How Much Does God Expect Me To Give?

Over my years in pastoral ministry, one of the most honest questions people ask me is simply: How much does God expect me to give?

While this question can stem from many different heart motives, my job isn't to judge those motives—it's to offer a clear, biblically faithful answer that reflects the heart of God.

The truth is, asking how much to give usually signals an incomplete view of biblical stewardship. For years, I’ve taught financial classes focused on helping people not just manage their money but truly honor God with it. I have seen people who are in good financial shape but not God-honoring, and I have seen poor people who honor God with their money and possessions. When pastors and churches focus solely on giving and generosity, they miss the bigger picture of what the Bible teaches about our finances.  We must teach what I call a 360 degree approach to biblical financial stewardship. The Bible addresses earning, spending, saving, and giving.  Here are three guiding principles from Scripture regarding financial stewardship.

1.      God owns Everything.  Scripture is clear that God created all things; everything in existence ultimately belongs to Him—including the universe, the Earth, money, resources, and even human life itself.  Psalm 24:1 states, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."  Because God is the sovereign creator of the earth and all life, He is the sovereign owner of it all. 

2.      Humans are managers, not owners.   We are entrusted with time, money, and talents to manage on His behalf, but ownership always remains with God.  In teaching about the kingdom of God, Jesus shared this principle through the parable of the talents.  “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.”  Matthew 25:14-15

3.      We are accountable for what and how we manage God’s resources.   Because God retains ownership, humans are accountable to Him for how faithfully and responsibly we use His resources to align with His character and purposes. In the parable of the talents, Jesus teaches that the master will return.  “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”  Matthew 25:19. For Christians, this evaluation takes place after the Return of Christ or after earthly life ends. 2 Corinthians 5:10 states, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." This is not a judgment of condemnation or salvation, but an assessment of faithfulness and reward.  This accountability also shows up in the present through the spiritual principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7) and through God's loving discipline or refinement in daily life (Hebrews 12:6). 

In Luke 12:48, Jesus explained that "from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded." God evaluates your stewardship based on the specific gifts, opportunities, and resources He entrusted to you, not in comparison to others.

So, with those clear biblical principles as our basis for handling money and material possessions, how are we to approach giving?  Biblical giving flows from a willing heart, transforming our support of the local church from a forced obligation into a meaningful act of worship. Giving is fundamentally an act of worship that acknowledges God as the owner of everything. Proverbs 3:9 encourages believers to "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops."

In the New Testament, giving is described as an outflow of the heart rather than a rigid formula. If you are asking, " Should I give from my gross or net income you may be missing the point. 2 Corinthians 9:7 states, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."   The Apostle Paul instructed the early church to set aside money regularly in proportion to how God had blessed them: "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income" 1 Corinthians 16:2.

But what about the tithe? In the Old Testament, the tithe (10%) was commanded to support the Levitical priesthood, temple worship, and the poor. In the New Testament, Jesus affirmed generous giving, indicating that we are to go further than the tithe.  The tithe is a benchmark and a launching point for generosity to God.  If you were to add up all the required offerings and sacrifices that God established for Israel, they would total 23.33% of their annual income. The question is not how much I should give, but rather how much of God’s money I need to live on.   Timothy Keller said, “Generosity is not a requirement for salvation, but it is a mark of it. When God’s grace touches a heart, it opens the hand."

My pastoral advice to those who desire to live God-honoring financial lives can be summed up in the following steps.

1.      Start with prayer, surrendering control of your money to God and asking for wisdom.

2.      Take an online or in-person course like Financial Peace University to align yourself with biblical principles and learn good financial practices.

3.      Make a budget from what you learn.

4.      If you are married, do the previous steps together.

5.      If you are giving, ask yourself if it reflects the heart characteristics of gratitude, joy, and generosity that are proportional to your income.

6.      If you are not currently giving, start giving something regularly and aim to increase it with the tithe as a benchmark. The tithe is a good place to start but a bad place to stop.

But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

Al Rossi THM