Our Stories
The Tax Man
By JD Watson | posted 04/16/2009
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)
Yesterday was that ever pressing deadline to file our federal tax returns with Uncle Sam. W-2s, 1099s, Schedule C, and the earned income credit. All those confusing forms have probably been bouncing around you house for the past few months and if you're like me, you stood in line at the post office yesterday wondering why the IRS has no street address in Ogden UT.
I have a love-hate relationship with my taxes. Ever since I've been filing my own returns I've taken very seriously my responsibility to understand and accurately report income and deductions to the federal government. Politics aside, I understand the need for our government to collect money to keep our country safe, our roads paved, and our kids educated... and so much more. The extent to which our government should be involved is another discussion all together. That aside, my math nerd side comes out with taxes. I kind of like doing all that addition and subtraction on those forms.
Tax time is an interesting one for me because it's the one time each year I get ‘the big picture' of our finances. I can tell you accurately how we are tracking on our monthly budget, but only at tax time do I ever have insight to money spent over the entire year. Several years ago I read some books by the late Larry Burkett. He had great insight into personal finance. Larry used to say, "If you want to know what a person's priorities are, take a look at their checkbook." As I was running some reports out of Quicken (scrounging for 2008 deductions) , one report was a pie graph of every dime spent in 2008. A view into my electronic checkbook if you will.
I must say, it was a surprise. Staring at that graph, I see the biggest pieces of pie being categories like mortgage interest expense, or kitchen remodel, or auto expense, or IRA contributions. According to Larry, those would be my priorities. "Whoa," I thought, "Are those my priorities?" Well.... Sort of, I guess. But where's charitable giving? That's got to be a priority, I'm thinking to myself. I found it, but it's down at number 9, right after Costco. I just sort of expected it a little higher on the list.
To start, I don't think one of the attributes of God is guilt. So although I'd prefer my electronic checkbook to better align with what I think God would want, I don't believe he desires for me to feel guilty. As a matter of fact, I don't think God even needs our money. He's the God of the universe. My money is pocket change to him. Second, our charitable giving isn't a salvation issue. God loves me the same regardless of what percentage of my budget goes to my local church or global missionaries.
So what's my point of even caring about what I give other than for a tax deduction? I think there is a reason - and a good one. It seems God created a model in which we were taught to be givers. Giving seems to create contentment, purpose, and a sense that the world is about more than just us. The spirit of giving is what softens the heart to see God work. It opens our eyes to opportunities to serve our Lord with our earnings. And most of all, it helps us keep God a priority.
Think about the attributes of givers. They are less selfish. They make better husbands, better wives, better students, better employers, better employees, and better friends. No one enjoys being around those people who always have an attitude of ‘what's in it for me?' We enjoy being around generous, giving people.
When God asks us to give, he is asking us to become more like him, because God is a giver. He has given us everything. God has given us life. He gave us a restored relationship with himself. He gave us forgiveness for our sins. He has given us his Holy Spirit. If we ask for wisdom, God gives us wisdom. If we ask for peace, he gives us peace. In fact, every good thing we receive in life ultimately is given by God. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. God gives.
God even gave his Son. Remember John 3:16? "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
So as I look to being more intentional about my priorities in 2009, I look both to my checkbook and to my heart. I desire to be a giver. Hopefully come tax day next year, the pie graph will look slightly different. And I do like pie.
To respond to this message, email JD at jd.watson@cwprops.com.
