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Importance of Tipping

When you eat out do you look forward to tipping your server?

According to payscale.com, a waiter or waitress earns an average $5.09 per hour. Not much!

There was a period in my youth when my mother was a waitress. We would count her tips in the evenings and get so excited if she had any dollar bills, especially a 5! My son, who is a former Army Ranger, waited tables briefly in college. He says it was the most stressful job he ever had, and he has done lots of hard jobs!

Tipping is an expression of gratitude. It reflects a heart of compassion that identifies with the work done by the employee and is a means to demonstrate the love of Christ.

Giving lousy tips, especially with a tract, does not honor God or others. We have been given much and have an obligation to share with others. It’s a means to display God’s character.

Scripture’s full of passages about loving others. Listen carefully:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them…”

“We love because He first loved us.”

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

What if we have a terrible server? Remember the patience and kindness of our Lord, and tip him or her anyway, with a kind note affirming any good you saw in the service they provided.

Be prepared to leave a generous tip the next time you eat out and see what happens.

For more encouragement or help with your finances, call the Crown Helpline at 800-722-1976 or go online to crown.org