Why Christians Don’t Give More With Ron Blue

Christian talk radio with Rob West

If you ask Christians if they’d like to give more, the answer is always yes. So what’s holding us back today? We’ll talk about that with Ron Blue. Ron Blue is the founder or co-founder of Ronald Blue Trust, National Christian Foundation, Kingdom Advisors, and The Ron Blue Institute for Financial Planning. He is also the author of more than 20 books and has served on the boards of numerous organizations On today’s program, Ron Blue shares how he came to the realization that people often have more giving power than they realize. He shares that many years ago, when he first set up shop as a financial planner, his first paying client was a man who said his goal for the rest of his life was to retire as soon as possible in order to work full-time on the mission field. In addition, he wanted to maintain his lifestyle and continue to give 15%. He had .networth of around $350, 000, and his income was approximately $85, 000 per year. This was in the early 1980s. He and his wife said that one of their desires was to give $1, 000, 000 to the Lord’s work before they died. Blue thought to himself that this was impossible with their income an.networth. But about 60 days later, after their financial plan was prepared, he determined that it was actually possible for them to give away $1, 000, 000 during that same five-year time period. They had a much highe.networth than they originally thought because of the escalation in value of some of the real estate they owned. By taking a long-range view of their planning, they could give away some of their assets and at the same time replace them out of their current cash flow. This was possible for two reasons. First, because of their desire to give, and second, because they had lived and were continuing to live a non-consumptive lifestyle. They lived on a budget and didn’t increase their lifestyle as their income and assets grew. Blue says he’s been able to share the same principles learned from this couple with others. Through the years, he says he’s realized there are three reasons why Christians who desire to give, don’t give more: 1. People aren’t aware of what they have. They don’t know that they can give and still meet their other goals. They’ve never really analyzed their financial resources to know what obligations and opportunities they have 2. They're not aware of all the various ways to give. In the doctor’s case, he gave property that had appreciated in value avoiding capital gains tax. But he still got a deduction for the full fair market value of the property. This freed up cash to invest in more property. It still cost him to give, but less than if he’d given cash. 3. Many people don’t PLAN to give. We’re often responders rather than planners. But with planning, giving for a family goes up, on average, about five times what they were giving prior to planning. To get started with planning, you can Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area. On today’s program, Rob also answers listener questions: ● How can you minimize the tax liability when taking your required minimum distribution? ● How do you determine the wisest way to use $20k in cash? ● Where should you give your tithe when you’re still searching for a home church? ● How can you determine if the companies you invest in are aligned with your investments? RESOURCES MENTIONED: ● Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor