What does God want me to do with my money?

Very few and simple are the directions as to all this. "On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him" (1 Cor. 16:2). At the time when Christ and His love appeal to his heart, each one was to set apart an amount proportionate to his earnings: this was to be used for the Lord, as He might direct, — for the poor (as in that immediate case) , for the Lord's servants laboring at home or abroad, or for whatever might call for such help. It was to be given "not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7) — as Himself is doing. We are all stewards of God's things, and are to minister them under His eye and for Him.

As to money for buildings, the Church is not an earthly corporation, and needs not to own houses and lands in this world. At any rate, a simple and suitable building, of moderate rent or price, would at once relieve the saints of a burden and be a testimony to our strangership here. Our apology for speaking of this matter at all must be the need of scriptural instruction on the subject. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9:8-15).

To our families and relatives: ‘If any one does not provide for his own, and specially for those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than the unbeliever’ (1 Tim. 5:8; see also Mark 7:10–13). This is our first responsibility. To the poor: As believers we should not ignore poor people when we come across them: ‘He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor’; ‘He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack; but he that withdraweth his eyes shall have many a curse’ (Prov. 22:9; 28:27). The Lord said of them that we will always have them with us (John 12:8), and so it is — in our immediate neighbourhood and around the world. It also says in Ephesians 4:28: ‘Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.’ For the Lord’s work and His servants: We point out the following principles: ‘the labourer is worthy of his hire’ (Luke 10:7; compare 1 Tim. 5:17–18). ‘Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things’ (Gal. 6:6). ‘Do ye not know that they who labour at sacred things eat of the offerings offered in the temple; they that attend at the altar partake with the altar? So also the Lord has ordained to those that announce the glad tidings to live of the glad tidings’ (1 Cor. 9:13–14).

If such as the poor widow could use all for the Lord and His interests, the rich believer can also use what God has made him a steward of for Himself. Of this we read in 1 Timothy 6, where Paul writes to Timothy, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (verse 17). The lessons of the rich young ruler are to be learned: the rich are not to trust in riches that may take wings, but in God Himself. Such as have riches are to enjoy themselves in distributing to others what God has given them in stewardship.

If we are not to love money, we are to use it well if we possess it. Some have inherited riches, others, though not seeking it, have yet become rich. Here is a special charge for them: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.”

Help go . Help by your encouragement, by your prayers, by your purse, as guided of the Master. It is a sin for any Christian to live in luxury. The richest is but a steward of his possessions to the Lord. Everywhere the need is great, at your very door, in the next street, town, country, or across the seas. Money is the smallest help in one way of all. Prayer, sympathy, encouragement greatly help, and if these are not lacking, neither will the means necessary for carrying on the work be wanting.

In nothing perhaps are the children of God so commonly unfaithful as in the stewardship of money. Too much spent on luxuries, and too little dispersed abroad, and even that not always wisely. When shall we learn to neither spend nor give without seeking the guidance of God? In Luke 16: the Lord Jesus, after speaking of the unjust steward who so skilfully manipulated his circumstances for his own advantage, said: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much." "Least?" Is that how men regard money? Note also our Lord's further words: "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God!" In 1 Tim. 6 the Apostle has much to say about this serious matter. In verses 9-11 he warns saints who are not rich, but who aspire to be, that there are dangers ahead. Men in the world who pursue such a course frequently "drown themselves in destruction and perdition" and money-loving saints "pierce themselves through with many sorrows." In Verses 17-19 the Apostle charges those who are already rich not to "trust … in uncertain riches, but in God who gives us richly all things to enjoy," and to be ready "with open hand for every good work." There is nothing wrong in possessing wealth (mark the word "enjoy") if the wealth comes to us honourably; but when we consider that He to whom we owe our eternal all had not where to lay His head, and when we also remember that He is still "despised and rejected by men," to be holders of large sums of money puts us in a position of grave responsibility, in the discharge of which we need daily and hourly grace. Referring again to Luke 16 we can "make to ourselves friends by the mammon of unrighteousness," if our hearts so dispose us (ver. 9) or we may make enemies by the same means. Those who are generous and kind are beloved; but those who are selfish and haughty by reason of their wealth are disliked. Oh, that it may be said of us, as of Josiah's workmen "they dealt faithfully! "

Such passages may well challenge our own hearts today. The subject of giving is frequently taken up in the New Testament, both by the Lord Himself in the Gospels, and elsewhere. In Luke 16 faithfulness “in the unrighteous mammon” is faithfulness “in that which is another man's” (Luke 16:11-12). The money that passes through our hands is not ours but the Lord's and we are responsible to Him as to how we dispose of it. The Scripture: “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?”, would indicate that there is a very definite link between Christian giving and progress in spiritual things — the things which are our “own”. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). “Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things” (Gal. 6:6). “But to do good, and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). These Scriptures show the large and important place that giving has in the sight of God and it is a responsibility that we cannot escape.

In Christianity all we possess is sometimes viewed as belonging to God, and we are but stewards of what God has given us (Luke 16:11-12): but our present possessions are also viewed as our own (Acts 5:4), with the responsibility of using them aright. Those who are rich are not exhorted to give a tenth, but are to "be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate" (1 Tim. 6:18). All who give are to do it with simplicity (Rom. 12:8). even if we are not able, like the poor widow, to give all our living (Mark 12:41-44), or like the disciples of the Lord who left all to follow Him (Luke 18:28).

"Charge them that are rich in this world... That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate" (1 Tim. 6:17-19). They are admonished not to put their trust in uncertain riches, but instead to use what God has entrusted to their stewardship for the benefit of those in need.

These two principles — regularity and conscientiousness — are very simple and easy to be understood; but they are not on that account less likely to be overlooked. You will therefore do well to lay it seriously to heart that whatever sum you set aside week by week, whether it be a penny or a pound, it ought to be the outcome (1) of the regular habit you have acquired of so doing, and (2) of a real effort to make that sum a just and generous proportion of your income.