Given our abundance, the burden of proof should always be on keeping, not giving. Why would you not give? We err by beginning with the assumption that we should keep or spend the money God entrusts to us. Giving should be the default choice. Unless there is a compelling reason to spend it or keep it, we should give it.

Tithing isn't the ceiling of giving; it's the floor. It's not the finish line of giving; it's the starting blocks. Tithes can launch us into the mind-set, skills, and habits of grace giving.

Giving up everything must mean giving over everything to kingdom purposes, surrendering everything to further the one central cause, loosening our grip on everything. For some of us, this may mean ridding ourselves of most of our possessions. But for all of us it should mean dedicating everything we retain to further the kingdom. (For true disciples, however, it cannot mean hoarding or using kingdom assets self-indulgently.)

God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn't mean we should give only when we're feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don't wait until you feel like giving—it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow.

When God provides more money we often think, This is a blessing. Yes, but it would be just as scriptural to say, "This is a test." Abundance isn't God's provision for me to live in luxury. It's his provision for me to help others live.

Giving sacrificially also means giving the best. If we have two blankets and someone needs one of them, sacrificial giving hands over the better of the two. Sadly, much of our "giving" is merely discarding. Donating secondhand goods to church rummage sales

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion" (2 Corinthians 9:11).

When will we learn that God doesn't give us greater wealth to increase our standard of living, but to increase our standard of giving?

Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving.

Both psychological research and Scripture demonstrate that those who give generously and serve others are happy people.

Once we've been reconciled to God, we can do something more about our happiness by doing what happy people do. Happiness doesn't precede giving and serving; it accompanies and follows it.

There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditure excludes them." —C. S. Lewis