What would happen if we created a culture in which we gave away whatever was more than enough for us? That was the question that prompted Jeff Shinabarger to change his habits and choose a lifestyle of excessive generosity.
Jeff joins us with an invitation to discover how small changes now can affect others forever, and also to talk about his book . We find the joy of living with “enough” on this latest episode of Connecting Faith. Here’s where our conversation takes us:
Jeff’s experience with a homeless man named Clarence had a real impact on him. Interacting with Clarence showed Jeff that he had enough in his life, and that decisions like what color to paint the walls and what style of countertop to install were trivial in life’s big picture.
In an age of plenty, most of us simply don’t realize how much we have. Somewhere along the way, we lost track of it. Even when it comes to the clothes we wear, how many of us can honestly take stock of our closet and say we don’t have more than “enough”.
So Jeff applies this realization to the concept of generosity. First we need to analyze what we’ve been given. There are three types of capital:
• Financial
• Social
• Intellectual
What does it mean when we make a financial gift? Jeff says that those gifts can say a lot about what’s in your heart.
And what about giving of our time?
“What if we were present with the people in front of us again?”
In the age of the ubiquitous cell phone, we hear a challenge to stash the phone while we’re interacting with people face to face.
The bottom line is that when you look at how you spend your money and your time, it will show you everything that you love.
