote, 1 Timothy, chapter 6, it says, \"But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied with contentment,\" and that's a passage of Scripture.\u00a0 In 1 Timothy 6 it's talking about money, and it says, verse 10, \"For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang, but flee from these things you man of God and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.\"\u00a0 Later on in 2 Timothy 2:22, it talks about pursuing those things with those who have a pure heart.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Mm-hm, the community of faith.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0The community of faith, which is accountability, and contentment today is in such, I think, scarcity, because, a, we don't have a biblical perspective of money; secondly, we aren't fleeing from the love of money and the accumulation of things; third, we aren't pursuing righteousness, love, faith, with people who embrace the same things, Ron.\u00a0 And so, as a result, we're getting seduced by the culture.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0And that's why, when I wrote this book, \"Generous Living,\" I came to the conclusion, after 20-some years of working with people, that generosity is more a decision than a feeling.\u00a0 In other words, the way to experience financial freedom is to let go.\u00a0 And so God wants me to give not because He needs the money, for crying out loud.\u00a0 He wants me to give to free me, and the only way I can depart from this culture of selfishness and greed and envy and jealousy is to learn how to give.\u00a0 And in every case \u2013 and that's why I say I don't feel like I'm a generous person because I don't feel generous.\u00a0 I am generous by obedience because I know that I am going to experience financial freedom when I give.\u00a0 And whenever I give, it's good for me because the only way I'm going to find contentment is to be able to be free from the love of money.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0I was leaving church \u2013 this has been 20 years ago \u2013 and it's funny how you can remember something like this, but it's the very thing you're talking about \u2013 how there is satisfaction when you do what God wants you to do.\u00a0 There was this little boy selling trash bags to raise money for camp, and he was raising money so he could be able to go and spend some days at some camp with his buddies, and I said to him, I said, \"You know what?\u00a0 I really don't need any trash bags, but here is some money.\"\u00a0 I don't remember how much it was.\u00a0 My regret today it was not more.\u00a0 I am sure it should have been more.\u00a0 But I gave him some money and about 20 minutes later we were still hanging around church there.\u00a0 The mother of that young boy came up to me and said, \"Mr. Rainey, I just want you to know something.\u00a0 I'm a single parent.\u00a0 Our son couldn't afford to go to this camp, and your gift really has encouraged him to be able to make that possible.\"\u00a0 And it wasn't enough for him to go.\u00a0 I don't want to lead anyone to believe that at all, but it's interesting how many times I've given and forgotten about it, but I've never forgotten that one because it was a gift given in God's time to meet a need, and if you've never known that satisfaction, it's just a delight.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0And it's a decision that you make.\u00a0 I keep coming back to that because it is.\u00a0 I don't want people to think they're going to have a feeling.\u00a0 Sometimes what I'll do is, going through the toll booth, hand them an extra 50 cents or a buck and say \"That takes care of the guy behind me.\"\u00a0 Can you imagine what he experiences when they go through then?<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0He pulls up with the money, and they say, \"That guy paid.\"<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0It's been paid for, that guy ahead of you paid for it.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0See, I used to do the reverse.\u00a0 I'd drive through and say \"The guy behind me is getting it.\"<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You did not.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0No, I never did that.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0No, you didn't do that.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0You've talked about contentment, we've talked about provision for your family.\u00a0 You said there's a third principle.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0There sure is, and I think it's in verse 17 of chapter 6 that says God has given you richly all things to enjoy.\u00a0 And my test for somebody or question that I would ask in test for myself is am I content and am I enjoying what God's given me?\u00a0 Because an awful lot of people have a lot and don't enjoy it.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Isn't that the truth?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0What would you encourage someone to do who is listening to us and say, \"You know, I'm not generous.\u00a0 I simply haven't exercised that muscle.\u00a0 I'm not even sure it's a part of my anatomy to be a generous giver.\"\u00a0 Where would you encourage them to start?<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Well, I would start by doing a regular, systematic giving every week \u2013 writing out the check.\u00a0 And I still practice giving on a weekly basis so that I have the discipline every week of putting a check in the collection plate.\u00a0 It tells me, you know what?\u00a0 Everything I have came from God, and it's just a weekly reminder that it all came from Him.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0That's another biblical principle.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0It is.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0And, you know, my wife nudged us in this direction not long ago, because we used to do our church giving on a monthly basis.\u00a0 It just kind of fit into how you paid the bills, right?\u00a0 And she said, \"I think we ought to write\" \u2013 it's the same amount, but we write it in four checks and do it on a weekly basis, and it's just, as you said, a good discipline to be in.\u00a0 It gets your mind oriented toward this week's giving and, again, your kids see it happening every week rather than \u2013 they didn't know whether it was monthly or just as the spirit moved or spontaneously.\u00a0 Well, now they see Mom and Dad every week putting some money in the plate.<\/p>\n<p>Ron:\u00a0Plus what it reminds me of when I write that check, I realize where else I've spent money in the past week and how much, maybe more, I've spent on a piece of furniture or vacation or something.\u00a0 I write that check, and it's just a reminder of how much I'm re-committing to the Lord.\u00a0 It all came from Him, but I think weekly giving is a good thing, and I think for parents of young children, for the children to see Dad and Mom giving on a regular basis, that's, as Howie Hendricks says, you know, \"More is caught than taught.\"\u00a0 And I'm sure you've said that many times.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0C.S. Lewis said that the best way to acquire virtue is to pretend like you already have it.\u00a0 So if you want to become generous just start pretending that you are, and see that happen.\u00a0 And you know, Ron, we hear from folks here who will write to us and say, \"We love your ministry.\u00a0 We wish we could give more, but here's our current situation.\"\u00a0 And their heart is toward giving, but their financial situation doesn't allow them to do much.\u00a0 And I\u2019m curious what counsel you'd have for them, and maybe we can tackle that tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Let me let our listeners know how they can get a copy of your book.\u00a0 It's called \"Generous Living,\" and we have it in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and you get into these kinds of subjects and more in the book, and all of us could benefit from thinking more biblically about money and stuff, and that's what you try to help us do in this book.\u00a0 Again, the title is \"Generous Living.\"<\/p>\n<p>Go to our website, FamilyLife.com.\u00a0 Click on the \"Go\" button that's in the middle of the screen, and that will take you right to a page where you can get more information about Ron's book and other resources that we have here at FamilyLife.\u00a0 In fact, there's another book I know you've recommended to a lot of people by Randy Alcorn called \"The Treasure Principle.\"\u00a0 We have that in our FamilyLife Resource Center as well.<\/p>\n<p>Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, and if you click the red \"Go\" button that will take you right to a screen where you can get more information about these resources and others.\u00a0 Any of our listeners who are interested in getting a copy of Ron's book and Randy's book together, we can send at no additional cost the CD audio of our conversation here with Ron Blue, and you can listen to it again or pass it along to someone who might benefit from hearing today's program.<\/p>\n<p>The website, again, FamilyLife.com, or call 1-800-FLTODAY for more information about these resources.\u00a0 That's 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY, and someone on our team can let you know how you can have these books and other resource sent out to you.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we have been, this spring, Dennis, the beneficiaries of some generous folks who came to us earlier this year wanting to help the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\u00a0 They wanted to give a donation of $375,000 to help our ministry, and we were very encouraged by that, but they put a condition on that donation.\u00a0 They said that they wanted it to be a matching gift.\u00a0 In other words, they wanted us to encourage radio listeners to join with them and give as well.<\/p>\n<p>So they agreed that they would match, dollar for dollar, every donation we received during the month of may up to a total, a new total, of $375,000, and we have heard from other generous folks all month long who have been calling to make donations of $25 or $50 or $100 to help support the ministry and to help us take full advantage of this matching gift opportunity.\u00a0 And we are in the closing days of May, and I know we're getting very close to taking full advantage of that matching gift opportunity, but I don't think all the money has come in yet, and so we're hoping listeners today, tomorrow, over the next few days, would consider calling or writing to make a donation of any amount to help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>Again, when you do, your donation is going to be doubled.\u00a0 It's going to be matched dollar for dollar.\u00a0 You can donate online, if you'd like, at FamilyLife.com, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY to make a donation, and if there's any way you can do that over the next few days, we would certainly appreciate it, and we do appreciate your prayers and appreciate you listening to FamilyLife Today as well.<\/p>\n<p>Tomorrow we're going to be back to talk more with Ron Blue about money and stuff and generosity and how we can think more biblically about those kinds of subjects.\u00a0 I hope you can be back with us as well.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.<\/p>\n<p>__________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would\u00a0 you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><a 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