Money 101: The Freedom of Giving

Most of us give from what is left. Pay the bills, cover the wants, and if something survives at the bottom of the account, a little of it goes to God. It rarely does, because there is rarely anything left.

So the giving never quite happens. For most men the heart is willing; it is the order that defeats them. The math simply runs out before generosity ever gets its turn.

Scripture puts it the other way around, and the reversal is the whole point.

Give first, off the top

The old word for it is firstfruits. You give from the first of what comes in, before the money can get spoken for, from the top of the account rather than whatever settles at the bottom.

There is a spiritual weight to which end you give from. A man who saves before he gives is quietly building his own kingdom. A man who gives before he saves is letting God build his. Same paycheque, same dollars, completely different posture toward the God they came from.

Notice what that order does. It makes giving a decision you make once, at the top, instead of a feeling you wait for at the bottom. Generosity stops depending on whether anything happened to be left over.

Stop reasoning your way out

Here is where a certain kind of man gets stuck, and I say this with affection because I understand the impulse. He starts negotiating the technicalities. Do I tithe on the gross or the net? Have I already given on this money once? Does this bonus count?

Those can be real questions. More often they are a hesitation doing the work of a theology.

So let me ask it the way I would ask a friend across the table. Are you trying to reason your way out of giving to God? What is the worst thing that would actually happen if you rounded up instead of down? Ten percent was never the whole of it anyway. All of it belongs to God, and always did. Once you see that, arguing over a percentage point starts to feel like what it is.

Start somewhere. Give something, on purpose, this month. The exact figure clarifies itself once you are actually giving, and almost never before.

What it does to the giver

Now the part nobody warns you about. Generosity changes the person doing it, usually before it reaches anyone else.

Open your hand, and money loses its grip on you. That is the strange mechanism at the centre of it all. The tight-fisted grip we get on money is the very thing giving pries loose, one open hand at a time. White-knuckling never gets you to contentment. Giving, strangely, does.

I will say it plainly, because it has been true in my own life. Generosity is one of the most life-giving things a man can do. It always brings me closer to God, every time, because in the act of giving you are doing the one thing God is always doing. He is the giver. When you give, you get a small taste of what he is like from the inside.

And it was never only about money. You can be generous with your home, your time, the skills you happen to have, the seat in your car, the spare hours in your week. The tithe is the doorway. Open-handedness is the room it opens into.

The one step this week

Before you pay a single other thing this month, give first. Make it the first transaction. If it helps to take the decision out of your hands entirely, set it to happen automatically the day you get paid, the way you would with any bill that matters.

If you want help thinking it through, the tithe calculator will put real numbers to it, and the fuller pieces on why most Christian men save before they give and generosity beyond the tithe go deeper than a primer can. The Stewardship Quiz will show you where giving sits in your whole picture.

The freest men I know hold what they have loosely. They sleep well, they give quickly, and money has stopped being the thing that runs them. That freedom shows up long before the numbers do. It comes from opening your hand while you still feel like you cannot afford to. Give first. The grip loosens from there.

Common questions

Should I give before or after I save and pay my bills?

Give first, off the top. Scripture calls it firstfruits (Proverbs 3:9): you give from the first of what comes in, before the money gets spoken for. Most people give from the leftovers, and there are rarely any leftovers. Giving first turns generosity into a decision instead of an accident.

Do I tithe on gross or net income?

Start somewhere rather than stalling on the exact percentage. The gross-versus-net question is often a hesitation doing the work of a theology. Ten percent was never the whole of it anyway, because all of it belongs to God. Give with intention, and the precise figure tends to clarify itself once you are actually giving.

What does generosity do for the giver?

It loosens money's grip on you. Giving is one of the most life-giving things a person can do, because in the act of giving you do the very thing God is always doing. It builds a contentment that white-knuckling a budget never will, and it usually draws you closer to God.

Is generosity only about money?

No. You can be generous with your home, your time, your skills, a seat in your car, or the spare hours in your week. The tithe is the doorway, and open-handedness is the room it opens into. Money is simply where most men start learning to hold everything loosely.