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God’s View of Money
God desires financial
too many of us know all too well what it’s like to experience financial
bondage.
If you’ve made some
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
…So God created human beings in his own image. In
the image of God he created them; male and female he
created them. —Genesis 1:1, 27 (NLT)
The Bible tells us God is the
beings, and He
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world
and all its people belong to him. —Psalms 24:1 (NLT)
In the big picture, all I’m really doing is
…What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if
everything you have is from God, why boast as though it
were not a gift? —1 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)
The biblical view of our existence is that
A steward is one who
Stewardship is the
another.
Money is a place where the values of God’s Kingdom and the values of
this world often come into
If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And
all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think
again. Remember that GOD, your God, gave you the
strength to produce all this wealth…. —Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (Message)
The essence of this mentality is our
God didn’t create things to be
Then God gave the people all these instructions: “I am
the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of
Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any
other god but me. You must not make for yourself an
idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or
on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to
them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any
other gods.…” —Exodus 20:1-5 (NLT)
Throughout the Bible, God shows us there are
consequences when human beings worship other gods.
Jesus: No one can serve two masters. For you will hate
one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and
despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. —Matthew 6:24 (NLT)
Money in and of itself isn’t evil, and God entrusts it to us to do lots of good, but it so easily
For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.
Some have been so eager to have it that they have
wandered away from the faith and have broken their
hearts with many sorrows. —1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)
The love of money too often lures Christ followers
God has commanded His people to give a portion of all the resources
He has entrusted to us as a visible reminder and affirmation that
money is not our
Returning to God a portion of what He has first given to us
acknowledges He is our God – it’s an act of
Honor GOD with everything you own; give him the first
and the best. —Proverbs 3:9 (Message)
Giving is always a
One tenth (the tithe) of the produce of the land,
whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees,
belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as
holy. … Count off every tenth animal from your herds
and flocks and set them apart for the LORD as holy —Leviticus 27:30, 32 (NLT)
The tithe is not just any gift to God but the first
Christ followers also give out of
What can I give back to GOD for the blessings he’s
poured out on me? —Psalm 116:12 (Message)
There’s no way we can ever earn or repay God for what He’s done for
us, but we give our lives and our resources, especially the
My tithe is an act of obedience, an act of gratitude, an act of trust, but it’s also an act of
God only asks for ten percent back, allowing us to
Investing in God’s work is the only way to invest in
Jesus: Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets
eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen
by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s
safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious,
isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you
will most want to be, and end up being. —Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)
Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds
will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously
will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your
heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in
response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives
cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you
need. Then you will always have everything you need and
plenty left over to share with others. —2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NLT)
God desires our giving to be because we
…and you will always be rich enough to be generous.
Through our action such generosity will issue in
thanksgiving to God —2 Corinthians 9:11 (NEB)
Most of us in here have been blessed by the faithfulness and
generosity of those who’ve gone before us, and we have the
opportunity to continue that
giving.
Blessings sometimes are financial, but more often, we feel joy in
seeing lives transformed, discover God’s peace because we learn we
really can trust God, and experience
Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything
personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content
whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with
little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found
the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands
full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I
can make it through anything in the One who makes me
who I am. —Philippians 4:11-13 (Message)
God understands how big a
God invites us to
Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!
“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever
cheat you?’ You have cheated me of the tithes and
offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your
whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes
into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my
Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I
will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a
blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it
in! Try it! Put me to the test!” —Malachi 3:8-10 (NLT)
Next Week: Dollars & Sense: God’s View of Saving Money