Kate Kiehl is a giving coach and heads up GenHerus, which empowers women to find joy in giving. She shared these thoughts on Instagram: 

Stop and think about it. Do you look back and have regrets giving money away?

I certainly don’t WHEN I give money to Kingdom work.

Sure, I may have had disappointments or thought the charity I just supported could have handled the resources better. But I usually don’t. Because I believe in doing due diligence. And then giving it willingly and with no strings attached! After all, it’s Gods money! I’m just called to do my part in investing in Kingdom work and being an open vessel.

I believe that’s the best ROI [return on investment] we could ever hope for or imagine!

In fact, investing in Kingdom work is what @randyalcorn_epm calls a WIN WIN WIN: It’s a win to the recipient, win for working in our hearts, and win for storing up treasure in Heaven!

…when I look back at different seasons of life, I wish I would have given even more 👉🏻 This is a great reminder to me how I want to live now.

Ironically, I do have regrets when I spent money frivolously on things which have worn out, died out, or are out of style. You know, the things you think you can’t live without. Just that little purchase here and there.

…So stop and consider your giving and spending. What regrets do you have? And maybe what needs to change right now and in the future?

At the conclusion of the movie Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler—who saved many Jews from the Nazis—looks at his car and his gold pin and regrets that he didn’t give more of his money and possessions to save more lives. Schindler uses his opportunity far better than most. But in the end, he longs for a chance to go back and choose human lives over material possessions.

Just as unbelievers have no second chance to relive their lives and choose Christ, Christians get no second chance to do more to help the needy and invest in God’s Kingdom. We have one brief opportunity—our lifetime on Earth—to use our resources to make a difference.

Think through the eventual end of all possessions, including new cars, hot tubs, and entertainment systems (realizing there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of them). From an eternal perspective, imagine how the money allocated for these items might instead be invested in helping people and bringing them the gospel! (Can you imagine anyone saying on his or her deathbed, “I wish I’d bought more stuff”? What do you think dying people actually regret or wish they’d done differently in terms of their relationships, possessions, and choices?)

John Wesley said, “I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.” If we truly understood that both the present and the eternal results of giving are far more beautiful than any earthly treasure we could possess, we’d never hesitate or wonder whether it’s worthwhile to give. Our sacred and joyful opportunity here on Earth is to use our lives, which are built on the foundation of Christ, to help build a magnificent foundation for the world to come (see 1 Timothy 6:19).

Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. But then it will be too late to rewind and live this life over. Fortunately, God has given us His Word so we don’t have to wait until we die to find out how we should have lived. Moreover, He’s given us His Spirit to empower us to live how He tells us to live.

If you’d like to explore more about the life-changing power of giving, check out my book Giving Is the Good Life, which is now available in paperback. While I had written The Treasure Principle years ago, then updated it, I had many more giving stories I wanted to tell. This time I decided to address the biblical theme of “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19). I’ve been struck for years by how in a remarkably clear way, 1 Timothy 6:9-10 shares the bad news about wealth, and 1 Timothy 6:17-19 gives the good news. And that positive news is that we can share with others the wealth God has entrusted to us in a way that helps the needy, and also—remarkably—will result in God granting us eternal rewards as well as greatly enriching our present lives. Giving Is the Good Life came from my study of this passage. I hope it will help you catch a vision for the joy of giving!