God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28
“Our initial research on prosocial spending and happiness was conducted in North America, where people enjoy a level of wealth that is highly atypical compared to living
conditions experienced throughout human history and much of the world today. As a result, the emotional benefits of giving might be dampened or eliminated in countries where many people are still struggling to meet their own basic needs.
If, however, people derive emotional benefits from prosocial spending even in poorer countries, then this would provide evidence that the warm glow of giving may be a fundamental component of human nature. Aknin et al examined the correlation between charitable giving and happiness in 136 countries.
In 120 out of 136 countries, there was a positive relationship between giving and happiness (controlling for income and other demographic variables), and this relationship was significant in a majority of countries. Although the strength of the relationship varied between countries, individuals in poor and rich countries alike reported greater happiness if they engaged in prosocial spending.”
Elizabeth W., Dunn, Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton in “Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off.” Current Directions in Psychological Science.
As I continue my modern research on giving, today we go global to see if prosocial spending, that is, stewarding resources to the core needs of others, brings greater happiness than spending on ourselves.
With this demonstrated in 120 of 136 countries, we find that “the warm glow of giving may be a fundamental component of human nature.” Back to the Garden of Eden, we see that God made us “to be fruitful, to multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.”
How might this modern finding relate to this ancient verse?
From the beginning of humanity, God made the first humans and gave them a charge to contribute to the good of more humans while stewarding the resources of the earth. We find this to be our core calling and reason for existence.
That means you and I are on the earth to work and contribute to the good of others through our stewardship of creation. This brings faithful stewardship, abundant generosity, and creation care all into view.
And to bring it back to today, this encourages my work with GTP. Our 10 staff, 12 board members, 12 regional facilitators, 30 country coordinators, and network of 6,250 stewards are making progress in collaborating around the world to empower national workers to build trust and grow local giving in 123 countries and counting because God made us to give.
I want to try to dig deeper to see what’s going on in the 16 countries where giving for the good of others brought less happiness.
Why? I want the whole world to know the joy of generosity. Include GTP in your monthly giving to help in this huge task. Set it up here.