Honoring God With Our Wealth

God's promises hold true no matter what. He is faithful to meet all of our needs just as He promises. When we give with joy, even when it seems like we don't have much to offer, He is faithful to us. In fact, He is so good to us, and He gives us what we need when we need it. Likewise, when He gives to us, He entirely takes care of us. There are countless stories of people who were down to the last penny in their accounts, wondering when God would come through. Then, out of nowhere, a check comes in that meets those needs. Personally, this has happened to me on a few occasions. One time in graduate school, the bank account was very low, and we wondered how we would make ends meet. The next day, when checking the mail, I found a check written out to us from someone that was praying for us. The letter stated that "God impressed on them to send us a check and let us know that they were praying for us." Not only did our needs get met, but we were greatly encouraged as well. God met the need and then some. The amount given to us was abundantly more than we needed.

God Owns All Of It

Indeed, God owns everything in the world, including money. One author says, "Any money he lets us have is a gift from him. He still owns it; we just manage it for him." In other words, we are to be good stewards of the money that God has entrusted to us. Some may even say, "We need to be good stewards of the gifts that God gives." Concerning money or other gifts that he gives, we should treat it as God has required. "When we get money, God expects us to be wise stewards of the money he's entrusted us with and give part of it back to him. He expects us to give him the first part of it- not whatever is left over after we buy what we want." To help guide us, Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." We are to honor God with our wealth even though He owns all of it.

God Will Reward Faithfulness

Proverbs 3:10 plainly states that God will reward those who give. Jon Akin writes, "Proverbs 3:10 gives the reward for generosity to the Lord, and that reward is full barns and vats that overflow." One may question that God truly rewards those who give a portion of their wealth back to Him, being that death still happens, natural disasters still occur, and tragedy occurs quite frequently. In this regard, Akin says, "Are they [Proverbs 3:9-10] teaching that we should trust and obey the Lord and in return he will give us health, wealth, and happiness?" The short answer is, "Yes," we should trust Him to provide all that we need, and then some, but we must be reminded that we also live in a fallen world. Akin states, "Sometimes you can believe and obey, and things go bad for you. You get sick instead of health. Despite your great generosity to the work of the Lord, you get laid off. Sometimes we suffer now and receive the rewards only in the next life. So it's not your best life now; it's your best life later and forever" (Akin).

God owns everything in the world, including money.

The conclusion is we should be willing to give and honor God with our wealth. All the gifts we have are from Him. He owns it all and freely gives it to us. That does not mean that He will give us everything we want, but He will bless us, and most importantly, provide for our needs. Also, we must be reminded that we still live in a fallen world, and we all face the consequences of our sin and rebellion against God in Genesis 3. The good news is that Jesus is our hope, and through Him, we can be forgiven of our sins and shortcomings. We need His forgiveness and help. Moreover, because the Holy Spirit lives inside us, He guides and enables us to honor God with our wealth joyfully.

Questions

How are you honoring God with your wealth?
Are you giving to God so that you can only “get” things from God?
What is your attitude in giving to God?

Resources

Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus In Proverbs By Daniel L Akin and Jonathan Akin

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