God can't clean the house of you when you're still in it.

—Anne Lamott, U.S. author (1954—)

Paul said, "See that you also excel in this grace of giving" (2 Corinthians 8:7). Like piano playing, giving is a skill. With practice, we get better at it. We can learn to give more, give more often, and give more strategically. We teach the pursuit of excellence in our vocations. Why not make giving something we study, discuss, and sharpen, striving for excellence?

The Macedonian believers gave "as ...

I was finishing up a premarital counseling session for a wonderful young couple. We were only a few weeks away from the wedding, and we had already put the finishing touches on the service. As we came to the end of this last meeting, the groom-to-be blurted out, "I just have to say that I am so scared of this!" He suddenly had the undivided attention of his fiancée. He quickly added, "Oh no, ...

Change in giving to religious organizations and churches in 2008: +5.5 percent (a total of $106.89 billion)

Change in overall charitable giving in 2008: –2 percent (a total of $307.65 billion, the first decline in overall giving since 1987)

Maybe Lent is a good time to stop doing and try being. … Relinquishment lies at the heart of the Christian gospel and is a countercultural choice that hones our discipleship. If I let go of the assumption that my hard work will bring me all that I desire, I begin to look at the present moment, receive it with gratitude, and know what it asks of me. I learn when it is time to rest, time to plan, ...

Since the 1940s, the Ad Council has been the leading producer of public service announcements. Of the thousands of commercials they have produced, their work for the "Don't Almost Give" campaign has been particularly powerful.

One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of concrete stairs. The narrator says, "This is a man who almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got ...

[In an article for Decision magazine], Samuel Kamaleson illustrates [the difficulty of submission] through a Christian folk story from South India. There are several versions of it, but here it opens with a young boy who loved to play marbles. He regularly walked through his neighborhood with a pocketful of his best marbles, hoping to find opponents to play against. One marble in particular, his ...

In his Books & Culture article "A Lot of Lattés," Ron Sider reviews Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money, a book "about the pitifully small charitable donations of the richest Christians in history." Sider offers a synopsis of some of the authors' findings:

If just the "committed Christians" (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess ...

If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be ...

Professional football player Troy Polamalu, a three-time Pro Bowl strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has worked hard to maintain his Christian character since joining the NFL in 2003. Before winning his second Super Bowl championship with the Steelers in 2009, Polamalu agreed to an interview for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). "Pride is tough," Polamalu said to the interviewer. "You ...