By Tyler Collins, January 5, 2024 

We, as Christians, often ask, “How much am I supposed to give financially?” I believe that we are asking the wrong question. I believe the question that we should be asking is, “How much do I need to keep?” Our hearts are prone to selfishness and comfort in a Western culture that inundates us with consumerism and an enemy that is attacking us. Even as Christians, it is easy to begin to believe that we are in control and that everything we “own” is ours. But the Scriptures say otherwise. There are approximately 2,000 verses in the Scriptures regarding money, which tells that God knows the inherent power that it can have over us as humans.

Over the coming weeks, we will discuss many topics regarding how the believer should engage with money from a biblical perspective. God wants us to invest our time, talents, and treasures to expand the kingdom of God, but I want to focus on the treasures piece. Before discussing strategy, opportunities, etc, we must have a general foundation and understanding of what God says about money. 

“You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV). 

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1 ESV).

These Scriptures remind us that God owns everything, and He is the one who gives us the power to create wealth. Because of these truths, our response as Christians should be to see ourselves as stewards of God’s resources. Nothing we have is ours – God has entrusted to us the resources for a period of time to build His kingdom.

In our generous giving, we are modeling the true, generous one, Jesus. Jesus gave everything for us, so when we are generous with our finances, the surrounding world sees a snapshot of our glorious King. 

God tells us we can know someone’s heart (and our own) by examining how money is spent.  So, to end how I began, I want to challenge you to biblically wrestle with the question: “How much do I keep?”