Introduction — The Steward and the Master
The Bible emphatically demonstrates that how we view our money and possessions is of utmost importance. What we do with them will influence eternity. Jesus once told his disciples about a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So the rich man called him in and asked, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer” (Luke 16:1–2). This parable, like the other stewardship parables, shows that God — who is infinitely rich and owns all things — has assigned to human beings management responsibilities over his assets. We can manage his money and possessions well, or, as in the case of that careless manager, poorly. One day we will stand before God and give an account of how we have managed what belongs to him.
It might seem unfair that we won’t formally answer to God for our work as his asset managers until our lives here are done and it’s too late to implement changes. But it’s not unfair, because God has recorded in the Bible everything we need to know about his investment priorities, his high standards of management, and the rewards he offers his faithful stewards.
This book won’t tell you how to achieve your financial goals, but it will provide the light in which your financial goals should be formulated. That’s why the central focus is not insurance but assurance, not securities but security, not trusts but trust, not principal but principles, not real estate but “real” estate. As Martin Luther put it, “There are three conversions necessary in the Christian life: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse.”
Chapter 1 — Starting Right
Many who say “I have nothing to give” spend large amounts of discretionary income on cars, clothes, coffee, entertainment, phones, and computers. They have nothing to give when they’re done spending, precisely because they’re never done spending. Then, when they run out of money, they think it’s because they didn’t have enough. But the real issue is not what we would do with a million dollars if we had it — it’s what we are doing with the hundred thousand, ten thousand, or ten dollars we do have. If we are not faithful with what God has already entrusted to us, why should he trust us with any more?
Thousands of verses of Scripture talk directly or indirectly about money and possessions. The sheer enormity of the Bible’s teaching on this subject screams for our attention. Jesus said more about how we are to view and handle money and possessions than about any other topic — including both heaven and hell, and prayer and faith — because God wants us to recognize the powerful relationship between our true spiritual condition and our attitude and actions concerning money and possessions.
Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus gives us a window into what God thinks about money. When Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham” (Luke 19:8–9). Jesus judged the reality of Zacchaeus’s salvation by his willingness — his cheerful eagerness — to part with his money for God’s glory and the good of others.
Contrast that with the rich young man who came to Jesus asking what good deed he must do to have eternal life. When Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then follow, the young man went away sad because he had many possessions. Jesus turned to his disciples: “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Jesus did not call each and every disciple to liquidate their possessions and leave their homes, but he knew that money was this young man’s god. The principle is timeless: if Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, he is not our Lord.
When the crowds came to John for baptism and asked what repentance looked like in practice, his answers were concrete and financial. Share your shirt and food with those who have none. Tax collectors were told to collect no more than the government requires. Soldiers were told not to extort money or make false accusations, and to be content with their pay (Luke 3:7–14). Suppose Luke or John the Baptist were to visit us today and gauge our spiritual condition by our attitudes and actions regarding money and possessions. What conclusions would they draw?
In Mark 12:41–44, our Lord does more than notice — he deliberately watches what people do with their money. “Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.” Jesus called his disciples over and said that poor widow had given more than all the others, because they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she was, had given everything she had to live on. Notice the passage doesn’t say Jesus happened to see this. No — he deliberately watched what people were giving.
The rich fool of Luke 12 stands in stark contrast to that poor widow. He had a fertile farm that produced fine crops, and when he ran out of room to store them all, his plan was to tear down his barns, build bigger ones, then sit back and tell himself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” He may have attended synagogue weekly, tithed, and prayed, as most Jews did. Like any good businessman, he simply wanted to expand and retire early. Sounds just like the modern dream. But God said to him, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” The God who knows hearts and sees from the vantage point of eternity regards the poor woman as eternally wise and the rich man as eternally foolish. Why? Because one was rich toward God and the other wasn’t. Yet who do most Western Christians think and live more like — the poor widow or the rich fool?
According to Romans 14:12, “Each of us will give a personal account to God.” One day we will all have to answer these questions: What did I do with all that wealth? What has my handling of money and possessions accomplished for eternity?
Chapter 2 — Ownership
A distraught man once frantically rode his horse up to John Wesley, shouting, “Mr. Wesley, Mr. Wesley, something terrible has happened! Your house has burned to the ground!” After weighing the news for a moment, Wesley replied, “No. The Lord’s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.” We might say, “Get real,” but Wesley’s reaction didn’t stem from a denial of reality. Rather, it sprang from life’s most basic reality — that God is the owner of all things, and we are simply his stewards.
From beginning to end, Scripture emphasizes God’s ownership of everything. Consider the cumulative weight of these passages: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14). “The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants” (Leviticus 25:23). “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours … Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things” (1 Chronicles 29:11–12). “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11). “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills … the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:10–12). “‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Haggai 2:8).
And if we should think, “Well, at least I own myself,” God says, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
Not only does God own everything, but he grants us our money-making skills and determines how much of his wealth he will entrust to us. “Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). “The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and lifts up” (1 Samuel 2:7). If we really believe God is the owner of all that has been entrusted to us, shouldn’t we be regularly asking him, “What do you want me to do with your money and your possessions?” And shouldn’t we be open to the possibility that he may want us to share large portions of his assets with those whose needs are greater than ours?
A steward’s primary goal is to be “found faithful” by his master. He proves himself faithful by wisely using the master’s resources to accomplish the tasks delegated to him (1 Corinthians 4:2). Those resources include not only money but time, gifting, relationships, employment, and life opportunities. If I’m God’s money manager, I’m not God. Money isn’t God. God is God. So God, money, and I are each put in their rightful place.
Chapter 3 — Stewardship
In the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus doesn’t tell us to stay away from “worldly wealth” but to use it strategically. He says to use it “to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). Money can be a tool of Christ — but it must be used as such now, before our current period of service ends.
Who are these friends? They’re believers who are in heaven as a result of our ministry or whose lives we’ve touched in a significant way through the use of our material assets. They’ll have their own eternal dwellings and will welcome us in as we move about the heavenly kingdom. Every time we give to world missions, famine relief, prison ministry, and Bible translation — whenever we invest our time and prayers — we can dream about the day we’ll meet and enjoy the hospitality of new friends and family. One day, money will be useless. While it’s still useful, God’s money managers with foresight will use it for eternal good.
The parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11–27) shows that those with comparable gifts, assets, and opportunities will be judged according to their faithfulness, industriousness, and wisdom while investing in God’s kingdom. Consequently, in God’s eternal kingdom, they’ll receive varying positions of authority — ruling over cities, apparently on the new earth.
What does Jesus teach us about the faithful property manager? Stewardship first: the servants must be acutely aware that they are only caretakers. It’s their job to take the assets entrusted — not given — to them and use them wisely to care for and expand the master’s estate. Accountability: because they don’t own these assets, the servants are accountable for them to the master and will stand before him one day to explain why they invested as they did. Faithfulness: servants seek to be trustworthy, to handle the master’s estate in a way that would please him, until the master returns or until death — and resignation isn’t an option. Industriousness: they must work hard and do their best. Wisdom: they must choose their investments carefully, taking neither undue risks nor letting capital erode through idleness, because the goal isn’t merely to conserve resources but to multiply them. Respect: the stewards know that the master is just, his instructions explicit and his expectations high — a healthy fear motivates them to good stewardship. And focus: all side interests are brought into orbit around one consuming purpose, which is to serve the master well.
When we stand before our Master and Maker, it will not matter how many people on earth knew our names, how many called us great, or how many considered us fools. It will not matter whether schools and hospitals were named after us, whether our estates were large or small, or whether our funerals drew ten thousand people or no one. What will matter is one thing and one thing only — what our Master thinks of us.
Chapter 4 — “Money Is Bad”
Two equally incorrect beliefs about money are that it is always evil and that it is always good. Does the Bible say that money is the root of all evil? No, it does not. What it says is this: “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). The distinction matters enormously.
Materialism is money-centered and thing-centered rather than God-centered. Asceticism occupies the opposite extreme — it sees money and things as inherently evil, and holds that the less you own, the more spiritual you are. Martin Luther compared humanity to a drunkard who falls off his horse to the right, gets back on, and then falls off to the left. Asceticism is falling off the horse on one side; materialism is falling off the other side. As Luther put it, Satan doesn’t care which side of the horse we fall off, as long as we don’t stay in the saddle.
Paul learned contentment in every situation — with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little (Philippians 4:11–12). Generating income is a necessary and God-ordained part of life in the present world and is therefore not unspiritual. We should commend those who choose to live simply or strategically so that a larger portion of their income helps the needy. But we should neither disdain income production nor withdraw from the system as if economics were sinful. If we do, we’ll end up contributing to poverty rather than alleviating it. We must all battle materialism — not by withdrawing from society, but by serving God faithfully within it.
Chapter 5 — “It’s All about Money”
God created us to love people and use things, but materialists love things and use people. Scripture is filled with cautionary portraits. When the walls of Jericho fell, Achan stole things set apart for God and thought he could get away with it — he didn’t (Joshua 7:1–26). For a fee, Delilah betrayed Samson to the Philistines (Judges 16:4–8). To gain wealth, Gehazi lied about Elisha’s desire to receive payment for curing Naaman, and God afflicted Gehazi with the very leprosy he had cured Naaman of (2 Kings 5:20–27). Long before the Israelites had their first king, God warned against a monarch’s temptation to accumulate horses, wives, and large amounts of silver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:16–17). And in the ultimate act of treachery, Judas betrayed God’s own Son for money.
”Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world” (Colossians 3:5). Greed surfaces in two distinct forms. Possessiveness relates to what we have — being selfish with what we own, not quick to share. Covetousness relates to what we want — longing for and being preoccupied with having what God hasn’t given us, a passion to possess what is not ours.
It takes time to hover over our things, and that time must come from elsewhere — time we might spend cultivating intimacy with God, time in his Word and in prayer, time with family, time visiting the needy, time with people who need Christ. Every item we add to our possessions is one more thing to think about, talk about, clean, repair, display, rearrange, and replace when it goes bad.
Chapter 6 — Materialism
Materialism blinds us to our spiritual poverty. It’s a fruitless attempt to find meaning outside of God, the source of all life and the giver of all good gifts. Some wonder why God still blesses with wealth many once-godly Western nations. Perhaps the “blessing” is but a curse in disguise. In contrast, times of financial struggle may be God’s character-building gift. In the midst of prosperity, the challenge for believers is to handle wealth so that it acts as a blessing, not a curse. John Steinbeck captured the danger well: “If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, sick.”
People store up treasures on earth rather than in heaven not only because of greed and selfishness, but also because of fear and insecurity. Yet putting our hope in earthly treasures does nothing but multiply anxiety, because earthly treasures are so temporary and uncertain. They cannot bear the weight of our trust. Solomon captured a profound truth: “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep” (Ecclesiastes 5:12).
The book of Ecclesiastes is the most powerful exposé of materialism ever written. In it, Solomon — one of history’s wealthiest men — recounts his attempts to find meaning in building projects, entertainment, alcohol, sex, and possessions. “I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. … I had everything a man could desire! … Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2:8–10). After decades as the world’s richest man, Solomon concluded: “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless — like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). “Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death” (Proverbs 11:4).
Why trust God when you have all your bases covered? Why pray when you have everything under control? Why ask God for your daily bread when you own the bakery? Wealth insulates us from discerning the true depth of our need. God warned his people, before they even set foot in the Promised Land, that the prosperity he intended to give them would actually turn them away from him: “There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat. But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:20). Generations later the prophet Hosea recorded the same verdict: “I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me” (Hosea 13:4–6). And the psalmist observed of the mighty who placed their confidence in wealth: “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness” (Psalm 52:7).
Few things are more repugnant to the Lord than the rich despising the poor (Job 12:5; James 2:1–9). And those who indulge their material appetites are not likely to curb their sexual appetites either — the two are more connected than we like to admit.
Chapter 7 — Battling Materialism in Christian Families
For Christians to choose not to provide for their children or truly needy relatives is to deny the faith and become worse than an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8, 16). Likewise, it’s the responsibility of grown children — not the state or an insurance company — to take care of their parents and other relatives in their old age or illness. Christ, even while dying on the cross for the sins of the world, took the time to entrust his mother’s welfare to one of his own apostles, who from that point forward made sure her needs were cared for (John 19:26–27).
Sometimes our actions speak so loudly that our children can’t hear a word we’re saying. Training our children about money and possessions begins at birth (Proverbs 22:6). Giving gifts to children is often a substitute for giving them personal attention. Many children receive a playhouse, then a train set, then skis, then a motorcycle, then a car — all to compensate for the fact that their parents, often their father in particular, are not available to spend time with them. Anything we give our children is a poor substitute for ourselves. Our children will not remember what we did for them nearly as much as they’ll remember what we did with them.
Chapter 8 — Rethinking Prosperity Theology
Jesus spoke blessings on the poor, the hungry, and the weeping, and pronounced sorrow on the rich, the well-fed, and the laughing: “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. … What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now” (Luke 6:20–26). Prosperity theology sees as its model the ascended heavenly Lord rather than the descended earthly servant. Jesus warned his disciples not to follow a lordship model but his own servant model (Mark 10:42–45). In this life we are to share his cross; in the next life we will share his crown (2 Timothy 2:12).
Paul wrote what no health-and-wealth gospel preacher would: “To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). Whatever Paul’s affliction, it was given to him by God, who had a specific purpose for not removing it — to teach Paul that he wasn’t to trust in his own strength but in God’s. We need to recognize that God may accomplish higher purposes through our sickness than our health. When God chose not to heal Paul, Paul didn’t “name it and claim it” and demand healing. Instead, he acknowledged God’s spiritual purpose in his adversity.
God entrusts riches to us not so we can keep them, but so we can give them: “God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous” (2 Corinthians 9:8, 11). That seems to be a clear statement about why God gives us plenty — not to find a new way to spend it but to find the right place to give it. As Augustine put it: “Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.”
Chapter 9 — Two Treasuries, Two Perspectives, Two Masters
Only when we look at our lives with an eternal perspective will we be able to make eternally wise, countercultural choices that may not be easy today but will pay off in the long tomorrow. In Matthew 6:19–24, Jesus presents three groups of two: two treasures — the present earth and the future heaven; two perspectives — the good eye and the bad eye; two masters — God and money. He is telling us to spend our lives investing in the right treasury, adopting the right perspective, and serving the right master.
Christ’s primary argument against amassing material wealth isn’t that it’s morally wrong but simply that it’s a poor investment. Financial planners try to convince people to think thirty years ahead. But thinking thirty years ahead is only slightly less shortsighted than thinking thirty days ahead. Christ, the ultimate investment counselor, says: “Don’t ask how your investment will be paying off in just thirty years. Ask how it will be paying off in thirty million years.” Wise people, according to Jesus, think ahead not just to their retirement years but to eternity.
We store up treasures on earth by accumulating and gripping them tightly. We store up treasures in heaven by holding loosely, sharing freely, and giving away earthly treasures for God’s kingdom purposes. What reason does Christ give for storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth? Jesus doesn’t say to do it because it’s right — he says to do it because it’s smart. Because such treasures will last, Jesus argues from the bottom line. It’s not an emotional appeal; it’s a logical one: invest in what has lasting value. If we give instead of keep, we invest in the eternal instead of the temporal, and we store up treasures in heaven that will never stop paying dividends.
Of course, there are many good things God wants us to do with money that don’t involve giving it away. It’s essential that we provide for our family’s basic material needs (1 Timothy 5:8). But these good things are only a beginning. Selfishness is pursuing gain at the expense of others, but God doesn’t have a limited number of treasures to distribute. When we store up treasures for ourselves in heaven, it does not reduce the treasures available to others. In fact, it is by serving God and others that we store up heavenly treasures — so everyone gains, and no one loses.
God also rewards his children for practicing the spiritual disciplines, the first being giving. If we do our giving, fasting, and praying for God and not men, “your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” As Craig Blomberg notes in the New American Commentary on Matthew, in this context storing up treasures focuses particularly on the compassionate use of material resources to meet others’ physical and spiritual needs, in keeping with the priorities of God’s kingdom.
Consider this analogy: imagine you’re living in the South at the end of the Civil War, but you’re a Northerner planning to move home. You’ve accumulated lots of Confederate currency. If you know for a fact that the North is going to win and the end is imminent, what do you do? You immediately cash in your Confederate currency for U.S. currency — the only money that will have value once the war is over. You keep only enough Confederate currency for short-term needs. Kingdom currency is the only medium of exchange recognized by the Son of God, whose government will last forever. That currency is our present faithful service and sacrificial use of our resources for him. When the Lord returns, what will happen to all the money sitting in bank accounts, retirement programs, estates, and foundations? It will burn like wood, hay, and straw — when it could have been used to feed the hungry and fulfill the Great Commission. As Jim Elliot once wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Chapter 10 — God’s Steward’s Eternal Destiny
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand (Colossians 3:1–4). Heaven is not a vague, disembodied existence. The martyrs who enter heaven continue to look down on earth, remembering their lives and remaining fully aware of what’s happening there. In Revelation 6:9–11, those martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony cry out to the Lord, asking how long before he judges the people who belong to this world. They were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters who were to be martyred had joined them. Heaven is a place of awareness, memory, and continuity — not a blank curtain falling on everything we were and did.
Chapter 11 — God’s Steward’s Eternal Rewards
Suppose years ago, when your daughters were teenagers, you told them: “If you put in a full day of yard work Saturday, I’ll pay you sixty dollars and take you out to a nice dinner.” Would they be wrong to want to receive that sixty dollars? Would they be wrong to look forward to that dinner? Of course not — you’re their father, you made the offer, and you want them to desire those rewards. Your own joy would be lessened if they didn’t want what you offered. “But God doesn’t owe us anything,” people argue. “He has the right to expect us to work for him with no thought of reward.” True — we should be willing and happy to serve him even without compensation. Jesus addresses this when he says, “When you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Luke 17:10). But what turns the debate on its head is one simple fact: it wasn’t our idea that God reward us. It was his.
So of course reward should never be our only motivation. But it is nonetheless a biblical and important motivation. Ultimately, “whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Pleasing the one you love is its own lofty reward.
Chapter 12 — Tithing
New Testament giving goes far beyond tithing, but the principle of tithing was ingrained in the beliefs and lifestyles of the early Christians, most of whom grew up in Jewish homes. There are many passages that teach the giving of the firstfruits and tithing (Exodus 22:29; Numbers 18:12, 24; Nehemiah 13:12). The first teaching about tithing as a law occurs in Leviticus 27:30: “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” The word tithe means “a tenth part,” and the Creator warned the Israelites that to present anything less than the full 10 percent was to “rob God,” since the first 10 percent belonged to him, not them.
The Israelites actually gave three different tithes, one of which was given every third year, so that cumulatively the three tithes amounted to 23 percent of their income. Whatever amount we choose to give should not be like a tip tossed mindlessly on a table after a meal — it should be a meaningful expression of our dependence upon God and gratitude to him. Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them (Galatians 6:6).
Those who say “tithing isn’t for today” need to examine their hearts. Are they actually demeaning the transforming power of grace and advocating spiritual-sounding “grace giving” as a license to cling to material wealth? New Testament Christians model lives transformed by the radical grace of Christ — making them more sacrificial and generous, not less. Jesus himself affirmed tithing even while rebuking the Pharisees for neglecting justice, mercy, and faith: “You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” (Matthew 23:23).
When people say “I can’t afford to tithe,” a useful question is: if your income were reduced by 10 percent, would you die? They always admit they wouldn’t — somehow, they would manage to get by. That’s proof they really can tithe. In recent times of economic difficulty, countless people have been living on 10, 20, and 50 percent less than they used to. It isn’t easy, but most manage. On the question of whether to tithe on gross or net income: gross is the total amount God provides; net is what is left after taxes and other deductions. Some say that money they don’t see is not true income. But are we not the beneficiaries of taxes, insurance, and other withholdings from our paychecks?
Chapter 13 — Freewill Giving
In a passage about financial giving to the needy, Paul grounds all generosity in the gospel itself: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). When the Israelites gave voluntary offerings for the building of God’s Tabernacle, they gave so much that the workers had to ask them to stop. “Finally the craftsmen who were working on the sanctuary left their work. They went to Moses and reported, ‘The people have given more than enough materials to complete the job the LORD has commanded us to do!’” (Exodus 36:4–6). The people got caught up in the thrill of giving. The emphasis was not on the amount of the offering but on the willingness of each person’s heart. It wasn’t a tithe, which was obligatory — it was given freely (Exodus 35:29).
One person, trying to figure out how much to give monthly, decided to give at least as much as his house payment. His reasoning: “If I can’t afford to give that much, then I can’t afford to live in a house this nice.” He didn’t reason from the tithe; he reasoned from his house payment, which was significantly greater than 10 percent.
Giving involves money, but much more. We can give a meal, a house, a dress, a shovel, a bicycle, a sewing machine, or any other possession. We can also share possessions freely while still maintaining ownership — loaning books, cars, camping equipment, or computers with no strings attached. God will reward us not just for giving but for sharing. Two cautions are in order. First, we can easily rationalize owning unnecessary things on the grounds that we share them with others. Second, guard against possessiveness. If others are afraid to borrow from us because they know a dent or scratch would bother us, we’re not having much of a ministry no matter how “willing to share” we imagine ourselves to be.
Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38). Paul writes that God will enrich us “in every way so that you can always be generous” (2 Corinthians 9:10–11). Prosperity theology would finish that sentence differently — with personal wealth. But that isn’t how Paul completes it. “God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” (2 Corinthians 9:6–8). God gives some of his children more than they need and others less than they need so that he may use his children to help one another. When those with too much give to those with too little, two problems are solved. When they don’t, two problems are perpetuated. Too often we assume that God entrusts more to us to increase our standard of living, yet his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving.
Think of yourself as God’s courier, not an owner. Suppose you hand a package to a FedEx driver for delivery. What would you think if instead of delivering the package, he took it home, opened it, and kept it? When confronted, he said, “If you didn’t want me to keep it, why’d you give it to me in the first place?” The answer: the package doesn’t belong to you. You’re just the middleman. Just because God puts his money in our hands doesn’t mean he intends for it to stay there.
Generous giving isn’t meant to become a badge done for recognition or to feed pride. The story of Ananias and Sapphira makes this painfully clear (Acts 5:1–10). They sold property and brought the money to the apostles, but they secretly kept back part of it while claiming to bring the full amount. Their sin was not in keeping some money — that was their right — but in lying to the Holy Spirit. Both Ananias and Sapphira fell dead. Giving should flow from a grace-transformed heart, not from a desire for the praise of others.
Chapter 14 — Helping the Poor and Spreading the Gospel
In the account of the final judgment, Jesus separates people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The King says to those on his right: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” When the righteous ask when they ever saw him in those conditions, the King replies: “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me” (Matthew 25:32–46). The sin held against the goats is not that they did something wrong to those in need, but that they failed to do anything right for them — a sin of omission with grave eternal consequences. We cannot wash our hands of responsibility to the poor by saying, “I’m not doing anything to hurt them.” We must actively be doing something to help them.
”If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD — and he will repay you!” (Proverbs 19:17). The worst thing we can do to the poor is ignore them. The next worst thing is to help them only enough to keep them alive but not enough to assist them out of poverty.
Scripture also recognizes that poverty has different causes, and responsible help responds accordingly. Widows with no one to care for them deserve priority support (1 Timothy 5:3–4). But some poverty is due to laziness (Proverbs 24:30–34). “Those who love pleasure become poor” (Proverbs 21:17). Lazy and self-indulgent people do not need financial support; they need incentives to no longer be lazy and self-indulgent. Acts of well-meaning provision can remove their incentive to be responsible for themselves. Paul was blunt with the church in Thessalonica: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat. … We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living” (2 Thessalonians 3:10–12).
God’s own model for helping the poor preserved their dignity. The corners of the fields were left uncut so the poor could have food (Leviticus 19:9–10), but the grain wasn’t cut, bundled, processed, and delivered. Provided they were able, the poor did the work themselves — and thereby were neither robbed of their dignity nor made irresponsible by a system requiring no work. Isaiah 58:6–8 describes the kind of action God wants: free those wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burden of those who work for you, let the oppressed go free, share food with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless. Yet even the most radical generosity without love gains nothing: “If I gave everything I have to the poor … but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
In the early church, those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need (Acts 4:34–35). Note that the believers brought the money to the apostles — they entrusted their gifts to spiritually qualified church leaders, who distributed them wisely. Giving should start with your local Bible-believing, Christ-centered church, the spiritual community where you’re fed and to which you’re accountable. Even gifts sent to other places were channeled through the local church. If the Bible tells us to pay taxes (Romans 13:6) and we comply, even though some funds will be wasted or used for bad purposes, surely we can give to God through our church even when we don’t feel comfortable with every use of the funds.
Chapter 15 — Discipleship
When Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John away from their fishing nets, they left at once and followed him (Mark 1:16–20). But even these apostles didn’t irreversibly divest themselves of all possessions. Just ten verses after they’ve left their nets, “they went to Simon and Andrew’s home” (Mark 1:29). Peter says to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you!” — but he doesn’t say “We have sold everything.” When Jesus entrusted his mother to the apostle John, John took her into his own home (John 19:26–27). These disciples who left their home to follow Jesus still had a home.
Levi got up and followed Jesus (Mark 2:14), and in the very next verse a dinner party at Levi’s house is used to introduce people to Jesus. Given his profession and the number of people at the party, Levi’s house was undoubtedly nicer and larger than average. We’re never told Jesus called Levi to sell his house. Just as for most of his life Jesus served God working as a carpenter and living in a house on a piece of land, so most of his disciples served God as faithful stewards, raising their families and working in their own communities.
After Jesus healed the Gerasene demoniac, the man desperately wanted to leave everything and follow Christ. Jesus said no: “Go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been” (Mark 5:18–19). Christ knew God’s kingdom could be better served if this man made his home his base. The results were powerful — the man went to visit the Ten Towns and proclaimed the great things Jesus had done, and everyone was amazed (Mark 5:20). Was this an inferior calling? Judge by the results.
There are two callings: one to leave behind family and possessions to further the cause in full-time ministry, and another to serve Christ’s cause in a home and community and earn an income to support those whose calling means they can no longer generate sufficient income on their own. To determine which calling is ours, we should ask God for wisdom and guidance (James 1:5), realizing that he intends for us to know what his will is for us (Ephesians 5:17). “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else” (Galatians 6:4–5).
There are some things no Christian should do — hoard money, live in opulence, or fail to give generously. But there are other things some Christians can freely do that others may sense God’s leading not to do, such as own land, a home, a car, or a business; go on certain vacations; or set aside significant retirement funds. How much money and how many possessions can we safely keep? Enough to care for our basic needs and some wants, but not so much that large amounts of money are kept from higher kingdom causes, not so much that we become proud and independent of the Lord, not so much that it distracts us from our purpose or leaves us with the illusion that we are owners rather than managers of what God owns.
Even in wartime, soldiers take leave when possible. Our battle lasts a lifetime, so having recreational items and spending money on vacations that aren’t strictly necessary but serve to renew us is both legitimate and wise. These things aren’t essential, yet they contribute to physical health, mental and emotional refreshment, and the sustaining of the very relationships we’re called to steward.
Chapter 16 — Debt
”Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). And yet God tells us, “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters” (1 Corinthians 7:23). God says borrowers put themselves in servitude to lenders, and then tells us we should be slaves only to him, not to men. The Mosaic law reflects a strong connection between debtors and slaves — so horrible was this situation, and so detrimental in the long term, that God commanded a Year of Jubilee every fifty years when debts would be canceled, and freedom for slaves after six years of service (Deuteronomy 15:2, 12).
”The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers” (Psalm 37:21). If we take God’s Word seriously, we should avoid debt when possible. In those rare cases where we go into debt, we should make every effort to get out as soon as we can, never undertaking debt without prayerful consideration and wise counsel.
Before incurring debt, we should ask ourselves several spiritual questions: Is the fact that I don’t have enough resources to pay cash for something God’s way of telling me it isn’t his will for me to buy it? Or is it possible this may have been God’s will but poor choices put me in a position where I can’t afford it? Wouldn’t I do better to forego it until — by his provision and my diligence — I save enough to buy it? Why go into debt? Is the risk called for? Will the benefits of becoming servant to the lender really outweigh the costs?
What might be called the “debt mentality” involves a cluster of invalid assumptions: that we need more than God has given us; that God doesn’t know best what our needs are; that God has failed to provide, forcing us to take matters into our own hands; that if God doesn’t come through the way we think he should, we can find another way; and that just because today’s income is sufficient to make debt payments, tomorrow’s will be too. Scripture counters this mentality directly: “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth” (1 Timothy 6:6–8). “Those who love money will never have enough” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2). To expect God to meet needs we manufacture through indebtedness is an attempt to manipulate the Almighty. Assuming the role of master, we demote God to the obedient genie who exists to grant our wishes, underwrite our causes, and fulfill our agendas.
Remember: you don’t save money by spending money. Saving money is setting it aside for a future purpose — it remains accessible to you. Spending money is making it disappear. If you buy an $80 sweater on sale for $30, you didn’t save anything — you spent $30. Every purchase should be examined in light of its alternative uses or ministry potential. Before spending $20, $100, or $1,000 on something, we should weigh the value of the purchase against what the same money could have done if used another way. We should understand and resist the manipulative nature of advertising, which thrives on instilling discontent. And little expenses add up to big problems. Like water from a leaky faucet, money trickles through our hands — a dollar here, ten dollars there; a hamburger here, a mocha there; video rentals, a round of golf, new clothes. If a swimming pool is full of leaks, pumping in more water will never be enough until you find the leaks and fix them.
Imagine you’ve entrusted a large sum to a money manager, telling him to take out only what he needs to live on and invest the bulk on your behalf. Months later, you call — there are no investments. All the money is gone and he doesn’t even know where it went. How does God feel when at the end of the month nothing’s left from the money he entrusted to us, and we don’t even know where it went? “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever” (Proverbs 27:23–24). Two practical steps can help greatly: recording expenditures and making a budget. Both will foster a healthy dialogue about what we do with God’s money and help us develop careful spending habits. Financial disorder is one of the leading causes of personal and familial stress and often results in divorce. And discipline yourself not to buy unless you’ve wanted something over a period of time — waiting eliminates most impulsive buying. Many things that attract us today hold no interest three months later.
Chapter 17 — Questions and Answers about Debt
Jesus told us what matters more than anything else: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). Accordingly, God says there is one debt to which all our money and possessions must be unreservedly committed, yet which we can never retire: “Owe nothing to anyone — except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law” (Romans 13:8). Our indebtedness to God is to be treated as indebtedness to others, so that we keep both God and others in mind as we manage his money. In order to best fulfill that spiritual debt, we must free ourselves from the burdens that come with financial debt.
”Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12:15). On the question of buying a home: one common formula for figuring out what’s affordable is a purchase price that’s two-and-a-half times or less the family’s gross annual income. But remember, there’s no guarantee you will have your job next year or make as much money. Borrowing for a home is sometimes wise and sometimes not. If debt seems the best or a necessary choice, go slowly and prayerfully, and get objective financial counsel from good stewards (Proverbs 15:22).
Practical credit card rules: never use credit cards for anything except budgeted purchases; pay the balance in full every month; and the first month you have a credit card bill you cannot pay in full, perform plastic surgery — cut the card in half and don’t get another one. “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Proverbs 22:3). Even if you’ve come into debt legitimately, your first debt is to God, since he says the firstfruits belong to him: “On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait” (1 Corinthians 16:2).
Debt isn’t the main problem; it’s a symptom of deeper issues — greed, impulsiveness, and lack of discipline — sins we must confess to God. Getting out of debt requires a full plan. Begin by repenting: acknowledge that you’ve taken your cues from the world, not God, and change your mind and actions regarding money, needs, wants, giving, saving, spending, and debt. Immediately give God the firstfruits — when we give God the first and best of our income, we say in effect, “I recognize your ownership and trust you to bless my obedience.” Then incur no new debts, operating on the principle that if you can’t afford it now, it isn’t God’s will now. Systematically eliminate existing debts through a realistic budget, wise financial counsel, and where necessary, the liquidation of unnecessary assets. Stop rationalizing your debt habit — houses and cars tempt some people most, while furniture, clothing, or electronics tempt others. Recognize your weakness. Remember that the Carpenter of Nazareth is already making the perfect home for you in heaven (John 14:2–3). List your debts, contact creditors if necessary, and prioritize repayment by interest rate, paying off the highest-interest debts first. And if there still isn’t enough, consider new ways to increase your income and liquidate unnecessary assets to reduce what you owe.
Chapter 18 — Preparing for the Future
”Fools spend whatever they get” (Proverbs 21:20). “Take a lesson from the ants … though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter” (Proverbs 6:6–8). Even ants know there will be no food in winter unless it’s stored during the summer. Only a shortsighted person would fail to store up provisions for upcoming times of predictable need. By God’s inspiration, Joseph devised a careful savings plan in anticipation of the famine in Egypt (Genesis 41:25–57). For seven years Egyptians stored 20 percent of the harvest. When the famine came, they drew on their stores, and the nation was able to care for itself — and provide for others as well.
Lack of planning invites poverty. To feast now without regard to future famine is to manage our resources poorly and presume upon God or others to bail us out. Money needlessly spent is a double loss: not only is it gone, but its potential for earnings disappears. Had we set it aside, it could have been multiplying on earth through savings or in heaven through giving. It’s wise to give first, save second, and spend last. Otherwise we will spend everything and have nothing to give or save, setting ourselves up to fall into debt when true needs arise.
But not all saving is equal. Some save in the wise way that Proverbs encourages. Some save out of greed, others because they’re misers, still others out of fear — by stockpiling money, they insulate themselves from God, no longer depending on his provision and protection. So we can’t say “saving money is always biblical” or “saving money is always unbiblical.” It may be either, depending on the reasons and the alternatives. “A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:21). “Trust in your money and down you go!” (Proverbs 11:28).
James warns the rich bluntly: your wealth is rotting away, your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags, your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire, and this treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment (James 5:1–5). When God provided manna from heaven, he told his people they’d have just enough for each day. Those who hoarded overnight found it full of maggots by morning (Exodus 16:16–20).
When a person retires at sixty-five, studies show the chances of having a fatal heart attack immediately double. Our minds and bodies weren’t made to be shut down. Nowhere in Scripture does God call healthy people to stop working. How much of what we think about retirement is based on our culture, and how much on God’s Word? It’s perfectly legitimate to work without pay — donating labor to ministries and volunteering. But as long as God has us in this world, he has work for us to do. The hours may be shorter, the work different, the pay lower or nonexistent. But he doesn’t want us to take still-productive minds and bodies and permanently lay them on a beach, lose them on a golf course, or lock them in a dark living room watching game shows.
Paul commended the Macedonian believers not for clinging to the little they had, but for giving beyond their means to the point of leaving themselves impoverished (2 Corinthians 8:3–5). If they didn’t need to think of tomorrow, why do we — with all our material wealth — need to be so concerned about storing up earthly treasures for thirty years from now? This isn’t to say we can’t or shouldn’t have retirement plans, but as God’s children, we don’t need them as the world does. Nongivers remain nongivers until the moment they give. If we consider “our” retirement funds off limits to God, we’re pretending to be owners rather than God’s money managers. Be especially quick to evaluate luxury items. What could be accomplished if jewelry that sits in a box were sold and the money given to the needy, world evangelism, church planting, and Bible translation?
At the conclusion of the film Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler — who saved many Jews from the Nazis — looks at his car and his gold pin and weeps, regretting that he didn’t give up more of his money and possessions to save more lives. Christians get no second chance to live life over, this time doing more to help the needy and invest in God’s kingdom. We have one brief opportunity — a lifetime on earth — to use our resources to make a difference. Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us his Word so we don’t have to wait to die to find out. The question worth asking now: what will you one day wish you had given away while you still had the chance? When you come up with an answer, why not give it now?
Chapter 19 — Looking for Returns
Many Christians don’t evaluate the source of their mutual funds’ income. Most would think it wrong to invest in Playboy magazine, but some companies specialize in data tools used in partnership with such ventures in ways that are easy to overlook. Paul warns about the danger of ill-considered partnerships: “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?” and “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them” (2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 5:11).
Many people sincerely desire to make profitable investments now and give substantial amounts to God’s work later. “Rather than give now,” they ask, “shouldn’t I hang on to the money, hoping my investments will do well and I’ll have more to give to God’s kingdom in five or ten years?” In some cases this appears to have been wise. But observation over many years shows that countless good intentions are never realized. If you postpone giving, aren’t you postponing God’s blessing? If your heart goes where you put your treasure, are you putting your treasure on earth, not heaven? Considering the market may plummet, your heart may change, or you may die — by holding onto this money now, are you willing to risk that it will never end up where God wanted you to put it?
Chapter 20 — Inheritance or Heritage
In Old Testament times, it was essential that parents pass land ownership to their children and grandchildren. Many people were too poor to buy land, and without inheritance they would end up enslaved or unable to care for their aging parents. Hence they were told, “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22). But in affluent modern cultures, inheritances are usually windfalls coming to people who live separately from their parents, have regular sources of income generated by their own work, and have far more than they need. The circumstances that made large family inheritance essential in the ancient Near East simply do not exist in contemporary America and many other affluent countries.
Andrew Carnegie called the almighty dollar bequeathed to a child “an almighty curse. No man has the right to handicap his son with such a burden as great wealth.” Cornelius Vanderbilt said inherited wealth is “as certain death to ambition as cocaine is to morality.” Henry Ford stated, “Fortunes tend to self-destruction by destroying those who inherit them.” More important, God says, “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (Proverbs 20:21). We should not transfer wealth to adult children unless we’ve successfully transferred wisdom to them. Without wisdom, wealth will not only be wasted but will damage our children by subsidizing addictions, laziness, and immorality.
If parents decide to give most or all of their estate to God’s kingdom, they should explain their plans to their children. This will prevent false expectations, free their children from later resentment, and alleviate the present guilt feelings stemming from what children might imagine they have to gain by their parents’ death. Of course, if children and grandchildren have special needs, leaving money to them as seems best is entirely appropriate. But generally, leaving only a modest portion — enough to help grandchildren with college, for instance — encourages adult children to work hard, plan, not overspend, and experience the joy of trusting God.
What’s the difference between giving money now and leaving it to good causes when we die? Passages relating to reward indicate that heavenly rewards are given for acts of faith we actually do while on earth. Leaving instructions for what others are to do with money that once was ours is not the same as giving it away while we’re still here. Death isn’t your best opportunity to give — it’s the end of your opportunity to give. “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Would Jesus have so highly commended the poor widow’s offering if she had died that day and bequeathed those two coins to the Temple? Giving is voluntarily parting with an asset. We have no choice but to leave money behind when we die, so designating where it goes, though wise, is not sacrificial.
New Testament principles and examples suggest we shouldn’t strive to leave a large estate. John Wesley made a great deal of money on his books and hymns — about £50,000 in all. Yet at his death his estate was worth only £28. Wesley was left with so little not because of poor planning but because of good planning — he had generously given it to the cause of Christ. At the end of his life, he wrote in his journal: “I have left no money to anyone in my will, because I had none.”
Chapter 21 — In the Family
Children shouldn’t always be paid for their chores. However, there are many extras that can legitimately be rewarded financially, and children can take on jobs outside the home as they grow older — washing cars, mowing lawns, cleaning house, or babysitting. Parents who automatically pick up the tab for expensive events do their children a disservice. If teenagers believe those events warrant that kind of money, they need to work for it themselves, months in advance if necessary. Some parents offer to pay for classes in which their children earn A’s and B’s, but the student has to pay for any class in which they get a C or lower. Suddenly they have motivation to study.
For those who say “giving must come from the heart, not be imposed by someone else,” the answer is that giving is also a habit — and like all good habits, it can and should be cultivated. There’s no better way for a parent to cultivate giving than by deliberately making it one of the family’s standard practices. Praise children for giving and resist any temptation to hold them back.
One practical approach: give each child three jars labeled “Giving,” “Saving,” and “Spending.” Every time they earn money, they put at least 10 percent into the giving jar first, then distribute the rest between the other two as they wish. Once money goes into the giving jar — even beyond the tithe — it is dedicated to the Lord. Once money goes into “Saving,” it stays there except for a planned special expenditure. Children are free to transfer money from spending or saving to giving, or from spending to saving, but not the other direction.
An effective way to teach children how to spend money properly is to show them how you spend it — it helps them compare what’s expensive and what isn’t, what’s a priority and what’s not. Few things you can teach your children are more valuable than the discipline of saying no. Model delayed gratification. Shop less for entertainment, since it breeds discontent to look at all the latest things you don’t need and can’t afford. Children who’ve been told to turn off the lights suddenly understand when they see the stack of money required to pay the electric bill. Words don’t sink in until they can visualize what words mean.
If your child wants a brand-new bicycle like his friends have, one way to teach the cost of borrowing is to offer to loan him the money at the going rate of interest. Work out a payment schedule showing how much the bicycle will actually cost him and how long it will take to pay it off. He may back out of the deal. But if he doesn’t, by the time he pays off the debt — perhaps six months later from miscellaneous chores — he will never forget the cost of borrowing.
Chapter 22 — In the Church
Jesus told us never to give in order to be seen by others (Matthew 6:1). Yet ten minutes earlier in the same sermon he said, “You are the light of the world … let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14–16). Jesus commands us to let our good deeds shine — not so everyone will praise us, but so they will praise God. There is a way to talk about every good deed, including giving, that does not involve self-praise but instead brings praise to God and illumination and encouragement to others.
Ask people at your church if they can point out prayer warriors. Most can. Now ask them to point out giving warriors — people who have chosen a modest, debt-resistant lifestyle so they can give away 100 percent above that to God’s kingdom. The fact that the term “giving warrior” isn’t even in our vocabulary says it all. Better to be seen as fools now in the eyes of other people — including other Christians — than to be seen as fools forever in the eyes of an audience of One whose judgment is the only one that will ultimately matter.
Conclusion — Money Management and an Eternal Investment Mentality
We will never manage God’s money well unless we truly believe it is God’s money. Life becomes much clearer — and in some respects much easier — when we abandon the false god of our ownership and authority, which manifests itself in a deadly spirit of entitlement. A test of our stewardship is whether we ask God to show us what to do with his money. If we don’t consult him, no matter what we say, we’re behaving as if we were owners, not stewards.
This will mean surrendering some temporary treasures and downsizing our earthly kingdom. In doing so, we will upsize God’s kingdom and gain eternal treasures. In Romans 12, Paul lists seven spiritual gifts, including serving, teaching, mercy, leadership, and giving. “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well … If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” (Romans 12:6–8).
Jesus said it plainly, and everything in this book has circled back to it: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? No one can serve two masters … You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:10–13).