First to the Lord: giving in the bible
Giving is more than sustaining our church and ministry. Generous disciples are caught up in the overflow of God’s grace and reflect our generous God.
Needing to give
When we think about giving in church we tend to think budgets and bills. But real generosity? It’s way bigger than that. Giving is about discipleship. It’s part of our worship. It’s a reflection of God’s overflowing grace. Of course, our giving meets real needs - think about the tithes in Deuteronomy or Jesus telling the rich ruler to give to the poor. But as Christians, we don’t just give to a need. We give because we need to give. It’s how we lean into God’s generosity.
Tip, tax, tithe?
Giving isn’t a tip for spiritual services or a tax on church life. It’s not even about the tithe. True generosity mirrors God’s nature. Stewardship isn’t about clever ways to get money—it’s about nurturing givers, building communities of grace.
Deuteronomy 26 gives us a powerful picture. Bring our first fruits; not our leftovers. Giving is more than resourcing ministry. Giving is worship. Giving reminds us that everything we have is God’s gift. “All things come from you, and of your own do we give you.” Giving is more than my personal gift. It is a shared journey into generous discipleship.
The Wealth Trap
The bible also warns us against the gravitational pull of wealth. Deuteronomy 8 challenges us not to take pride of ownership of what God gifts to us - thinking we earned it all ourselves. The risk is that we forget the God who has given us everything. Money is a great servant but a terrible master. Jesus tells it like it is: we can’t serve both God and money.
Grace at the Core
For Paul, who writes two full chapters of the bible about giving (2 Corinthians 8–9) giving is the overflow of God’s grace. Giving doesn’t start with what we give but the grace God gives to us (2 Cor 8:1, 9). Our generosity flows from God’s generosity. We give because God first gave - gave everything in Jesus.
Giving will meet needs, and our needs are real. But when we have sustained our churches and resources our ministry, our journey into generosity is not done and dusted. Giving is about worship. About gratitude. About leaning into God’s grace. Giving is not transactional. It is transformational. When we give generously, we reflect the heart of a generous God.
The Three Rs
Generous giving remembers the giver, releases our hearts and reminds us of our responsibilities:
Remember: Giving reminds us that all we have is God’s gift.
Release: Giving loosens money’s grip on our hearts and our lives
Responsibility: With God’s abundance comes the call to live justly and well around money. As Christians we are called to march to the beat of a different drum.
Free to live
Generous giving helps us release our grip on wealth so wealth release its grip on us. We ‘take hold of the life that is truly life’ . (1 Tim 6:19)