This article is from a sermon delivered at Acacia Community Church as part of a series on Kingdom Living: Faith at Home, Faith at Work, and Faith in the World.
Key Texts: Matthew 6:19–24; Malachi 3:8–10; 2 Corinthians 9:7–8
Introduction
Every one of us already has a theology of money , we just may not have put it into words. You can tell what someone actually believes about money not by what they say, but by what they do with it. Jesus knew this. That’s why, in the middle of the most famous sermon ever preached, He stopped to talk about treasure, eyes, and masters. Today we’re asking three questions that get to the heart of a Christian view of money: Whose is it? (Ownership vs. Stewardship), What do we do with it? (Principles), Why does it matter? (Purpose). Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew 6.
I. Owner vs. Steward — God Owns It, We Manage It
Text: Deuteronomy 8:17–18 “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”
Moses is speaking to Israel on the edge of the Promised Land to a generation about to move from wilderness dependence into settled prosperity. He knows exactly what prosperity does to memory. Verse 17 names the temptation precisely: the danger isn’t wealth itself, it’s the sentence “my power… produced this wealth for me.” Notice the shift from gratitude to self-congratulation happens quietly, almost without anyone noticing. Moses’ remedy in verse 18 isn’t a call to poverty, it’s a call to remember. The Hebrew concept behind “remember” (zakar) isn’t a mental exercise; it’s an act that reorders how you live. To remember God gives the power to get wealth is to reposition yourself from owner to recipient. This is the foundation of biblical stewardship: God is the Owner. We are the managers. Psalm 24:1 states it as flatly as possible, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Every paycheck, every bank account, every asset is on loan. We don’t own it; we administrate it on behalf of the One who does.
Jesus assumes this same framework when He says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19–21) The command isn’t “don’t have money.” It’s “don’t misplace your trust in it.” Jesus moves from treasure (v.19-21) to eyesight (v.22-23) to slavery (v.24) in one connected argument: what you treasure shapes what you see, and what you see shapes who you serve. He ends with the sharpest line in the passage: “You cannot serve both God and money.” The Greek word is mammon, not just “money” but money treated as a rival deity, a master that demands allegiance. Jesus isn’t offering money management tips here. He’s naming a competitor for the throne of your life. So the first move in a biblical theology of money is a posture shift: from owner to steward. Everything changes once you stop asking “How much of MY money should I give to God?” and start asking “How much of GOD’S money should I keep for myself?”
II. Principles — Tithe, Give, Save, Live on Less Than You Earn
Text: Malachi 3:8–10 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me… ‘In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — your whole nation — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’
Malachi ministers to a post-exilic community that has grown spiritually lazy and going through religious motions while withholding their best from God (see Malachi 1:6-14 for the pattern). The accusation “you rob me” is startling; robbery is theft from an owner. This confirms exactly what Deuteronomy 8 already told us, the tithe was never a fee for services rendered, it was the returning of what already belonged to God. The tithe (ma’aser, a tenth) predates the Law: Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek in Genesis 14, Jacob vowed a tenth in Genesis 28, long before Sinai. Under Moses, it funded worship and provided for the Levites, who had no land inheritance (Numbers 18:21), and for the vulnerable widows, orphans, foreigners (Deut 14:28-29). The tithe was never only about giving to God; it was about the health of a whole community. God’s invitation in verse 10 is unusual, He rarely invites His people to test Him but here He does, tying obedience in giving directly to the released “floodgates” of blessing. This isn’t a prosperity formula (“give 10,000 shillings get 100,000 shillings back”); it’s a covenant principle: generosity and trust travel together.
Withholding from God is ultimately a statement of distrust while giving is an act of faith that says “I believe You will provide.” From this soil, four practical habits grow:
- Tithe — the first and consistent portion returned to God, an act of worship that puts Him first before the rest of the budget is even built (Prov 3:9).
- Give — generosity beyond the tithe, responsive to need and opportunity (2 Cor 9:7, which we’ll unpack shortly).
- Save — wisdom for the future. Proverbs 21:20 notes “the wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” Saving isn’t a lack of faith — it’s stewardship applied to tomorrow.
- Live on less than you earn — the structural discipline that makes tithing, giving, and saving even possible. Without margin, generosity becomes impossible no matter how good our intentions are.
2 Corinthians 9:7–8″ 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. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” Paul is coordinating a relief offering for famine-stricken believers in Jerusalem (2 Cor 8–9), and he’s remarkably careful about motive. Verse 7’s Greek word for “cheerful” is hilaros, the root of our word “hilarious.” God isn’t looking for gritted-teeth compliance; He’s looking for glad-hearted generosity that flows from a settled heart, not a guilted one. Paul explicitly rules out two wrong motives: reluctance (grief, holding back) and compulsion (external pressure). Giving that isn’t cheerful has missed the point even if the check clears. Verse 8 then makes a striking promise, not that givers get rich, but that they will have “all that you need” for “every good work.” Notice the purpose clause: God’s provision isn’t the destination, it’s fuel for more generosity. Which leads directly into our third point.
III. Purpose — We Are Blessed to Be a Blessing
Text: 2 Corinthians 9:11 “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” Paul closes his argument by naming the purpose of financial blessing: not accumulation, but distribution. “Enriched… so that you can be generous.” The grammar itself ties resource directly to purpose. Blessing flows through us, not just to us. And notice the final result: generosity becomes worship “thanksgiving to God.” When God’s people give, it doesn’t just meet a need; it becomes an act that points other people back to Him. This is the same pattern God established all the way back with Abraham: “I will bless you… and you will be a blessing” (Gen 12:2). God has never blessed anyone merely for their own sake. Every blessing carries a pipeline attached to it. It’s meant to flow through us to someone else. When we hoard what was meant to flow, we don’t just disobey a command, we clog the very purpose for which we were blessed in the first place.
Illustration: The Wallet Test. Take out your bank statement or your card app right now mentally, if not literally and look at the last 30 days. Where did the money go? Jesus already told us what we would find: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). Your wallet doesn’t lie. It doesn’t care what you say your priorities are on Sunday morning, it simply reflects them. If you want an honest window into your soul, don’t just examine your prayer life; examine your bank statement. They usually tell the same story.
Application: The 30-Day Generosity Audit
This week, commit to tracking every dollar you spend for 30 days. At the end, ask:
- What percentage went to God’s work vs. myself?
- Where did I spend without thinking and what does that reveal?
- Is there a category (comfort, image, entertainment) that’s quietly become a “master”?
- What’s one adjustment I can make this month that moves me from owner back to steward?
This isn’t about guilt. It’s about honesty — letting your spending become a mirror instead of a blind spot.
Discussion Questions
- What’s one lie culture tells us about money?
- How has God been faithful in your finances?
- What’s one area God is asking you to trust Him with financially?
Conclusion
Money will always try to climb onto the throne of our lives — Jesus said as much when He called it a rival master. But the gospel gives us a different story: everything we have was already His before it was ever ours, He has entrusted it to us as stewards, and He’s designed us to be conduits of blessing, not reservoirs. The wallet test doesn’t lie. The question this week isn’t “how much should I give?” but “who’s really on the throne?”
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21
One reply on “GOD, MONEY & PURPOSE”
It’s a wake up call, Thank you pastor