What Does The Bible Say About Giving? (12 Principles)
How Much Money Does God Want Us to Give?
Most people understand that it is a good thing to donate financially to worthy causes. However, when it comes to the specifics about what the Bible says about giving, many Christians have questions.
Believers want to know what God requires of us, how much God wants us to give, how we should support our local church, how much to give to missionaries and ministries, and when and how to give to those outside the church.
The Bible has a lot to say about money. Understanding its teaching is crucial to living and teaching the Christian worldview—in your home, in your church, and in your local area.
My name is Joel Settecase. I'm a former pastor and now the president of The Think Institute. My mission is to help you, Christian layman, and your family, to build a legacy in the Christian worldview—and to pass on the faith to the younger generation.
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Let’s take a few moments and unpack the biblical teaching about giving and generosity. Specifically, we will look at 12 principles for biblical generosity.
1. God promises to reward us for giving generously.
In Scripture, God really does promise to reward His people when we give generously.
“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” —Proverbs 3:9–10
"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” —Luke 6:38
Over and over in the Bible, God makes it clear that He intends to take care of those who give generously.
However, if you are like me, you may balk at these promises. After all, is this not what the prosperity preachers promise—that if you “sow a seed” by giving money to their ministries, God will bless you? However, there is an important fact that we cannot miss, here. God is promising to reward His people for giving to Him, and to further His kingdom. Giving to a prosperity preacher, who teaches a false Gospel, is not giving to the Lord or furthering His kingdom. So we can heartily affirm these biblical promises, while still condemning and rejecting the false promises of prosperity preachers.
Does this mean, therefore, that God will always return to us a financial blessing, every time we make a financial gift? Not at all. However, giving to worthy causes (which we will describe in greater detail below) is a way of storing up treasure in Heaven (cf. Matthew 6:19–20).
Any rewards God gives you in this life will necessarily be temporary. So it is comforting to know that, while He may give us rewards “down here,” He is storing up for us greater, everlasting rewards for us in Heaven.
2. Tithing is not required of Christians in the New Covenant.
To “tithe” is to give ten percent. Although Christians may often speak of “tithes and offerings,” tithing is not actually a requirement for Christians. So where does the idea of tithing come from?
Tithing was a requirement under the Old Covenant—and it was one God took very seriously. In Malachi 3:8–10, He chastises Israel:
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."
The above passage is sometimes used by believers to teach that we are required to tithe. However, Malachi is writing to those under the Old Covenant, and his words must be kept in their proper context.
Tithing absolutely was an Old Covenant requirement. It comes directly from the Torah:
“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord." —Leviticus 27:30
“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.” —Deuteronomy 14:28
Jesus Himself endorsed the Old Covenant practice of tithing, in his excoriating rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Notice Jesus does not reprove them for tithing. At that time, the Old Covenant was still in effect, and the Jewish people were expected to give God ten percent.
However, the requirement to tithe is not given in the New Testament. Believers today are not under the Old Covenant Law, but rather we are “within Christ’s Law” (1 Corinthians 9:21, HCSB). In this New Covenant Era, the tithe—a requirement for the religio-political nation of Israel—is not repeated. So then, if the tithe is not required, does that mean Christians are not expected to give? Not at all. Instead, giving is both expected and required of Christians. We should be giving in various ways and to various groups of people. So let’s talk about that.
3. Give to Christians In Need.
In Matthew 25:34–40, Jesus vividly foretells a coming day of judgment, when He will separate those who will enter into His eternal kingdom from those whom he “never knew.” In that depiction, He teaches us that giving to his “the least of these my brothers” by which He means Christians, (cf. Romans 8:29), is tantamount to giving to Jesus Himself. The message is clear: God expects followers of Jesus to give to other followers of Jesus in need.
This is such a strong expectation, that failure to do so is a sign that a person is not a believer at all, to the extent that Jesus will say to such a person, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
4. Give to Support Your Pastor and Local Church
The Bible teaches that pastors should be compensated financially for their labors in the gospel.
“Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” —1 Corinthians 9:13–14
Church elders/overseers should be honored by the congregations under their care. When it comes to honoring overseers, the New Testament teaches churches to put their money where their mouths are: elders who do a great job, and especially those who preach and teach regularly, should be compensated doubly!
"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves his wages'" (1 Timothy 5:17–18).
The word Paul uses for “honor” in the above verse connotes value, esteem, and yes, money paid. This latter meaning is emphasized by Paul’s allusion to the Old Testament teaching that the laborer deserves his wages.
Of course, elders and pastors should not let money become their motivation for ministry, as Peter warns them:
“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly….” —1 Peter 5:2
Taking into account this warning, it is nevertheless right and good for Christians to contribute financially to their pastors’ livelihood.
By extension, this also applies to members of the church staff. The children’s ministry director, the youth pastor, the director of music, the pastor of discipleship, the church secretary, etc., are all laboring in the Gospel. While it is a noble thing to volunteer one’s time, it is also noble—and biblical—for Christians to support those who take on these roles.
5. Give to Missionaries and Ministries
The Apostle Paul was the consummate missionary. He wrote that he had the right to earn a living through being supported by those whom his work benefited. Furthermore, missionaries and ministry leaders have the right to support their families through their work as well.
Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?... Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.” —1 Corinthians 9:4–5, 7–10
Note Paul’s mention of taking along a believing wife. Ministers should be able to provide for their families through their work.
He drives his point home when in the next passage, when he says the following.
“If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right…. —1 Corinthians 9:11–12a (emphasis added).
Paul asserts that as a missionary, he has the right to receive material compensation from the Christians whom his ministry work had helped. Although he says he did not take advantage of this right, it is nevertheless a right that he possesses. By implication, this is true for others who play a similar role to Paul by serving as missionaries and ministry leaders today.
6. Give to Those In Need Outside the Church.
James 1:27 defines “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God” as “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Note that James does not specify whether the widows and orphans are believers or not.
Similarly, Galatians 6:10 says,
“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."
Certainly, those who are in need within the church are not excluded (see principle #3 above), but it is apparent that God wants us to exhibit generosity toward the poor and vulnerable outside the church as well.
In fact, when we use our money in this way, the Lord may open up some doors for evangelism that lead to the recipients of our generosity becoming believers and entering into eternal life. As Jesus instructs in Luke 16:9,
“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
7. Give discreetly.
Jesus teaches His followers not to give conspicuously.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." —Matthew 6:1–4
When we give, we are not to make a big deal about it. We are giving for the Lord’s glory, not our own. We want to extend His fame, not ours.
8. Give sacrificially.
In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul commends the Macedonian Christians for giving abundantly, despite their financial hardship.
“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor[b] of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” —2 Corinthians 8:1–5
Giving in this way is certainly hard. Perhaps this is why Paul stresses that the Macedonians who did so “gave themselves first to the Lord,” before they gave. It was their commitment to the Lord and to His will that spurred them on toward giving to the Lord’s people in a sacrificial way.
We would do well to emulate them, both in our allegiance to God’s will, and in our desire to have a part in carrying it out through selfless generosity.
9. Give Cheerfully
"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." —2 Corinthians 9:7
When someone asks how much Christians are required to give in the New Covenant, I always point them toward this verse. Generosity is not about mere obligation, and New Covenant giving is not a matter of fulfilling the letter of the law. Rather, we are free to give as much as we desire. Of course, we are free to abstain from giving too, and one’s financial situation might sometimes necessitate that. However, the expectation is that we will give, and give joyfully.
What can help make giving a more joyful experience?
First, giving becomes more joyful when we trust God to provide for us. Giving can be a source of stress, because when we give, we think about how we will no longer have that money to pay for other things.
However, the Lord puts our mind at ease by assuring us of this:
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, 'He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.' He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." —2 Cor. 9:8–10
To put it plainly, God wants you to give generously in order to further His mission, and He is able and willing to provide for you to do so. We can give more cheerfully when we keep this in mind.
10. Give Worshipfully
When you give generously, you are increasing the amount of worship that God receives. For example, when you make a gift to a Christian ministry, the people who work in that ministry thank and praise the Lord for providing for their needs through your gift. As the Executive Director of a Christian ministry (The Think Institute) myself, I can speak to this from experience. It is amazingly humbling and a source of tremendous worship when God motivates other believers to donate to our ministry.
Paul describes this phenomenon when he writes,
"You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” —2 Corinthians 9:11–15
When you give to other Christians, you motivate them to thank and praise the Lord.
11. Voluntary, Free-Willed Is Not Just a New Covenant Thing
It is notable that Abraham himself demonstrated this kind of cheerful, voluntary, worshipful giving, when he gave a tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). This took place before God gave the Old Covenant Law to Israel through Moses. Abraham was not obeying a legal requirement to give ten percent. Instead, he freely decided to give ten percent, out of his own heart.
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, followed Abraham’s example when he promised to give God ten percent, if God would guide him and provide for him. Jacob’s gratitude would overflow into voluntary, cheerful giving.
This kind of giving pleases God.
12. Don’t Give at the Expense of Your Own Family.
It is necessary to remind ourselves that, while giving outside the family is vital, the most urgent and important way for each of us to invest our finances is within our own family.
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” —1 Timothy 5:8
This pertains to our money as well as our time and attention. Let it never be said of us that we neglected our own wives and children in order to further the kingdom of God.
Why Is Giving Important In the Bible?
Giving is important.
We have looked at 12 biblical principles for giving:
God promises to reward us for giving generously.
Tithing is not required of Christians in the New Covenant.
Give to Christians in Need.
Give to Support Your Pastor and Local Church.
Give to Missionaries and Ministries.
Give to Those In Need Outside the Church.
Give Discreetly.
Give Sacrificially.
Give Cheerfully.
Give Worshipfully.
Voluntary, Free-Willed Is Not Just a New Covenant Thing.
Don’t Give at the Expense of Your Own Family.
Giving is important because God has designed things that way. He does not need us to give. He is God. He could easily provide for every church, missionary, and worthy cause instantaneously with a single thought. However, He has chosen to give us the high calling of godly, biblical generosity. He has given us the privilege of contributing to His work through voluntary, meaningful, cheerful—even if painful sometimes—giving.
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