Resources by Topic: Money and Giving

Being under grace does not mean living by lower standards than the law.

10% is not some lofty goal, just a starting place, but starting is important.

When it comes to financial stewardship, God hasn’t handed each of us a standardized checklist with little boxes to mark off one by one. Rather, He has provided us His Word with principles for effective financial stewardship—principles we have to wrestle with. In the process of this struggle, God expects us to seek His face and to pursue the counsel of godly believers who have traveled further than we along Stewardship Road.

Regarding choosing a financial lifestyle that is honoring to God, I received a blog comment from a reader, asking: Do you believe that everyone should live modestly? (Would that be $30,000 per year, or $50,000, or $100,000, or...?)  

I have mixed feelings on tithing. I detest legalism. I certainly don’t want to pour new wine into old wineskins, imposing superseded first covenant restrictions on Christians. However, the fact is that every New Testament example of giving goes beyond the tithe.

First, commit yourself to regular giving to your local church and above and beyond giving to missions and other ministries.

I have encouraged women in this situation to go to their husbands, explain their deep conviction about giving, perhaps share one of the passages about how God blesses givers, and tell him she believes God will provide for their family so that the amount she desires to give won't be noticed by him, even if it is substantial.

An Interview with Randy Alcorn by Craig von Buseck, CBN.com Ministries Director

To change the direction of our lives we need to prayerfully make wise decisions, and nothing is wiser than giving first to God, cutting back our expenditures wherever we can, and systematically paying off our debts to others,

Worry has a way of chasing after us. It tries to grab hold of us, bleed off our energy, and rob us of joy by limiting our vision to a short-sighted perspective of this life's circumstances. That's why one of my favorite passages is Matthew 6:19-34, where Jesus unveils an investment formula for a secure future and a worry-free present.  

A few years ago, my wife Nanci showed me an article she had found in her Family Circle magazine. The article was titled "What You Pass On." It was written by author Stephen King. He's not a writer known for his theological insights, but what he wrote echoes the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 5:15 in his assessment of the futility of materialism.

Are buildings a legitimate ministry expense? If so what kinds of buildings, and how many?

The lender must evaluate the character of the borrower. To distribute money into the hands of a drug addict, compulsive gambler or cultist is irresponsible. Furthermore, we should weigh whether a loan is what this person really needs. 

The apostle Paul gave us our top priority: “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).