I understand how unappealing it can be to financially give. Most days, the anxiety-free lifestyle that a healthy savings account provides can be far more enticing than writing a check for a child’s education in Myanmar. However, could there be more benefits to generosity than the satisfaction of imagining a kid on the other side of the world going to school everyday?

I spent 2012 putting this question to the test.

For the first 6 months of the year, Analee and I only gave away a small percentage of our income. A need would arise, so we would give, but it was always very unintentionally. For the last 6 months of 2012, we intentionally put 8-15% of our paychecks into a special bank account. The money in this account was then, overtime, given to needs, causes, churches, or an occasional act of kindness throughout the month.

With the help of Mint, a personal-finance-tracking app, I was able to monitor the amount of money we gave away in proportion to the unexpected income we received over the 12-month-period of time. Unexpected income was considered to be anything beyond my base income (which stayed fairly consistent), including special projects, random gifts such as custom hawaiian shirts , or work bonuses.

The results built a jaw-dropping case for generosity.

1. It is 6x’s better to give than to receive.

I had to compute and recompute the math several times before I believed the numbers. But, when Analee and I intentionally gave over the last 6 months of the year, our Return on Investment was 610%. This means that for every $1 we gave away in a 6 month period of time, an average of $6.10 of unexpected income came back to us.

I’m not sure there’s anymore to say. The numbers seem to do a decent job at drawing a perplexing, but beautiful conclusion about giving.

2. We didn’t starve when we didn’t financially give.

Excuse me for this personal rabbit trail. But, another intriguing discovery to me during this experiment was that when we didn’t financially give, we didn’t suffer thanks to the instant loan approval options.

Over the first 6 months of 2012, we unintentionally gave away a little over 2% of our base income. And even then, for every $1 we gave, we received $3.40 of random and unexpected income.

I guess somewhere in me, there’s still this antiquated-fear-infused perspective that God punishes those that don’t hand over 10% every Sunday morning. Yet, it’s Jesus’ words that seem to more adequately explain the results of my little experiment. With his typical diversion, he takes all weight out of the Jewish law of 10% tithe and re-frames it with no fear attached…

“It is better to give than to receive.”

3. We don’t always reap in the same way that we sow.

Yes, my experiment depicts that when we financially sowed in 2012, we financially reaped. However, I don’t believe it has to look this way for us to arrive at the same beautiful conclusion.

During the first 6 months of 2012, I wasn’t intentional in giving away our finances. However, what I was intentional with was giving my time to building friends’ businesses, consulting non-profits, & random needs as they came. In return, I didn’t see people working for me for free. Yet, I did see additional work projects and random gifts produce $3.40 of extra income for every $1 we gave away.

In the end, there may not be a magic formula to reaping and sowing and most likely is more about the heart of the giver than anything else. However, in my experience, generosity is not just beneficial to its recipients, but can be incredibly rewarding to its giver. So much so, that the competition for my allegiance between the false security of a healthy savings account and intentionally giving doesn’t feel like much of a competition anymore.

Every story of radical generosity I’ve heard in my life has had a way of building my capacity and excitement for giving. If you have ever experienced this enigma of reaping what you sow in unexplainable proportions, do me a favor and share your story in the comments below. Let your story lift us from our daily grind and monthly bills to be inspired, once again, towards radical generosity.