Session 3
Making the Most of 90 Percent
From Getting More Out of Giving In: A 3-Day Devotional About Money
We are rich people. The only reason many of us do not think we are well off is because we live in America.
If you make more than $30,000 a year, you earn more than 53.2 percent of Americans. Even the poorest 5 percent of Americans are financially better off than two-thirds of the entire world.
We’ve got it good, and in Proverbs 3:9, God tells us to honor Him with our wealth. Honoring God with our wealth is more than tithing. God is pleased when we tithe, but He also cares about what we do with the remaining 90 percent of the wealth He’s given us.
God is a giver. He gave us life, and He gave us His only Son (John 3:16). As His representatives on earth, Christians should be the most generous people on the planet.
Generosity preaches a message to others about who God is, and it’s one way God works through His people to bless other people. 2 Corinthians 9:11 says God gives to us so we can be generous to others.
The idea that if we had more we would do more is a lie. Statistics show people who make more money give a smaller percentage of their income away. Generosity is never a money issue; it’s a heart issue. And when our heart is surrendered, generosity becomes a priority.
If we are generous with a little, we will be generous with a lot. If we obey Jesus when He tells us to be generous—whether that means giving an offering to the church, tipping more than the minimum, or paying for the person behind us in the drive-thru—we show ourselves to be trustworthy with our wealth. And like a smart manager, God rewards and increases responsibility for those He can trust. That’s what Paul meant when he wrote in 2 Corinthians, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
If we will be generous with what God gives us, we will see Him do amazing things through us.
Reflect:
- What’s one way you can be generous today?
Make a Move:
Follow Their Lead:
- Ryan and Sarah Thorne were living paycheck to paycheck when they felt God leading them to give above and beyond their tithe. They soon learned how their money really was better in God's hands than in their own. Read Ryan and Sarah's story.