on Giving

“Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving. (Look again at 2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:11).”

“When I save, I lay something aside for future need. If I sense God’s leading, I will give it away to meet greater needs. When I hoard, I’m unwilling to part with what I’ve saved to meet others’ needs, because my possible future needs outweigh their actual present needs. I fail to love my neighbor as myself.”
― Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions and Eternity

“People who chase money without chasing any good reason for it are always brought down by the money they chase. Yes! If God gives you a gift, he adds it’s manual that contains how to use it to it. However, if you chase something without receiving any authority from above, you will be tempted to throw it away because you can’t find any good manual for it; Go, ask Judas Iscariot. He has more to say!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes

“Giving out of your surplus does not make you generous, it makes your selfishness more tolerable! Giving while you are lacking is what pleases the Lord.”
― William Branks

“Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church….as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?”
― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

“Giving is not God’s way of raising money; it is God’s way of raising people into the likeness of His Son.”
― Howard Dayton, Your Money Counts: The Biblical Guide to Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing, Giving, and Getting Out of Debt

“In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul writes to believers to encourage them to give an offering to the poor, but he wants them to do so without a direct command from him. He does not begin by pressuring them into it or asserting his authority as an apostle. He doesn’t force their wills by saying, “I’m an apostle and this is your duty to me,” or, “God will punish you if you don’t do this.” Nor does he put pressure directly on their emotions by telling them stories about how deeply the poor are suffering and how much more money the Corinthians have than the sufferers. Instead, Paul vividly and unforgettably writes, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). When Paul states, “You know the grace,” he is reminding his readers of the grace of God by means of a powerful image, one that shifts Jesus’ salvation into the realm of wealth and poverty. He moves their hearts through a spiritual recollection of the gospel. Paul, in essence, urges, “Think about his costly grace, until the gospel changes you from the heart into generous people.”
― Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

“The key to liberation from the power of materialism is not an exodus from culture – abandoning Wall Street or leaving the wealth of the nation to others – but the grace of giving… Givers for God disarm the power of money. They invite God’s grace to flow through them.”
― R. Kent Hughes

“I never will forget this. I went and threw myself across my daughter’s bed, and I cried and I cried and I cried and I cried, because I felt like that I had been so faithful and that there was no financial breakthrough for us. You ever have one of those days where you are tired of hearing everybody else’s testimony? But, I made a decision that day, and I think we all have to come to this point in many different areas of our life. And, as I lay across that bed and cried, when I finally got done crying I said this out loud, it was like my declaration, “God, I am going to tithe and give offerings until the day I die whether I ever see anything from it or not!” And, you know what, from that day forward we began to prosper and increase. And, I believe with all of my heart that was a test for me.”
― Joyce Meyer

“The means to laying up treasure in heaven is by giving to the poor.”
― David Servant, Forever Rich

“We might give God our tithing, our material possessions, even our time and talents, but those are not really ours to begin with. They are gifts on loan. What is ours is the only genuine sacrifice we can lay on the altar—total submission.”
― Toni Sorenson

“[God] wants you to go home, look at your bucket of seed, and determine in your heart how much you’d like to sow. He wants you to consider thoughtfully your current circumstances, your life, your potential, and your finances. He wants you to involve your family. He wants you to pray about it. And then He wants you to come up with a plan.”
― Andy Stanley, Fields Of Gold

“Jesus didn’t mean this as a sweeping command for everyone who has a lot of money. Jesus meant this for any of us who wallow in whatever abundance we have. I imagine Jesus looked straight into this young man’s soul and said, “I want you to give up the one thing you crave more than me. Then come, follow me.”
― Lysa TerKeurst, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”

“Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?”
― John Wesley