Another important aspect of time stewardship involves generosity—how do we give of our time, both to God and to others?

One of the most obvious ways we are to give our time to God is by observing the sabbath, according to His commands. Read the following excerpts from a John Piper sermon, which emphasize the necessity of giving special attention to God on the sabbath.

“Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy.”

God’s Rest

The reason given in both Genesis 2:3 and Exodus 20:11 why God blessed and hallowed the seventh day is that “on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.” What does it mean that God rested? It means at least that he was satisfied that his work of creation was complete and was “very good.” His rest means that he wanted to now stand back as it were in leisure and savor the beauty and completeness of his creative work.

This is the real basis of his hallowing and blessing the day of rest. He is saying in effect, “Let my highest creature, the one in my image, stop every seven days and commemorate with me the fact that I am the creator who has done all this. Let him stop working and focus on me, that I am the source of all that he has. I am the fountain of blessing. I have made the very hands and mind with which he works. Let one day out of seven demonstrate that all land and all animals and all raw materials and all breath and strength and thought and emotion and everything come from me. Let man look to me in leisure one day out of seven for the blessing that is so elusive in the affairs of this world.”

The beautiful thing about the sabbath is that God instituted it as a weekly reminder of two things. One is that all true blessing comes from his grace, not our labor. The other is that we hallow him and honor him and keep the day holy if we seek the fullness of his blessing by giving our special attention to him on that day.

God as the Source of Salvation

It would be a mistake to conclude from these two texts that the only blessings we should focus on during our sabbath observance were the blessings of creation. Deuteronomy 5 gives us a second version of the Ten Commandments. Here the basis of the sabbath observance is different. Verse 15:

You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

In other words the mighty hand and the outstretched arm of God were not wearied by the work of creation. They are full of strength. God’s rest was not for recuperation, but for exultation. Now the same God has shown his power not just to create but also to save. So the focus of the sabbath is on God not only as the source of creation, but also as the source of salvation. “Your God brought you up out of the land of Egypt . . . THEREFORE he commanded you to keep the sabbath day.” One day of rest in every seven, kept holy to the Lord, reminds us and shows the world that GOD is our creator and our deliverer—we did not make ourselves, we cannot sustain or save ourselves without his grace. Be still and know that he is God.

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The Bible contains many verses that instruct Christians to be loving, selfless and giving to one another:

“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.” (Romans 12:10)

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Generosity of time is pleasing to the Lord, and though it may seem counterintuitive, obedience to Him in this regard will ultimately reduce your stress and bring you joy.

Not only does God’s Word affirm this truth, but secular researchers have also begun to notice the benefits of this kind of generosity. Read the following article from Stanford Business on the positive results of spending time on other people (Source).

“Research: There are Big Benefits to Giving Your Time”

It’s a fact that most Americans are feeling more time-constrained than ever. With waking hours largely consumed by work, precious minutes remain for the daily list of to-dos, including exercise, cleaning, and socializing with friends and family. For some, time has become an even more valuable resource than money. Indeed, twice as many Americans would prefer two weeks of vacation over two weeks of extra pay. People’s sense that time is scarce decreases their willingness to give time to others — be it individuals or worthy organizations.

A recent paper published in Psychological Science, however, shows that helping other people can actually increase feelings of “time affluence” and alleviate the perceived “time famine.” The research demonstrates that spending time on others makes people feel like they have done a lot with their time — and the more they feel they have done with their time, the more time they will feel they have.

Time for Someone Else or for Oneself

In the first of four studies conducted by Cassie Mogilner, Zoë Chance, and Michael Norton, participants carried out five-minute tasks in which they either gave their time or wasted it. Participants in the giving-time condition wrote an encouraging note (which was subsequently mailed) to a gravely ill child. Participants in the wasting-time condition were instead asked to complete a filler task that required counting the letter “e” in multiple pages of Latin text.

Participants who gave time by writing to a sick child felt like they had more time than those who wasted time. Although both giving time and wasting time could signal that one has an abundance of time, only giving time led participants to perceive their time as more abundant.

In a follow up, people were assigned either to “spend 10 minutes doing something for yourself that you weren’t already planning to do today” or “spend 30 minutes doing something for someone else that you weren’t already planning to do today.” The results were similar. Spending time on others seemed to “expand the future” in contrast to spending time on oneself.

In the third study, some participants spent fifteen minutes helping an at-risk student from a local public high school by editing his or her research essay. Others were told all the essays had been edited, and they could leave early — thus essentially being granted “free” time. Participants who gave their time helping felt as though they had more time than those who received an equivalent amount of “free” time.

Moreover, those who had received the “windfall” of fifteen minutes completed an average of seven minutes less work on an additional task than those who had spent the time helping another. These results suggest that spending time prosocially may increase how much one does in the future, not just prosocially but also more generally.

A fourth study involved participants vividly describing a recent expenditure of time doing something that was not part of their normal responsibilities — either for someone else or for themselves. Consistent with the findings of the previous studies, participants who remembered giving time felt they had more time than participants who remembered spending time on themselves. Also as predicted, participants who gave time felt more effective than those who spent time on themselves.

Connecting Time Spent on Others to Happiness

People who spend time on others might feel less time constrained and better able to complete their myriad tasks and responsibilities.

The finding that giving time increases perceptions of having time by increasing feelings of self-efficacy is welcome news in light of research showing the detrimental consequences of time pressure on happiness, stress levels, and prosocial behavior. Although feeling starved for time generally leads individuals to prioritize spare hours for themselves — decompressing in front of the television or getting a massage, for example — these results suggest that if people instead spent time on others, they might feel less time constrained and better able to complete their myriad tasks and responsibilities.

In short, when individuals feel time constrained, they should become more generous with their time — despite their inclination to be less so.