If you kill the Golden Goose, this will….

Here’s a note I received this week from someone who wants to be a coach.

”Dan –With the poverty of the USA my spirit doesn’t feel right charging the poor that need help for coaching them in the right direction. Out of the love in my heart for others and their burdens I cannot see putting a boundary up (money) for what I know can help them.”

Coaching is a helping service – as I hope whatever you are doing in work is a helping service.  Coaching is not unique in being the only way to help others.  So we could substitute anything you do in the following sentence:

”With the poverty of the USA my spirit doesn’t feel right charging the poor that need help”

• making their house payment
• getting groceries
• having dental work
• fixing a plumping problem
• repairing their car
• preparing their taxes
• getting legal help
• having competent daycare
• knowing how to get a job
• keeping their yard trimmed or
• having access to great books

I too have a heart for the downtrodden.  I allow 10% of my time for humanitarian and ministry needs.  That allows me to address those needs and still provide for my family.  But I couldn’t spend 90% of my time helping the poor – I’d simply become one of them and deplete my ability to help.  It’s impossible to give when your own cup is empty.  A sincere desire to help and serve can kill the golden goose just as much as raw greed.

Give until bankrupt?

Yesterday a reader asked a great question for here in the holiday season;  “If my spiritual gifts are mercy, knowledge and maybe another gift or two, would that mean that I would be perfectly happy giving until I’m totally bankrupt financially?”

No – if your gift is mercy you will want to manage that gift wisely, meaning you have to have resources to continue giving.  If you kill the golden goose (bankruptcy) you will lose the joy of using your mercy gift.  Think of yourself as a garden hose.  If you just give away the water currently in the hose you will quickly become useless for your intended purpose.  You must be connected to a faucet that is exploding with new water in order to continue pouring out pure clean fresh water on the giving end.

So the best thing you can do to continue enjoying your gift of mercy is figure out how to have an inexhaustible supply of money.    

“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” —  John Wesley