Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, online, or search ‘The Stewardology Podcast’ in your favorite podcast app.

 

If God appeared to you today and said, “I don’t actually need your money,” how would that land?

Would you feel… relieved? “Great, then I can keep more of it for the things I really need.”

That reaction makes total sense on the surface. In fact, it’s exactly what we hear people say all the time…

  • “Why should I give? God doesn’t need my money!”
  • “I can give only a little bit… it doesn’t really move the needle. I need it more than God does.”

The real question isn’t whether God needs your money….it is if you NEED to give it away? 

Giving does something profound in us. It breaks the power that money can hold over our lives. It proves to ourselves, to the world, and to God that God means more to us than anything money can provide.

In this episode, we’re going to unpack why the Bible says we give, and why generosity is one of the most loving things God invites us to do… for our own good and for the good of others.

 

Scriptural Foundation: God Owns Everything

Before we talk about giving, we have to start with ownership. Everything we have ultimately belongs to God. We are simply managers of what He has entrusted to us.

  •       Psalm 50:10 (ESV): “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.”
  •       Psalm 24:1 (ESV / NIV84 almost identical): “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.”
  •       Colossians 1:16 (ESV): “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.”
  •       Haggai 2:8 (ESV): “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.”
  •       Job 41:11 (ESV): “Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.”

Conclusion from the Foundation:

God doesn’t need your money. He already owns it all. You’re just managing it for a season.

So what does He call us to do with what we manage? Part of the big picture of stewardship is generosity. Stewardship is not only giving…it’s much broader…but giving is the first priority in our stewardship framework. It truly is where the rubber meets the road in a key area of our personal walk with Christ!

 

So Why Give? Four Key Reasons

  1. The Command to Give and Be Generous

Scripture doesn’t just suggest generosity — it commands it. This isn’t about earning God’s favor; it’s about obeying His clear word and aligning our lives with His design.

  •       Malachi 3:10 (ESV): “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.”
  •       2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV): “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
  •       Luke 6:38 (ESV): “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.”
  •       Proverbs 3:9–10 (ESV): “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.”

 

  1. The Impact on Your Heart

We don’t give because God needs it. We give because WE need it.  Money has a unique power to reveal what (or whom) we truly worship. 

Giving is one of the most tangible ways we demonstrate that God is first in our lives.

  •       Matthew 6:21 (ESV): “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
  •       Matthew 6:24 (ESV): “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Our giving unto the Lord and His work proves to our own hearts that God is more valuable to us than the security or status money seems to offer.  Giving loosens money’s grip and re-centers our affection on the Giver rather than the gifts.

 

  1. God Ordains Not Just the Ends, But Also the Means

God doesn’t need your money to accomplish His purposes…but He has chosen to use our generosity as one of the primary means to care for His church, the poor, and the spread of the gospel. 

Your gift is one of the tools He uses to change the world… and more importantly…to change you!

  •       Romans 12:8 (ESV): “…the one who contributes, in generosity…” (part of the list of spiritual gifts – generosity is a Spirit-given capacity that God invites us to exercise)
  •       2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV): “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.”
  •       God doesn’t want something from you…He wants something FOR you. 

Generosity does more to change us than it does to change the world around us… though it really does both. Your church needs it. The poor and needy need it.  And your own heart needs the freedom that comes from living with an open hand unto the Lord and His Kingdom work!

 

  1. The Blessings for the Generous (Key Promises)

Scripture is full of promises connected to generous giving. These are not “health and wealth” guarantees, but they are real assurances of God’s care, provision, and spiritual blessing for those who give with a right heart. Here are some of the strongest and most contextually fitting promises from the Word of God:

  •       Proverbs 11:24–25 (ESV): “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
  •       Proverbs 19:17 (ESV): “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
  •       Proverbs 22:9 (ESV): “Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.”
  •       Deuteronomy 15:10 (ESV): “You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.”
  •       Psalm 112:5, 9 (ESV): “It is well with the man who deals generously and lends… He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
  •       Acts 20:35 (ESV): “…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
  •       1 Timothy 6:18–19 (ESV): “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

 

Does God Need My Money?

Remember that question we started with? What if God said to you today, “I don’t need your money”?

The honest answer is… He doesn’t! 

But the even more honest answer is that you still need to give it. Not for Him…but for YOU! 

Because EVERY TIME you open your hand in generosity, you loosen the grip that money, fear, and self-reliance can have on your heart.

You prove…again…and again…that Jesus is more valuable than anything this world offers. And you get to be part of God’s plan to love a broken world and impact it with His Gospel of Amazing Grace!

So give… not because God is poor, but because you, my brother and sister…are rich…in Him!

 

 

Next Steps

 

Material presented is property of The Stewardology Podcast, a ministry of Life Financial Group and Life Institute. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, or exploit any content without the expressed written permission of The Stewardology Podcast. For more information, contact us at Contact@StewardologyPodcast.com or (800) 688-5800.

The topics discussed in this podcast are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations.  Investing and investment strategies involve risk including the potential loss of principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Securities and advisory services offered through GWM, Inc Member FINRA/SIPC