Money Can Buy Happiness?

You may have heard it said that money cannot buy happiness, but researchers at Harvard and the University of British Colombia wanted to test if that was true. Their findings may surprise you. According to  The Globe and Mail, the researchers gave students across one Vancouver campus $5 to $20. Some were instructed to spend it on themselves and some were told to spend it on others.

Researcher Elizebeth Dunn learned that "People were significantly happier at the end of the day if they'd been instructed to spend the money on others rather than on themselves." Dunn admits that there is little evidence that income is tied to happiness, but she pioneered this research because, while happiness is not tied to income, it may be tied to how we spend our money.

They went on to survey 632 people regarding their happiness. Then they asked how much they made, what they spent on bills, themselves, others, and charity. Again, they found that people that spent their money on others and charity reported more happiness. They did several more experiments that you can read about in the full article, but each time they learned that generous people are happier people.

This makes sense to me. For instance, I love Christmas most, not because of the gifts I receive (although I enjoy those), but because of the gifts that I give. Perhaps you too have experienced the happiness that comes from being generous. It's a really good feeling.

Tomorrow we're going to explore our third habit of the Christian life: generosity. I know, "Giving" sermons are not everyone's favorite. So, if you're worried this is going to be a hard sell to give more to the church, don't. It won't be. Tomorrow we'll learn from 2 Corinthians 8 that generosity is about giving out of joy and not obligation. We give generously because we have been given so much by God in Christ.

If you have ever wondered about tithing and how Christians should give away their money, tomorrow is going to be really beneficial. I hope you will worship with us!