Our money is God’s money

Psalm 24.1 tells us, "The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it". And so, the money we have is not ours to use or keep however we want, because everything belongs to God. It’s been entrusted to us by God to be used for doing good to others and in a way which brings God glory.  

Our giving is a response to God’s generousity to us

Most richly displayed in Jesus: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8). And so we give generously, because God has been generous to us first. God’s generousity is the motivation for our giving.

It’s not how much we give, but how we give that matters

God wants us to be cheerful givers, who do not give only because they have to, but because they want to (2 Corinthians 8). We read in the Bible about the Macedonian churches: "In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” and “... gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” They pleaded with the Apostle Paul for the “privilege” of serving the Lord’s people. This is a great model for our own giving.

It can sometimes feel overwhelming to think about all the options: your local church, missionaries, neighbours, and showing hospitality and care for others. This also includes providing for our own families (1 Timothy 5.8) and elders in the church who have been set aside to do the majority of the preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5.17), and those who are in need among us (Acts 2.44-45), but also outside of us. And so, we need to consider all the God-given opportunities we have to be generous to others.

details