Increase Your Health Span

Lately, podcasts, news articles, and even the instructions that accompany fitness devices have focused on “health span,” which is the length of time that a person is healthy, not just alive. My own fitness device tells me that I can increase my health span with more sleep, more steps, more vigorous exercise, and more control over my stress. I want to add another component: generosity.

We live in a world that often fills us with stress and leads to illness, and much of that stress surrounds issues of money. We always think that we need more than we have, and in the process, we forget generosity. Having now lived a relatively long time, observing my own life and the lives of others, I can say that generosity is a key component to health. Yes, even physical health is improved when we are generous. It is healthy to give away money.

If you want to be healthy, not simply alive, be generous. From the first full-time job I had up until now, I have found that there is something life-giving in giving away money. Giving to the church up front, before I spend on other things, has been one of the healthier things I have done, bringing better health physically and emotionally. Yes, the church needs money on which to operate, but our need to give away is even greater.

Why not start trying it? Give away more—put more money in the offering plate, increase your pledge—and your health span will likely increase. Believe me; is a whole lot more fun than sweating while running on those treadmills that take us nowhere.

Larry Benfield