Truly Rich Tips: Do You Want to Earn More? Give More! {Especially to Typhoon Haiyan Relief Efforts}

Tomorrow, Friday, November 29, it will be three weeks since Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda to us Filipinos) devastated certain parts of the Philippines.

It has been three weeks of pain, suffering, loss and so much more for our affected countrymen. But it has also been three weeks of witnessing the beauty of bayanihan, of seeing the resiliency of the Filipino spirit, of being amazed by the generosity of people from all over the world, not just the Philippines. So many countries are currently involved in relief efforts for the typhoon victims, and it has been encouraging and inspiring to see such an outpouring of love and support for our country.

I also recently wrote an article on Smart Parenting about “ordinary” moms who have been doing “extraordinary” things to help the victims — truly, truly inspiring!

So what does all this have to do with my post for today? Well, first of all, let me share a secret with you — not because I want to brag or boast, but because I want to tell you how good God is.

Ever since my husband and I have been trying (the key word is “trying”!) to put our finances in order, we’ve also been trying to give more to God and His work. We tithe as regularly as possible, and stick to giving 10% of our combined net income as much as possible. We divide our tithes among the Church (Offertory during Holy Mass) and the prayer community from which we get our spiritual “nourishment.”

Based on our experience, we’ve found that the more we give, the more we’re blessed. Sometimes these blessings come in the form of more earnings. Sometimes they’re in the form of unexpected gifts from other people. But all of the time, the more blessings we share, the more blessings we receive.

And that, dear friends, is the point of this post.

I’m here to tell you something many truly rich people already know:

If you want to earn more, give more.

Seriously.

Let me tell you something that I’ve been keeping to myself lately. Well, actually, this has been something only God and me know about, but I want to share it with you in the hope that you will be inspired — and moved to help even more — somehow.

When Typhoon Haiyan struck, I wanted to do so much to help those affected. So I did what I could at the time.

My family and I prayed for the victims. We still do, every morning and every night. I wrote blog posts about relief efforts — here and elsewhere. I shared all the Facebook posts and status updates and tweets that I thought were relevant to relief efforts. I donated what our family could spare in cash to help provide to Yolanda victims, and also got the kids to help me gather clothes, towels and blankets as donations. We also gave cash donations to a whose family has been directly affected by the typhoon.

Still, I felt that it wasn’t enough. So I prayed. I told God, “Please bless us more so we can bless others more.”

Specifically, I told God that if He would bless me with more income through my blog, plus other editing and writing projects, I would donate part of my income to relief efforts for the Yolanda victims, who have a long, long way to go on the road of rebuilding and recovery.

And you know what?

God has been answering my prayers!

I’ve been getting inquiries regarding sponsored posts and paid posts, plus been getting tapped to write articles for publications that I’ve never written for before! Plus inquiries about book editing, too, though I have yet to see if those projects will still push through.

God is truly, truly amazing!

And all this happened just because I want to give more.

Again, I’m not sharing this here so that you’ll say, “Good job, Tina!” Or something like that.

I’m sharing this with you, dear friends, because I really, really believe that the universe is overflowing with God’s abundant blessings. We just need to “tap” into those blessings with a pure heart and pure motives. As Kuya/Bro. Bo Sanchez says, “The ultimate purpose of wealth is to bless others.”

So, do you want to earn more? Do you want to be more blessed?

Give more. Share more. Love more.

That’s what truly rich people do.

And I believe that God calls ALL of us to be truly rich. 🙂

Have you ever had the same experience — that when you gave more, you were blessed more? Come share in the comments! 🙂