Money & Finances
How much should I be giving? I feel guilty that I'm not giving more.
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
The tithe (ten percent) was the foundational Old Testament framework for giving. God frames it as a test, which is unusual; he is essentially inviting Israel to experiment with generosity and see what happens. The context is a nation that had been holding back, and God is calling them back to a practice that would open them to his provision. The tithe was Israel's covenant framework; Christians differ on whether the exact percentage carries over, but the invitation to trust God with money does.
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
Paul moves the conversation from a percentage to a posture. The question is not primarily 'how much' but 'with what heart.' The ten percent framework is a benchmark many Christians find helpful, not a law to satisfy. The goal is a disposition of open-handedness that reflects having received freely. Guilt-driven giving and joy-driven giving look the same on a bank statement but come from very different places.
A path forward
If you have never tithed, start at whatever percentage feels stretching but not crushing (even two or three percent) and build upward over the next year. Giving is a practice you grow into.
Track your giving for one month and look at it next to your spending on other categories, not to produce guilt but to surface what your money says you actually value.
Ask your church or a trusted person where generosity has made a visible difference. Connecting your giving to a specific story of impact shifts it from obligation to participation.
Closing verse
“And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”
- Luke 21:3-4
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