God gives! He created us and gave us life. He gave our fore-parents Adam and Eve everything they needed for a happy and fulfilling life. When they disobeyed him and tried to cover themselves with leaves, he was merciful and gave them more adequate clothing. The Bible teaches us...

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created. (James 1:17-18 )

The Bible contains many more examples of God's giving nature, here are a few more:

• Mat 7:7-11 
• John 1:14-17 
• John 3:16 
• 2Cor 8:9 
• Eph 1:3 
• Philip 4:19 

But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2Corinthians 8:7-9)

1. Set a long-term goal of excellence.
2. Start where you are.
3. Set a short-term goal that stretches you in the direction of your long-term goal.
4. Practice until you achieve your short-term goal.
5. Re-evaluate your position - has your long-term goal been achieved?
6. If not, return to step 3.

• God owns everything
• Sacrificial giving
• Cheerful giving
• Tithing

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2)

If we don't begin with this perspective, we will fall short of our objective. We and everything we own already belong to God. All we have is temporary custody of our lives and our possessions. Our giving is not a matter of handing over to God some new "property"; it's a matter of us acknowledging the fact that what we give him he already owns! Here are some more scriptures that reinforce this important truth:

• Gen 1:1
• Psalm 50:7-12
• Psalm 102:25-27
• Acts 17:24-28

• Mark 12:41-44
• 2Sam 24:1-25 (note vs. 24)

One of the most important ways that we give to God sacrificially is by giving him our best and by giving it to him first! We see this principle illustrated in the following passages:

• Abel brought God fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. (Gen 4:1-7)
• God required that the Israelites give him the best part. (Ex 23:19; Ex 34:26; Num 18:29-30)

• God evaluates our giving based on what we have - not on what we don't have. (2Cor 8:8-15)
• God loves a cheerful giver. (2Cor 9:6-7)

It is important to start by giving the largest portion of our resources that we can give cheerfully. Then, if we find that our level of giving falls short of excellence, we should ask God to transform our attitude so that we can be cheerful about giving an even larger portion.

We also need to understand that giving cheerfully and giving sacrificially are not mutually exclusive. Every time we use our resources for one purpose we are sacrificing some other purpose for which we might have used the same resources. The money we use to go out to dinner and a movie could be saved towards a down payment on a house. The time we spend watching a television program could be spent studying for an exam.

If we are wise, we prioritize our use of our resources by using them to take care of things in decreasing order of importance:

• We pay our mortgage or rent before we buy a television.
• We finish homework before we watch television.
• We spend time with our family before we go out to play basketball.

If we are very wise, we prioritize God above everything else. Naturally this should be reflected in our giving!

We believe that the relationship of the tithe to the old covenant is actually a secondary issue. Remember that as we seek to excel at giving we need to begin by setting both long-term and short-term goals. How do we determine what those goals should be? The Holy Spirit's instruction through Paul in 2Cor 8:7 and 2Cor 9:6-7 make it clear that whatever goals we set should not be imposed legalistically. Nevertheless, we need to look to some source as we "determine in our heart" what to give.

What then do we find when we turn to the Old Testament?

• After defeating Kederlaomer, Abram gave Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a tenth of all the plunder before doing anything else with the wealth. (Gen 14:1-24)
• Jacob vowed to give back to God a tenth of everything that God gave him. (Gen 28:10-22)
• God commanded the Levites to give the priests a tenth of everything they received from the rest of the Israelites. (Num 18:25-32)
• God commanded the Israelites to give him a tenth of everything they received. (Lev 27:30-33)

Armed with these examples we believe that Christians should normally set a goal of giving a tenth of their income to the work of God's Kingdom. Because the amounts deducted from our paychecks represent either benefits we receive (e.g. medical or dental coverage) or taxes that God expects us to pay (Mat 22:15-22; Rom 13:1-8), it is best to base your giving on the "gross" amount (i.e. your income before payroll deductions) rather than the "net" amount (i.e. your actual paycheck after all of the payroll deductions have been taken out).

We also believe that you should first make sure that you adequately support the congregation in which God has placed you with your "tithes" and then give additional "offerings" to the ministries that God has placed on your heart.

• Practical Steps
• Benefits

Practical Steps
The path to excellence in giving is fairly straightforward. We recommend that you set as your long-term goal giving a tenth to your congregation and an additional offering to other organizations that support the work of God's Kingdom.

• If you do not have a budget start one.
• Arrange the items in your budget in decreasing order of priority. Don't be afraid to ask someone to help you with this.
• Make your giving to God the first item in your budget and set it as a percentage (ideally at least a 10%) of your income.
• Set aside God's portion from every paycheck or other form of income (e.g. monetary gifts) that you receive. Give it as soon as possible (e.g. during the next Sunday service, by mail the next day, via online payment, etc.).
• Try to increase the percentage that you give on a regular basis until you reach the level of excellence that God has set for you. For example if you were initially giving 5% or even only 1% of your income you should try to increase the percentage that you give at regular intervals (perhaps every month) until you reach a percentage that reflects excellence for you.

God wants to bless you!
It is amazing to realize that the God who created the entire universe wants to personally bless you. The biblical evidence of this is overwhelming, so we will only need to examine a few key passages:

• God blessed our fore-parents Adam and Eve along with all the rest of his creation at the very beginning (Gen 1:27-28).
• God promised to bless Abram (later to become Abraham) and to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him (Gen 12:1-3).
• This blessing extended to Abram's wife Sarai (later to become Sarah) (Gen 17:15-16).
• God repeated his blessings after Abraham demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command (Gen 22:15-18). Abraham's willingness to sacrifice led to even greater blessing in his life.
• Toward the end of Abraham's life we learn that the LORD had blessed him in every way (Gen 24:1). God's blessing extended to his son Isaac (Gen 25:11) and his grandson Jacob (Gen 35:9 ).
• The LORD frequently declared to Israel his intention to bless them (Ex 20:24; Deut 11:26-29; Deut 15:4-6; Deut 28:1-13).
• At the beginning of his ministry Jesus declared God's blessing on his disciples (Mat 5:1-12).
• We who follow Jesus have been given every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3).

In addition to these general examples of God's blessing, we observe that God also blesses us specifically in response to our giving. Let's look at a few examples:

• There was a widow who sacrificially prepared food for God's servant Elijah during a famine. God rewarded her by miraculously extending her meager supplies so that she had food to eat every day throughout the famine (1Kings 17:1-16).
• The Apostle Paul expressed his appreciation for the resources that the Philippian church had contributed to his ministry. He assured them that God would meet all of their needs (Philip 4:10-19).
• While writing about their financial gift the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church that God was able to cause his grace to operate on their behalf so that they would have everything they needed both to carry out their own ministry and to bless others as well (2Cor 9:6-15).

As you pursue excellence in giving, make it your goal to give:

• out of gratitude for what God has done in your life, and
• out of your commitment to God's Kingdom

Never doubt however your heavenly Father's commitment to provide for you out of his divine riches!