How To Give

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

Philippians 4:17

Giving money to the church can be as easy or as difficult as we make it. Some of us have grown up in the church with the expectation of giving money in the plate or basket. Yet some of us have been swindled by false teachers and are more hesitant to give. Some of us without a church background may struggle with the idea of consistently giving money. How should believers in the Lord Jesus Christ give to the church?

We give cheerfully. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Our joy in giving is evidence of our relationship with Christ. We know the change from darkness to light in our hearts.

We give graciously. (Acts 20:35)
Believers don’t need a marketing and advertising plan to get us to share our wealth. The grace that was given freely from Christ serves as our model for giving.

We give generously. (Psalm 37:21)
As followers of Jesus, we know that this world’s wealth is nothing compared to the riches of eternal life. Therefore, we’ve learned to be generous towards the needs of ministry and the poor.

We give thankfully. (Psalm 54:6)
Anything we have in abundance or meets our needs is a gift from the Lord. We give thankfully, as we know how much has been given to us every day in Christ.

We give expectantly. (Luke 6:38)
Many of us give out of our need and not necessarily out of our abundance. We give in faith that God will supply everything we need according to His riches and glory.

We give wisely. (Luke 16:11)
Because God has blessed us to be stewards of our finances, we need to be wise about who receives our finances. We don’t need to know every specific thing, but we should have an awareness of how funds are used to build God’s kingdom.