money

Train Yourself to Be Godly #11: Practicing Godly Generosity

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*Training yourself to be godly will include being generous like God.

According to one online source, there are 3,871 Self-storage facilities in Canada as of November 2025. (https://www.poidata.io/report/self-storage-facility/canada/)

People store anything and everything from exercise equipment to furniture to heirlooms and extra clothes. One of the growing storage needs has been RV storage lots because people spend thousands of dollars on something they only use a couple of weeks a year. The average Canadian has way more stuff than they need.

Here’s the question we want to ask of God’s word today: How do we train ourselves to be godly in light of our stuff? How do we handle our resources righteously?

Let’s talk about how to handle our resources righteously:

1.         Practice Tithing

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 says, “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—… Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.”

Tithing was really important to God as he makes clear in Malachi 3:8-9.

“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.

God clearly tells the Israelites you are suffering because you are cheating me. You are not giving your tithes and offerings. God expected it. We need to consider the Discipline of Tithing.

Some suggest Jesus never told us to tithe but look at Matthew 23:23: “… you Pharisees. Hypocrites! …you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” Tithing was such a big part of the Jewish faith that Jesus only seems to mention it in passing, but assumes that tithing will be part of their life.

2.         Do not Covet!

Commandment number ten of the Ten Commandments says this: “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).

Tithing is about giving back to God from what God has given us. To “not covet” is to be satisfied with what God has given to us. When we covet, we are not satisfied with what we have. We think we are lacking something, missing out.

Part of the issue here is that we don’t need as much stuff as we think we do. We would do well to figure out how to practice the Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity and make do with less.

Beyond Tithing and Not Coveting, we need to consider Generosity.

3.         Practice Generosity

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17). “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Not only is God generous with physical blessings, but God is also generous in giving us salvation! “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.: (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, as we look at training ourselves to be godly, how can we be generous like God? We could be generous:

  • With our money. “God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7
  • By practicing hospitality. “Practice hospitality.” – Romans 12:13
  • By sharing material possessions. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” – 1 John 3:17
  • By sharing food. “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” – Proverbs 22:9

And as we are generous, look at what will happen: “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor” (Proverbs 22:9).

Be generous like our generous God by practicing some of the following disciplines:

  • Discipline of Tithing – giving at least 10%
  • Discipline of Stewardship – careful deliberate managing of the resources God has given.
  • Discipline of Simplicity – not gathering and holding on to so much stuff
  • Discipline of Generosity – reflecting God’s generosity in how we are generous to others.

What discipline will you put into your own Spiritual Life Training Plan?

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Ask People to Give

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Reaching people for Jesus costs money. Running a church with all its ministries costs money.

The truth is, your church needs money. Bills come in regularly for the electricity, gas, insurance, and on and on. Salaries must be paid. And vision needs to be funded.

Conversations about money make some people squirm. Especially if it is about their money.

As a pastor, you can talk about money in a number of different ways, some better than others. For example, you can hammer them with Old Testament scriptures and tell them they have to give, or you can tell them they need to pay for their ability to enjoy the services, like a user-fee.

MONEY AND DISCIPLESHIP

Or, instead, you can invite them to listen to God, and give as He directs. I like the idea of talking with the congregation about their discipleship and how being a follower of Jesus means allowing him access to all areas of my life, including my money. If we don’t give him control, money can become the root of all kinds of evil. Like anything else we don’t hand over to Jesus, it can become our god.

There are many great studies and programs that churches can use to help teach their congregation how to handle money as God would want them to, and help the congregation see how budgeting can help them handle their money with purpose. Tithing is an act of budgeting, even for those who do not have an actual budget. The effort of deliberately figuring out 10% is the beginning of budgeting.

You can teach them how even a little savings each month can add up over time for when they need to make a bigger purchase without borrowing. Borrowing money, using debt of any kind, always means the costs is actually higher. Saving ahead of time means you may not have to borrow, or not as much, when that big need comes along. My wife has been slowly putting money into a separate account over the last number of years. Her money, along with a tax refund I had, enabled us to recently have enough money for a down payment on a house. We can finally own a home again because of the savings she did!

MONEY AND VISION

I like tying any conversation about money, with vision. Clearly, to do this, you need to have a vision to point to. If you have a vision for your church that you and your leadership have prayerfully worked through, then you believe this is what God wants your church to pursue. Explain to your congregation how their funding of that vision will help make the vision a reality.

If your church’s vision includes winning youth to Christ, you might point to how their giving helps pay the Youth Pastor. If your church’s vision includes providing space for local 12-step programs, show how their giving helps provide a space for the community to meet. And just maybe, when those who attend the community programming are looking for a church, they will check out yours. You could even highlight a certain aspect of the church budget once a month and show how it enables your church’s vision to be accomplished.

And you could point to how sacrifice is an important part of the Christian life. Maybe your congregation needs a challenge, and maybe a bit of sacrifice, in order to accomplish great things for God in your community!

MONEY CONVERSATIONS

Be creative in how you talk to your congregation about money and their giving.

  • I have used some video clips that were very well done and got the point across without me needing to say anything.
  • Include a verse about money and giving with other onscreen announcements.
  • Say a few pertinent words just before the offering is taken.
  • Ask some people who are willing to share a short testimony about how God has guided them in their giving.
  • And of course, don’t hesitate to preach a sermon, or even a series, on finances.
  • And feel free to share about how you handle your own money.

It is important to highlight money and giving as part of discipling your congregation. You could schedule different creative methods to be used on a yearly calendar. Make talking about money a priority. Don’t be afraid to do it.

And keep looking up,

Andy

*If you are wondering how well your church is doing in light of its giving, and would like an outside voice, I can work through a Financial Audit with your church.