“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.” – Proverbs 3:9
Trinity Bible Chapel believes that the Bible calls believers to faithfully and regularly give back a Biblical portion of their increase to the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:2). This means that Christians are to give according to what’s been given to them. Instead of thinking, “How much of my money am I going to give back to God?” one should think, “How much of God’s money am I going to keep for myself?”
The Bible also calls Christians to give sacrificially (Philippians 4:18, Hebrews 13:16, 2 Corinthians 8:2-3, 2 Samuel 24:24). This means that one’s giving should be felt. It should require you to make some adjustments and sacrifices in your lifestyle. The New Testament does not clearly commands us to give 10% of our gross income as the Old Testament did, but 10% is usually a wise starting point and baseline. In the New Testament, Christ heightened the bar on many Old Testament laws, so surely the bar has not been lowered when it comes to giving.
Furthermore, one is to give willingly and with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7). It truly is a blessing to be able to give back to the Lord a portion of what he’s entrusted to us. As we give, we can delight in God’s amazing promise to bless and reward those who give to the Lord’s work (2 Corinthians 9:6-11).
