What Does the Bible Say About Money and Wealth?

SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

We Will Honor God With Our Money
Jesus said a great deal about spirituality and money.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:10-13 (NIV)

I'll never forget the time I heard a friend keenly remark that financial giving is not God's way of raising money - it's His way of raising children! How true that is. God wants His children to be free from the love of money (which the Bible says is the root of all kinds of evil, I Timothy 6:10). As His children, He also wants us to invest in "kingdom work" through the regular giving of our wealth. Giving to honor the Lord will also build our faith. There are times when other needs may demand financial attention, yet the Lord wants us to honor Him first, and trust Him for our daily needs.

I personally believe the tithe (one-tenth of our income) is the basic standard in giving. I don't believe it's the limit, and I don't believe it's law. Before the law was given to Moses, Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18ff). Melchizedek was a type of Christ. The tenth represented the whole. The tenth was just an acknowledgment that all he had was God's. By giving a tenth to Melchizedek, Abraham was saying in effect, "All of the spoils are yours, but because you have allowed me to have the victory and some of the spoils, I'm giving a tenth back to you."

After God appeared to Jacob in a dream at Bethel (Genesis 28:20ff), Jacob made a vow that if God would be with him, keep him safe, give him food and clothes to wear, and become his God, then of all that God gave him he would give back a tenth. These examples show that the tenth was the standard even before the law was given. As a matter of fact, when the law came, required giving for the Israelite totaled about 23%.

Now, if the tithe (one-tenth) is the basic standard, do we figure that percentage from our gross or net income? Whatever we decide to give, it should be done freely from the heart. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." II Corinthians 9:7 (NIV) Well, let's think for a moment. The taxes we give to Uncle Sam come out of our gross income. The gross reflects all that we have earned. It's only logical that we should give to God out of our gross and not out of our net income. Otherwise, we show more honor to Uncle Sam than to God. Remember, it's all His to begin with!