Why I Gave Away $1 Million Dollars

I confess: I am greedy. I’m a workaholic. I have an addiction to wanting more. I’ve always had this tug of war where I want to use people to get money. More is never enough for me. I’ve used my ambition as ammunition against others to get what I want. I’ve been so driven that I have driven over people.

Now maybe you can’t relate. Or just maybe I’m saying what you would never be able say out loud.

I’ve always been good at making money, saving money, and investing money. But what I haven’t been so good at is keeping money in perspective. I wish a brother in Christ had sat down and told me decades ago: Don’t waste your life pursing something you’ll never obtain. Jesus had similar words for the rich young ruler who asked him, “What must I do to be saved?” Jesus said, “sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10.21). But the rich young ruler walked away sorrowful. Why? Because greed was his idol. He couldn’t let go. Money was more valuable to him than Christ.

I feel for him because I’ve walked in his shoes. I know personally the death grip that money can have on you. His testimony is my testimony—but the ending to my story is a happy one. Fast forward, and I did a 180 and went from greedy to generous. So generous, in fact, that I gave away $1 million dollars. I was rich, young, and powerful, but unlike the rich young ruler, I chose to answer the call of Jesus instead of turning my back to him.

Here’s how I gave away a million dollars and why.

This is My Story

I started my investment company out of the trunk of my car. I still can’t believe there were investors who handed me checks for over $200,000—especially after I drove up in my red 1990’s Toyota Camry that was missing one hubcap. One time, it had to be jumped off by a client who had just handed me a $200,000 check only thirty minutes prior!

As my business took off, I kept my head down frugally. I grew my income from $100,000 in the first six months to $250,000 in the first full year and then half a million—and ultimately grew my salary to seven figures a year. I kept my spending artificially low like I teach about in other blogs and videos. My business was and still is focused on the stock market—but I needed to diversify. So I started investing all my business profits in a completely different asset class: real estate.

I bought duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes and renovated them. They went from places that cockroaches refused to live to where humans were now welcomed. As these properties were being turned on and rented out, my income continued to grow exponentially. Now, this wasn’t my first fortune. If you’ve read my book The Giving Crisis, you know my story about losing my first fortune at nineteen.

But as my success grew, it wasn’t long before that same greedy voice over my shoulder began to speak into my ear once again. It told me that others were working harder than me, they were smarter than me, and that even though you have twenty-five houses by twenty-five, you aren’t really that successful. Every time I climbed up one peak of success, there was always another in the distance eluding me. I never felt fulfilled. Even though from the world’s perspective, I had it all, I had what anyone could ever want, I was numbed by a lack of purpose. I felt lost—just as I’m sure the rich young ruler felt when he came to Jesus.

Thankfully, God revealed to me the simple fact that you can never lose what you have already given away. The fear of being poor drove me to work hard, but the fear of becoming greedy again drove me to give. I started to feel hope.

I tiptoed into giving. I started small, just putting my toe in the water by giving just one house away. Then I gave two houses, and then ten houses. And eventually I gave all forty plus houses away. The total worth of everything was a million dollars. Letting it all go was like a weight lifted off my soul. The feeling of freedom was incredible! This is why I speak about giving and tithing all the time! I want others to experience this for themselves.

Why I Gave Away $1 Million

Why did I do it?

1. Because possessions are possessive. I was owned by the assets I owned. Generosity was my way to repent.
2. To turn from empty empathy. In my pride, I was blind to the struggles and suffering that others were facing. I saw my work ethic as superior to the effort others were showing. Yet the act of sacrificial giving broke and softened my hardened heart for others.
3. To curb my covetousness. Giving was the only way God could slow down my ambition and keep me from driving off the proverbial cliff of burnout. Instead of clutching for more money, I started grasping for more meaning.

Ultimately, I felt more joy and purpose in giving away $1 million than I ever would have had in keeping it.

That’s what God is waiting for all of us to discover about giving—the joy! The purpose! And you don’t have to have a million dollars to give. Just start with what you have! Jesus had so little from a worldly perspective, but he gave so much. Acts 20:35 says, “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” You are actually made richer spiritually by giving it away, not poorer.

Our society doesn’t work this way. It’s keep up with the Joneses, accumulate more and experience more so you can post it all on social media. It’s a get ahead, consumer mentality. But through giving, I experienced the truth of Jesus’ words—and it changed everything.