People often say you should study what you love, and I do. I love to be inspired by people, and I love the ways that social science research can move beyond merely naming problems in need of solving to helping us learn from the best of our social surroundings to make improvements. In more than two decades immersed in research, I have gained wisdom by learning from the traditions people embrace to motivate and sustain their calls to be generous. While these teachings are numerous, I will limit myself here to focusing on two sets: generosity in faith traditions and in habit-forming traditions.

Generosity in Faith Traditions

In surveying, interviewing, and observing people from all walks of life, across nearly every age, race, education level, occupation, and religiosity, one of the great takeaways has been that generosity is rooted within all major faith traditions. Across the globe, people raised within the contours of Judaism, Islam, Protestant Christianity, and Catholicism have all encountered religious teachings about the spiritual value of giving to benefit others. While I am no theological scholar, here are tidbits I have gathered over the years regarding calls to be generous in faith traditions.

Jewish Wisdom

Beginning with generosity in Judaism, tzedakah (צְדָקָה ṣədāqā) is a righteous obligation to restore justice in the world. Giving is part of this obligation. Yet, this call also includes an obligation to care for those in need and to act justly. The Torah legislates that Jews must give 10 percent of their earnings to the poor, yet the Talmud calls Jewish people to give at least 10 percent of their earnings to tzedakah. In “Fundraising as Tzedakah,” Reuven Kimelman describes that raising funds is integral to sustaining Jewish communities, with the desire to support Jewish concerns growing alongside a raised consciousness regarding the importance of Jewish identity. He stated: “Tzedakah may not save us, but it makes us worth saving.”¹ Giving to Jewish federations is one example of faith-inspired generosity in Jewish traditions.² In terms of the practice of enacting a call to be generous and to give in ways that embody tzedakah, Jewish traditions offer an exquisite idea formulated as the giving ladder.

The Giving Ladder

The eight rungs of the giving ladder are credited to Maimonides, a Jewish scholar in the 12th century. Each rung up on the ladder represents a higher degree of virtue.³ Starting with the lowest rung and working up the ladder, the rungs are:

1. Giving begrudgingly. When a person is unwilling in their giving it can make the recipient feel disgraced or embarrassed by receiving a begrudged gift.
2. Giving inadequately but cheerfully. Giving too little is better than giving unwillingly, as at least a person is giving gladly and with a smile.
3. Giving only after being asked. Giving adequately and cheerfully is better than giving too little, yet the act of having to be asked first diminishes the potential of the gift.
4. Giving before being asked. Giving before being asked elevates the virtuosity because it is inspired without needing a solicitation to prompt the gift.
5. Giving to unknown recipients. Not knowing the identity of the recipient lessens their shame. It is said that sages used to tie coins to their robes and throw them over their backs so that the poor could pick it up without feeling ashamed.
6. Giving anonymously. The giver knows who the recipient is, but the recipient does not know who the benefactor is. It is said that sages used to walk around and secretly put coins in the doors of the poor, so they did not know who was responsible for charity.
7. Giving when neither the donor nor the recipient is aware of the other’s identity. This is like the “anonymous fund” in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. By giving and profiting in secret, a mitzvah (good deed) is performed solely for the sake of Heaven.
8. Giving money, a loan, time, or whatever else it takes to enable an individual to be self-reliant. Entering into a partnership benefits both the giver and receiver on equal footing and fosters a respectful relationship that is dignifying.

Muslim Wisdom

In Islam, karam (الكرم) means generosity, zakat (زكاة) is a requirement to give, while sadqah (صدقة) is optional voluntary philanthropy.⁴ The Qur’an underscores the value of “gifting to God a beautiful loan” and also advises that “to give charity publicly is good, but to give to the poor privately is better.”⁵ This wisdom shares commonalities with the giving ladder rungs in calling people not only to give, but to do so in ways that restore dignity. In hadith (حديث), it is recounted that Allah is generous and loves generosity and that people who are generous are closer to Allah, eternal paradise, and those around them.6 As a religious guidebook of sorts, the sunnah (سنة) describes inspirations for living gained from the prophet Muhammad, and it states that: “the Prophet was the most generous of all people.”⁷ With this wisdom, Muslims draw inspiration for many acts of generosity in everyday life. One example is how Quranic wisdom can support the activities of micro-finance institutions, in that a philosophy of poverty alleviation rooted in Islamic teachings supports the need for subsidies or contributions given charitably to underwrite industry that is not yet self-sustaining or profitable.⁸ Monetary waqf (الوقف) benevolent funds or charitable endowments, are faith-inspired investments in relief to help the poor.

Christian Wisdom

Turning to Protestant Christianity, Bible verses such as 1 Corinthians 12–14 can inspire generosity through attention to “spiritual gifts” that are embodied in diverse ways.⁹ This same text in Catholicism is called “spirit for the common good” and described in this way: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body.”¹⁰ The faith-inspired wisdom continues in inviting people to consider their wealth nothing if it does not feed the hungry and clothe the poor. The parallels across faith traditions continue as St. John Paul II calls upon the embodiment in the prophets to state: “It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with our lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving society, making the world more human and fraternal.”¹¹

The Catechism, a summary of principles that interpret Catholic faith in daily life, states that: “charity is the greatest social commandment” and “inspires a life of self-giving.”¹² This call to blend charity in justice within a life of generosity is further explained within the context of differences among people. Age, physical abilities, intellectual or moral aptitudes, wealth—these differences call people to an obligation to “practice generosity, kindness, and sharing of goods” to “foster the mutual enrichment of cultures.” The Catechism goes on to describe socio-economic problems as only being resolvable by help across “all the forms of solidarity: solidarity among the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples, international solidarity.” This is what is needed to support dignity of human persons.

In each their own way, these faith traditions all support the call to be generous. Their wisdom inspires the heroic acts of everyday people. Though it remains important to acknowledge their distinctions, it is also awe-inspiring how much commonality can be found across each of these faiths. Traditions to be generous unite differences and bind people together within a call that inspires us to be more than we are individually and to give to one in another in ways that support the betterment of humanity.

Habit-Forming Practices

A second source of wisdom I have learned from more than two decades spent listening to people through social science research is the importance of habit-forming traditions. Beyond calls to be generous inspired from faith traditions, people who enact generosity within their daily lives point to the need to form habits. It is one thing to want to give to others, and it is another to actually do it. Talking with people across the life course, one takeaway is that people never describe becoming incredibly generous later in life after having spent their life waiting until that “miraculous someday” arrives. Rather, generosity appears to be best actualized within habits that are gradually increased and honed over time. While it can be tempting as a young college student to think that someday one will have more time, or as a young parent spending to support kids that someday one will have more money, I have learned from generous people that someday is now.

Generous actions can be small, but they are best not put off; rather, they can be built into the structure of how one lives their life. A habit to give an hour of time in one stage of life builds the foundation for giving hours of time later. Much like we cannot pick up a set of barbells and instantaneously pump 100 pounds of iron without prior warmups, generous actions need to be built one layer of muscle tissue at a time. They are strengthened through regular activity and a discipline of commitment that builds them into the very fabric of our bodily essence. Muscle memory is said to be a movement pattern that our brains encode and remember in a way that becomes automatic and without concerted attention. If you have ever had the experience of driving on autopilot and showing up at your home when you meant to go to the store, then you have experienced the power of muscle memory. Generous people have taught me that giving can be built into muscle memory.

For these reasons, I have moved from flowing along with the typical American culture, which disdains anything smelling like limits to individual choice, to understanding the value of teaching and modeling generosity. Funny that we do not have a problem teaching young children to memorize their ABCs or quizzing grade-school children repeatedly to ingrain spelling conventions and math facts. Yet, when it comes to matters of the heart, it rubs against the grain to routinize giving or financial spending discipline. However, common sense is as they say, neither sensical nor common, and research repeatedly shows that the best way young people learn to give is by being told it is good to do and then having it patterned into their routines as we do with everything else that matters. “Don’t point,” we say, “it is not polite,” and “say please and thank you,” we tell children. In all the little in-between moments, we are comfortable passing on to kids the wisdom of other cultural norms. When it comes to teaching generosity, it is not different. First we need to pattern it in, and later an emerging young adult can be more reflective about why, how, and other personal choices in the life they build.

Faith Motivates, Habit Sustains

Scanning across faith traditions, each of the world religions contains calls to be generous and wisdom about why giving matters. Faith traditions motivate giving. Pairing those insights with social science data, motivations are necessary but not sufficient for actions. Habits are needed to enact calls to be generous into regular patterns of behavior. Faith motivates and habit sustains. As educators, parents, friends, and concerned citizens, we can help form habits of generosity. Let’s build it into our muscle memory, personally and communally.

1. Reuven Kimelman, ”Fundraising as Tzedakah.” Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership, Brandeis University (2010): ⁶.
2. Lee Meyerhoff Hendler, Alicia Schuyler Oberman, and Douglas Bitoni Stewart. “Connected to Give: Faith Communities,” Findings from the National Study of American Jewish Giving, Jewish Jumpstart (2013): 3, issuelab.org/resource/connected-to-give-faith-communities.html.
3. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Charity, 10:7–14. Based on Yad, Matanot Ani’im X 1–14; Shamash and Donin, Hayim. To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life. NY: Basic Books, 1991.
4. Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, 2024.
5. Q64:17; Q2:271.
6. Al-Suyuti, I, 60; Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1961.
7. Book 61, Hadith 63.
8. Ahmad Kaleem, and Saima Ahmed. “The Quran and Poverty Alleviation.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 39, no. 3 (2010): 409–28.
9. The Holy Bible, King James Version, 1 Corinthians 12–14.
10. The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, 1 Corinthians 12–14.
11. St. John Paul II at World Youth Day in 2005, as quoted in “It Is Jesus You Seek,” Diocesan, October 21, 2016.
12. Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 2nd edition, US Catholic Conference, 2000 [1889]; [1936]; [1937]; [1941]; [1947].