Resources by Topic: Money and Giving

Despite both personal experiences and studies indicating money alone doesn’t bring the good life, countless people think and live and make choices as if it does.

Paul made it clear that it’s possible to give sacrificially without being motivated by love: “If I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3, CSB). That means it’s not just generosity that’s the good life; it’s generosity that flows out of love.

In this video clip from an event Randy Alcorn and George Verwer did together in 2013, George shares about needs around the world, and passionately implores God’s people to get a vision for giving to get the gospel to the unreached.

In this clip Randy explains to Greg Laurie why he invites kids to have their parents take them on an excursion to the junk yard? He answers: Why does investing in eternity matter? Why should Christians be generous in this life?

Proverbs 13:11 warns, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” This refers to having the foresight to set aside some savings. Having reasonable savings can be an attempt to avoid having too little, but as with the rich man in Luke 12, putting too much into savings will make it into our god.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says there is only one safe place to invest, and that is in the Kingdom of God. He says, in essence, “You can't take it with you,” but he adds a life-changing corollary: “but you can send it on ahead.”

An inspirational moment with Randy Alcorn talking about Heaven and our treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). This video is from Session 2 of Randy's video Bible Study on Heaven produced by Lifetogether and Lamplighter Media, now out of print.

Randy visited First Baptist Church in Leesburg, Florida, where he spoke on the subject of heavenly treasure: “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.” He talked about having a right perspective on the things that God has entrusted to us, as well as the joy to be found in giving.

People define the good life in different ways, but everybody wants to live it. After all, what’s the alternative? Living a bad life? A pointless, guilt-ridden, or miserable life? We’d all choose the good life any day, and yet we often don’t understand how to make it happen.

When the classic Dickens story A Christmas Carol begins, we meet Ebenezer Scrooge. This wealthy miser is caustic, complaining, horrendously greedy . . . and profoundly unhappy. (His life illustrates how the word miser is connected with miserable.)

Read Randy Alcorn's complete book The Treasure Principle in Kurdish.

This Black Friday, it’s worth reminding ourselves that we are living in an era when we have more material possessions than any generation before us. Compared to Americans living in the 1950s, we have countless more conveniences, including big-screen TVs, microwaves, online shopping, smartphones, and twice as many cars. It’s easy to assume our purchases will automatically lead to greater contentment.

Perhaps you could consider leaving a set amount to your church that you feel good about, then direct the remaining funds to other ministries that God has placed on your heart.

Because we give, eternity will be different—for others and for us and our families. Giving away our money, possessions, time, and talents is a sacred opportunity to make a great and eternal difference. And it’s also our opportunity to enter into living the good life now.