Did you know that everything we possess is in reality on loan from the Lord? Our children are a gift from God that He has given us to cherish and raise up in the Lord. Wisdom is also a gift from the Lord to be used to help build up the kingdom of God. And even our ability to earn wealth is a blessing from the Lord and needs to be handled with care. Scripture clearly teaches this principle that God owns everything. Consider the following verses:
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)
“Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:18)
“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” (Haggai 2:8)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)
Thus, since God owns everything and chooses to loan us a portion of His gifts we need to be good stewards of these gifts from above. Let’s look at our finances to see how this principle works. In evangelical Christian circles there is much debate on the question is tithing for today or was it only applicable in biblical times. My own personal view is that while giving a tenth of our wealth is a good guideline, I believe that we should give of our finances in proportion to how much God has blessed us with. Under this scenario a single person earning $200,000 a year should probably be giving to the Lord more than 10% while a family of four with only the husband working, earning say $40,000 might be able to give 10% but certainly a smaller percentage than the first person in our example.
When it comes to giving my own belief is that we should be giving not just of our finances but of our skills and our time to kingdom business. And I also believe that the more we give of our time, talent, and treasury the more God will bless us. I believe that the main reason God wants us to give is so He can bless us. It is important to note that God doesn’t need our money. (Psalm 50:10) tells us: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.” Not only does He own the cattle on the thousand hills but the planet on which the hills are on, and the universe on which our planet revolves. The main reason God enjoys when we give is that it shows we want to advance His kingdom and that automatically will bring blessings our way. Remember since everything we possess is a gift from above we should try to use these gifts, whether financial or non-financial, to advance the kingdom of God.
God looks at your heart when it comes to giving and He also looks at the attitude you bring to your gifts. We know that God loves a cheerful giver and wants us to view giving as a delight and not a duty. In the final analysis how, we handle the things that God has entrusted to us will determine if we will experience joy or regret – joy if we use our possessions wisely for His glory and regret if we chose to hoard these gifts from above for ourselves.
My friends, I have seen debates over whether we should tithe on the net or on the gross. My own belief is that we should give from the heart and let God move in our heart as He presents us with opportunities to give. I view giving as a joyous privilege to advance God’s kingdom here on earth and this entails so much more than mere finances. I challenge you to look for opportunities to give back a portion, from what God has loaned you, to those people and things that God has laid on your heart – I guarantee you will be blessed!
Thanks for this article – very clear presentation of the subject. Amen