Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21
When it comes to the subject of money, the Bible has a great deal to say. Of Jesus' 38 parables, 16 deal with how we handle our money. One out of every ten verses in the gospels has to do with money or possessions--a total of 288 verses! In the entire Bible there are over 2,000 references to money and the management of money, even though there are only about 500 references to prayer as well as to faith. Obviously, God considers this an important topic.
Matthew 6:21 explains why stewardship is such a critical issue. It says, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." This text challenges us to examine our very motives regarding the investment of our lives. It makes it clear that self-indulgence and self-gratification have no place in the believer's life.
The esteemed Bible scholar and teacher, F.B. Meyer, once commented "Probably there is no greater test of our true religion than our behavior in giving. How few, comparatively, give in proportion to their income! How few give systematically! How few have learned the joy and luxury of giving, so that they abound therein! This arises partly because they do not realize that they are stewards of God's property, and that He expects them to devote all they own to Him, keeping back only a necessary percentage for themselves and their families, as a steward might who was farming an estate for his absent master."
What it means to "give" The purpose of this article is to provide you as a follower of Jesus Christ with an understanding of the teaching Scripture regarding your responsibility to God in the matter of giving. While the primary focus will be upon the giving of money, that area cannot be divorced from the larger issue of stewardship. The Bible emphasizes the fact that each of us, as a steward, is responsible to God for the way we use the various blessings that He supplies in our lives.
Furthermore, stewardship is not just money, time, or talent. It is all of these and more since it involves the very life that God has given to us and for which we must one day give an account to Him. The New Testament word for stewardship is "oikonomia," signifying the management of a household, and thus, administering the property of someone else. Used in relation to giving, it implies that our possessions really belong to God and that we are merely managing them for Him.
In 1 Corinthians 4:2 we read, "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy." From this we learn that stewardship is a mandate rather than an option. Christians are to be wise managers of their time, talents, and treasures.
It's all in the attitude When Christ stated in Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth," he was not talking so much about what we have or how much we have, but about the attitude we have toward what we have. He is most concerned about the attitudes His people display in relationship to their finances. In other words, He was reminding us to be sure that we manage our possessions so that they do not manage us.
The story is told of a miserable rich man who once visited a pastor for advice and guidance. He could not understand why he was so miserable despite his great wealth. The pastor took him over to the window and asked him to look out into the street below. "What do you see?' the pastor asked.
"I see men, women, and children," the rich man replied. Then the pastor handed him a mirror and asked him to look into it. "Now what do you see?" he asked.
"I see myself," answered the rich man.
"Notice this simple truth," the pastor responded. "There is a glass in the window and glass in the mirror. Through the window you could see others, but the glass in the mirror is covered with silver. No sooner is the silver added and you cease to see others and see only yourself!"
The key to stewardship is an attitude of the heart. It requires faithful, unselfish living that reflects a heart committed to God.
C.H. Mackintosh expressed this principle as it relates to our money: "God's holy eye rests not upon the purse but upon the heart. He weighs not the amount but the motive. Where the heart beats true to His person, the hand will be open to His cause."
Our responsibility to God A clear understanding of our responsibility to God with the money he entrusts to us is critically important in this day and time. After all, we are constantly barraged by the message of instant gratification: "Why wait until you can afford something if you can charge it and have it right now?" We are witnessing a frenzy of spending unparalleled by any culture before us. All of this has produced what has been described as "an orgy of materialism." The tragic results of this misdirection of funds and failure to invest in eternity are numerous.
One well-respected Christian leader made this sobering assessment: "Perhaps the saddest observation of all is that the spending habits of people in the church differ little from those of the world. The lifestyles of most professing Christians are not substantially different from anyone else's. Too many Christians have adopted the world's indulgent attitude toward money. Almost every form of materialistic extravagance and excess has found its way into the fellowship of believers."
His next statement will take the wind out of your sails because of its penetrating accuracy: "The scandal in the church is not merely that lovers of money in the pulpit are stealing from the treasury. A parallel disgrace is that people in the pew also love money and are holding back what is rightfully the Lord's."
Five Principles Certainly, no conscientious Christian wants to be guilty of loving money to the extent of withholding from God, yet the shoe may fit all too snugly if he has not been properly instructed in what the Bible teaches about the Christian's stewardship of his money. The following five biblical principles will help you to determine what you should personally contribute financially to the work that our Lord wants to accomplish through His church.
Principle 1: Weekly Giving
According to 1 Corinthians 16:2 we are to give regularly "on the first day of every week." Even though you may be paid once or twice a month, the best way to handle your giving is to break it down into weekly giving. That helps you to be regular in your giving and it makes your worship more complete and meaningful each week.
Principle 2: Proportionate Giving
1 Corinthians 16:2 also informs us that we are to give proportionately--"as he may prosper." Giving as God has prospered you requires an evaluation of what He has given to you materially. Each of us tends to think that we simply do not have enough money or possessions, but our giving should accurately reflect that God has truly prospered us and promised to "supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Principle 3: Knowledgeable Giving
We are to give knowledgeably, or with understanding. On the one hand, we should give with the knowledge of what Jesus Christ has done. 2 Corinthians 8:9 speaks of the tremendous cost and sacrifice that He paid to achieve for us the forgiveness of sin and an eternal life with God. What greater motivation to give than the realization that our Lord went from having everything to having nothing in order that He could take us from having nothing to having everything!
On the other hand, we should give with the knowledge that God is able to provide sufficiently for us in the material realm as well as the spiritual--2 Corinthians 9:8. Our giving should reflect the fact that even though the world system tries to make us think that we never have enough, that we are never secure enough, and that we can never be sure that tomorrow's needs will be met, the Bible says, "God is able."
Principle 4: Cheerful Giving
Based upon 2 Corinthians 9:7, we are to give willingly, "not grudgingly or under compulsion." While there should be genuine sacrifice in giving, it should be accompanied by joy, not grief or misery or to avoid feeling guilty. The "cheerful giver" mentioned in this verse regards it as a privilege that God has provided sufficiently for his legitimate needs, as opposed to his wants, so that he can give to support the ministry of the church.
Principle 5: Generous Giving
2 Corinthians 9:6 indicates that Christians are to give bountifully, meaning generously. The Macedonian believers provided an excellent example of this principle according to 2 Corinthians 8. Even though they were going through "a great deal of affliction" and "deep poverty," what characterized them was "their abundance of joy" and "the wealth of their liberality" (v. 2). The Apostle Paul commends them in v. 3 for giving bountifully in spite of their poverty, stating that they gave "beyond their ability." What motivated them to give so sacrificially? Because "they first gave themselves to the Lord" (v. 5), they were willing to give everything else they had to Him and trust Him to meet their every need. When the grace of God takes hold of our hearts, we give well beyond what we think we can afford to give.
The essence of stewardship That great man of faith, George Mueller, captured the essence of biblical stewardship in this assessment: "I have been for fifty years, by God's grace, acting on the principle of Christian giving according to the Scriptures, and I cannot tell you the abundance of spiritual blessing I have received to my own soul through acting thus: that is, seeking to be a cheerful giver, seeking to give as God has been pleased to prosper me.
"Many beloved saints are depriving themselves of wondrous spiritual blessing by not giving as stewards of what is entrusted to them ... depriving themselves of vast spiritual blessings, because they have not followed the principles of giving systematically, and giving as God prospers them, and according to a plan ... habitually giving on principle, just as God enables them."
The following statement by Charles H. Spurgeon reflects a truly biblical perspective on giving: "Giving to God is no loss; it is putting your substance in the best bank. Giving is true having. As the old gravestone said of the dead man, 'What I spent, I had; what I saved, I lost; what I gave, I have.'"
May you personally discover the deep joy and spiritual productivity that result from investing in eternity! And, keep in mind that money is only a problem for the one who thinks that money is a solution to his problems.
Furthermore, stewardship is not just money, time, or talent. It is all of these and more since it involves the very life that God has given to us and for which we must one day give an account to Him. The New Testament word for stewardship is "oikonomia," signifying the management of a household, and thus, administering the property of someone else. Used in relation to giving, it implies that our possessions really belong to God and that we are merely managing them for Him. 
The story is told of a miserable rich man who once visited a pastor for advice and guidance. He could not understand why he was so miserable despite his great wealth. The pastor took him over to the window and asked him to look out into the street below. "What do you see?' the pastor asked. 