Have you ever seen my budget template? If you take a quick look, you will see that the first line item is the category of “Giving”.
As I have written many, many times before, I believe the key to gaining control over your money is learning to live on a monthly budget.
But I also believe that the cornerstone of your budget is having a generous heart.
So I would like to give you my motivation for giving. These come from my Christian worldview and from my personal experience.
However, regardless of your faith and even if you are not a person of faith the principle still applies.
Generosity is a distinguishing mark of people who win with money.
I believe that we should give because God is the owner, provider, and the example.
God is the Owner
I understand that I am a steward, an asset manager for God and that He owns it all (Psalm 24:1). He does not “need” my money. And by the way, it is not my money anyway.
But it is fundamental that I understand God’s ownership of all things:
‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
Haggai 2:8
“But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.”
I Chronicles 29:14
Finally, as a steward, I also understand will give an account to Him as the owner.
I will have to answer for the sum of my life and finances are just a part of that account (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).
Giving is really a matter of obedience.
God is the Provider
Everything comes from God. He is the ultimate and perfect provider:
“But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth,”
Deuteronomy 8:18a
24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
Acts 17:24-25
One of the great preachers and Bible teachers of our generation, Dr. David Jeremiah has put it best: “God is a God of grace. His grace provides strength to earn, generosity to give, and humility to receive.”
Giving is really a matter of thanksgiving.
God is the Example
He gave the ultimate gift by giving His Son as the Savior of the whole world (I John 4:9-10).
And as we excel in the grace of giving, it makes us more like God and Christ. They are givers.
As we grow into the likeness of Christ, we should grow in the aspect of giving as we seek to be like Him (Romans 8:29).
What better motivation for giving could you have?
Giving is really a matter of spiritual maturity.
“God is the great giver. The great provider. The fount of every blessing. Absolutely generous and utterly dependable. The resounding and recurring message of Scripture is clear: God owns it all. God shares it all. Trust him, not stuff!”
Max Lucado (Fearless)
This post is also available in: Spanish
