Be Generous with the Money You Have

It has left a scar on the lives of many. They grew up attending a church where the offering plate was passed. The pastor stood up and gave a passionate sermon about giving and tithing, and the offering plate was passed again. More pressure and guilt were poured on, and the offering plate was passed a third time. This would continue, not just on one Sunday, but most Sundays. 

Does God and his Church only want my money? It seems that way to some. Perhaps the church they grew up in had misaligned priorities and left them with the impression that all churches care about it getting their money. All they talk about is tithing and giving money. And who needs one more entity trying to get your money? 

We’re in the middle of a four-week series on Biblical Principles of Money. If you’re a Christian like me, knowing what the Bible says about money is important. If you’re not a Christian, perhaps because they only want your money, it is still valuable to understand ancient wisdom about money. We’re covering four principles in four weeks.

1. Beware of the Money You Love
2. Be Wise with the Money You Manage
3. Be Generous with the Money You Have
4. Be Prosperous with the Money You Make

Recap

Last week we tackled Beware of the Money You Love. Loving money can cause you to do foolish or harmful things to get it or cause you to wander from what’s important, like faith and family. If you’re not content, you’ll never have enough money. If you are content with what you have, you’ll always have enough. 

The principles are ordered that way for stylistic purposes. Beware, Be Wise, Be Generous, Be Prosperous. We will take them in a different order.

1. Warning
2. Antidote
3. Make Money
4. Manage Money

You have to make money to manage it well, and we’ll cover those in the next two weeks. Avoid the love of money, which we covered last week. The best way to avoid the love of money is to be generous with it, which we’re talking about today.

Be Generous with the Money You Have

It is easy and natural to get into a mindset of “all the money I earn and own is for my consumption.” “It’s my money; I don’t owe it to anyone.” “Why should I give? It’s my money.” 

You’re right. It is your money. And you don’t need to give anyone anything. Let’s clarify something right away. 

Giving vs. Owing

When we give our money, we are giving it. It is a gift, meaning given freely under no compulsion. 

Have you ever heard someone complain, “I gave them a present for their birthday, but when mine came, they didn’t give me anything!” Or, “They are getting me a Christmas gift, so I need to give them one.” 

Listen, if we need to “give” someone something, it is no longer a gift. If we are required to be “generous,” it’s no longer generosity. If we feel someone is obligated to give us something, that they owe us a gift because we gave them one, then we are bartering, not giving. 

When we must “give,” it’s not giving. It’s owing. Wages are owed. Someone does something, and someone else owes them. Gifts are offered. Someone gives because they want to bless someone else. 

The Bible knows this distinction. A well-known verse in the Bible declares, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” (Romans 6:23a; emphasis added.) Therefore the Bible does not command us to give. One cannot be commanded to give, for then it is not giving. The Bible calls us to give. Let’s examine why, when, and how we are called to give.

Why We Give

Before we can look at why we give, let’s ensure we break a common myth.

Why We Don’t Give

Myth: We give because God needs our money.

We can get the message directly or indirectly. It’s often used as a guilt trip by churches and ministries. “Give to us because God needs your help in fulfilling his mission through us.” No.

God is clear in Psalm 50. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.”

If that were written today, it might read like this, “I have no need for your cash in the offering plate or your automatic charitable gifts, for every dollar is mine and the balances in a million banks. Everything in the world is already mine.” 

God does not need our money. God is not trying to have our money. He’s calling us to ensure our money doesn’t have us.

Why We Give

We give because of what it does for us as much as what it does for others. When we give freely and generously, it demonstrates that we care about people and causes beyond ourselves. 

Some see human suffering and rant about it on social media. Some see human suffering and give to organizations doing something about it. Who has the greater character? Those who complain about problems or those who care enough to give generously to solve them? When we love others more than we love money, we will automatically become the kind of person who gives.

Do we give to our church because we must? No. If “giving” were required, there would be a cover charge to get in or a monthly membership fee. We give to our church because we care about the mission of the church. We see how they are helping people and edifying communities; we care about those people and causes enough to want to support them. If we don’t love our church enough to want to give, we must either examine our church to see if its mission is worth giving to or, more likely, examine ourselves to see if we love the mission more than our money. 

Want more reasons to give? The Bible has many positive things to say about giving, those who give, and the blessings they will receive. Here are just a few.

• Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
• Psalm 37:21 “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously.”
• Proverbs 11:24-25 “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”
• Proverbs 19:17 “Those who are kind to the poor lend to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
• Proverbs 22:9 “A generous person will be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”
• Proverbs 28:22,27 “A stingy person is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits them. Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”

So even if we care more about ourselves than others, we will be rewarded for giving. 

When We Give

The biggest myth around giving is the “when” fallacy. “When I reach this point, then I’ll give.” “When I make a little more, then I’ll give.” “When I have a million dollars, I’ll start giving.” 

If that is our attitude, we will never give. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” If we aren’t giving now, no amount of money or income will be enough to start giving. 

In Luke 16:10-13, Jesus says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

And this is the key theme the Bible keeps coming back to. If we love money, we will never be generous and thus miss out on the blessings of giving. If we don’t give with “little,” we won’t give when we have much.

This is why the Bible never dictates the amount of money to give. No verse says, “Give ten shekels per year,” which we could then inflate into a modern-day amount. A prescribed amount would be difficult for those of little means and not generous for those of higher means. 

The Bible gives us the “tithe,” which means “tenth.” Giving ten percent of income is the Biblical benchmark. People argue whether we are still commanded to give a tenth of our income and whether that’s on the net or gross—which entirely misses the point. We are called to be generous, which means those with more will need to give more to reach that point than those with less.

When do we give? Now. There will never be a better time. All of us, with whatever means we have, are called to give generously and promised great rewards when we do. 

How We Give

The Bible makes this remarkable statement in 2 Corinthians. “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

If we want to reap generously, sow generously. If we want to receive generously, give generously. 

How do we give? Two steps.

1. Decide in your heart what you want to give.

Most people give nothing. Of those who give, it is often done sporadically. $50 here. $25 there. Someone asks, and they feel compelled to give. Here’s $100. 

The better way is to decide in your heart what to give. 

We decide on the amount to give. “I want to start by giving 1% of my income and then increase by 1% each time I get a raise.” 

We also decide on the place to give it. “I’m going to give it all to my church.” “Half of my giving is going to my church, a quarter to this organization, and a quarter to this organization.” 

When we are intentional about the amounts and the places we are giving, we see more of the impact in our own lives and in what or whom we give it. Perhaps a portion of your giving is set aside for “whatever comes up.” But that is still more intentional than guilt-giving.

2. Give it cheerfully.

Giving is not a command. We don’t do it reluctantly. We don’t do it compulsively. True giving is done cheerfully. 

Be Generous with the Money You Have

If we want to break our love of money and receive untold rewards, give intentionally, give generously, and give cheerfully. 

This article is educational only and is not intended to be investment, legal, or tax advice or recommendations, whether direct or incidental. Again, this is not investment advice. Consult your financial, tax, and legal professionals for specific advice related to your specific situation. Never take investment advice from someone who doesn’t know you and your specific situation. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the people expressing them. Any performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be directly invested in.