Maimonides Ladder Of Charity- How Well Do You Give?

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In 2006, the largest donation in recent times occurred when the richest investor in the world, Warren Buffet pledged to give 85% of his $44 billion wealth to charity –the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  When he and Bill Gates founded The Giving pledge in 2009, he upped that percentage to 99% which is almost all of his present $66 billion worth. Check out his reason for giving it here, you will be touched by reading it.

Image: Anorak.co.uk

The Giving pledge was set up by these two to encourage billionaires the world over to give at least 50% of their worth to charity.

 I like this from the website, “The pledge does not solicit support for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or any other specific cause or organization. The pledge encourages signatories to find their own unique ways to give that inspire them personally and benefit society.”

[You know I look forward to the day in Nigeria when our ‘world’s richest pastors’ will actually call themselves together for a giving-back conference or sign a giving back pledge too giving back some of the tithes to the poor in their churches. I hope I won’t have to wait till I die, in Jesus’s name. Amen. Lol]

Being an avid giver myself, I occasional seek ways to improve on my giving and maximize the effect and blessing accruing, both to the receiver, and to me the giver.  Don’t forget that I don’t give with the aim to make money from my giving ANYMORE, therefore when I give, I forget totally about it.

That is the opposite of what happens when you give with the mindset of making money from it (I call that the “Get-rich-quick giving mentality” or “Giving with a get-rich-quick mentality”). You find it hard to forget about it, and sometimes you even feel guilty, sad and stupid, as if someone just defrauded or hoodwinked you into parting with your money.

Moreover, there is so much joy in giving with the right motive. Like I always say, if you want to regularly give, then be a faithful money steward and budget a percentage of your income for giving, regularly. You will be glad you did. Anyway, I am preparing myself to be a billionaire philanthropist.  lol.

I digressed, today I want to share with you Maimonides ladder of charity. I stumbled on it in an article on Treehugger recently. It is also worth reading too.

 If you want to assess how well you give, the 12^th century scholar Maimonides created a ‘ladder of charity’ ranking different modes of giving (from highest level to lowest):

8.  Giving in a way that makes the recipient self-reliant
7. Giving when neither you nor the recipient know the other’s identity
6. Giving to someone you do not know, but keeping your gift private
5. Getting credit for your charity, but giving to someone you do not know
4. Giving before being asked
3. Giving cheerfully, adequately, and only after being asked
2. Giving cheerfully but too little
1. Giving begrudgingly and making the recipient feel disgraced

What kind of giver are you? How well do you give?

The reason why I am taking the pain to write so much about giving and giving back is because it is a major reason why many Nigerians are still poor. In Nigeria today, many people (who all obviously have the ‘gambler’s mentality’) are being deceived by pastors that they won’t be rich until they give like their future depends on it. Then they go borrow/take money budgeted for something else in order to give like crazy, and end up in debt.

See, if you don’t learn about finances, work hard/smart, save regularly and invest wisely, and you keep giving all your money expecting and ‘believing God for’ a financial miracle, YOU WILL REMAIN POOR.

I end with 1 cor 13:3, anyone who gives all his wealth to charity without charity (love) in his heart, including with the aim to get back ‘great returns’, does it in vain! (Sijinius didn’t say so, the bible did!)