The Azusa Weekly

November 3, 2025

Vol. 9, Issue 1 (Winter 2025-26)

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The Bible has a lot to say about the topic of money, and Jesus had A LOT to say about money and giving throughout the Gospels. I cannot begin to exhaust His teachings on giving and stewardship here, but I encourage you to study it. 

John Wesley said, “The last part of a man to be converted is his wallet.”

I think the way we handle our money reflects some important things about our hearts. I think giving is spiritual. Whatever we give our money to, we value. When we give our money to something, we are tying our hearts to that thing. We are so connected to money because we all need it. We have to have it. So, when we give our money to God, I think we are really giving of our hearts to Him. It may be one of the most difficult parts of us to give. And when we do, it’s really a form of worship. 

The tithe is an Old Testament principle where the Jewish people were commanded to give 10% of their income, produce, or crop yield back to God. This 10% would be given to the temple and would be used to support the priests and Levites. This Old Testament principle is important and biblical, as long as we understand it in light of the New Testament. 

I believe the New Testament principles of giving go beyond tithing. And I think we miss out on a lot and do a great disservice to the topic when we neglect the New Testament teaching in exchange for a quick 10% rule. 

One of the best places in the Bible to read about how we are to view our giving is 2 Corinthians. 

Look at what Paul told this church about giving:

“For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.””

II Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬-‭15‬

Giving to God should not be based on a set amount but rather it should be proportional. Some may have more to give than others. The equality here is that whether you are richer or poorer, you can give a percentage of your resources to God. 

Paul continues in the next chapter:

“Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

II Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭

Our giving is not to be grudgingly, but God loves a cheerful giver! It’s not about a rule or an obligation; God wants us to give from our hearts! This is the New Testament standard of giving—not 10%, but from our hearts.  

Now, in case you think I’m letting us off easy, this is actually a higher standard when you understand giving in this way. Because the New Testament standard of giving is giving from our hearts, 10% is not the ceiling of our giving—it’s usually just the starting place! 

We see many examples of giving in the New Testament, and it seems to always be way more than 10%—because it’s not based on a rule. New Testament giving is cheerful giving from the heart to God. It’s joyful worship! 

Take the woman with the two mites in the Gospel. It was only two mites, but it was all her living. She gave 100%!

What about Barnabas in Acts 4? He sold his land and laid it at the Apostles’ feet. That was way more than the standard 10%! He went above and beyond it. 

There’s another word that Paul uses a couple times in 2 Corinthians that I think is important when it comes to how Christians should view their money and giving. The word is “liberality.” 

Proverbs 11:25 says, “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” This verse does not mean, “The Democrat shall be made obese.” The word “liberal” means “generous.” The word “fat” here implies wealth and over-abounding blessings. In other words, “The generous will be blessed.”

I’m going to be honest here. I would not call a lot of Christians today “liberal.” There are liberal and generous Christians, but many Christians today would probably be best described as “stingy.” And, I’m just being honest, I think a big reason is because we’ve allowed our political views to infiltrate and override our biblical views. 

Many Republican Christians allow their conservative and capitalistic mindset to drown out biblical teachings on money and giving. I think capitalism is great for the national economy. But we are not capitalists first; we are Christians first. And Christians should be the most liberal givers in the world! Oswald Chambers said that Jesus out-socialists the socialists. And I think we should out-liberal the liberals! 

Many Christians’ view of money is this: “I make $1,000. $100 is God’s. $900 is mine. I worked hard for that. I earned it! I’ll give God His 10%, but I’m taking the 90% and doing what I want to with it!”

This is entirely NOT the New Testament teaching on giving. This is where I think we may do a disservice sometimes. 10% is not God’s; 100% is God’s! 

You are, of course, not expected to give all of your money in the offering plate. But you should recognize that though you worked for and earned your money, God blessed you with your job and gave you the abilities you have. And He also has the power to take it back as quickly as He gave it. It’s all His. It all comes from Him and goes back to Him. When we view 100% of our money as given back to God, we will use it all in God-glorifying ways. 

All of our money and resources are already God’s. The Christians who understand this are always sensitive to how the Holy Spirit may be leading them to use the financial resources God has blessed them with to give back to God. That doesn’t always look like putting it in the offering plate at your church. Any time you are giving in obedience, or to someone in need, or to further God’s kingdom in any capacity, you are giving it to God. 

And God gives us a promise tied to our giving! Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”” Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭38‬ ‭

And, finally, Paul quotes Jesus in Acts 20: “‘I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’” Acts‬ ‭20‬:‭35‬ ‭

~ Cooper