In an effort to encourage the elders of the church at Ephesus to generosity, Paul quoted Jesus’ motive for giving: “In all things I gave you an example that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35, ASV). This has been called the supreme beatitude. It shows that the blessings or rate of return on giving is higher than the blessing or rate of return on receiving.

Jesus minced no words when He spoke about giving. His statements were clear-cut. He spoke in terms that men understood. He used language that left no doubt as to what should be done with the blessings of life—spiritual, physical, or material. His teaching included such statements as:

Luke 12:48 “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask more.”

Luke 12:15 “Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Luke 12:23 “Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.”

With these words Jesus was teaching that as the blessings of life are received, they are to be shared. The sharing of our assets so that others may become recipients of the better and more meaningful things in life is stewardship at its best. In other words, giving is living and living is giving. To the Christian the two are inseparable. In so doing, we live and give meaning, direction, dignity, and value to life.

George W. Schroeder states, “It is interesting to note that the teachings of Jesus not only give emphasis to sharing but also stress a proportionate stewardship concept for which there will be an accounting. Such teaching is both logical and practical. No person has any right to be a recipient of the blessings of God or of the trust of his fellowman without giving an account of that which he does with those assets. This all-inclusive type of reasoning in regard to accounting enables one quickly to see the ramifications of every blessing that he has received. In other words, Jesus taught that being a recipient of good gifts is not to be an end in itself, but rather a means to an end. They are to be used properly. The blessing that is given as a gift will, in turn, become a blessing in itself. Such utilization of our gifts creates a chain reaction for the good of our fellowman; but, if a person misuses his heavenly endowed assets, he causes God’s goodness to come to a ‘grinding halt’ in his life. He ceases to be a worthy steward. He becomes a liability to the cause of Christ. Undoubtedly, this condition is one of the things which Jesus was stressing when He said, ‘Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required’ (Luke 12:48).”

Jesus practiced what He taught. Paul gives us a glimpse of the magnitude of what the Master gave when he said: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2Corinthians 8:9). Christ gave His all.

Man must see himself as a steward of God. The doctrine of stewardship must be taught in our churches. The word steward or stewardship must be taught in our churches. The word steward or stewardship occurs in the Bible some 22 times. The basic meaning is always “one to whom something has been entrusted for supervision and management on behalf of another.” If we fail to understand this doctrine, we will not only fail in the grace of giving, we will fail in developing Christian character. The real purpose of stewardship is not to raise money but to develop strong Christian character.

Stewardship is trusteeship—applied Christianity—complete surrender to the will of God—the Christian use of property and talents. Christian stewardship is the acknowledgment of God’s ownership, the acceptance of our trusteeship of life and possessions, and the administration of them in accordance with the will of God.

“Upon the first day,” commands the Holy Spirit, “let every one of you lay by him in store” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Refusal to do what God commands is surely a sin. It was failure to do what God commanded him to do that cost Saul his kingdom, and brought him and his sons to an untimely death on the battlefields of Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1-6). It was their failure to do what God had commanded—failure to honor God with their substance—that brought upon Israel the curse of God (Malachi 3:8-10). Churches must continue to teach God’s financial plan and the duty of each individual to practice that plan.

Abel brought his offering to God as an act of worship. King Solomon “and all Israel with him” offered at the dedication of the Temple “sacrifice before the Lord” (1 Kings 8:62). Mary of Bethany brought her box of precious ointment (John 12:3). The poor widow cast into the treasury of the Lord her two mites (Mark 12:42). These offerings were accepted and approved by Christ because they were offered in humble worship.

“We are not under the law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). That is correct. We can neither earn nor help to earn our salvation. But if our gratitude to God, under grace, is less than that of the Jew, something is wrong within us. One who seeks to justify a selfish course by quoting Romans 6:14 has a mistaken idea of grace, for one of the manifestations of grace is liberality (2 Corinthians 8:1, 2).

Jesus, in making the transition from law to grace, raised the old standard in every instance. Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7). If the tithe is not now expected of Christians, Jesus lowered this one standard. If it is lawful for a Christian to spend more than nine-tenths of his income on himself, then he has a right to be more selfish than the Jew, and Christ has lowered a moral standard. Did He do that in this one case only?

The Christian under grace has a larger obligation and a larger privilege than the Jew under the law. For the Christian, tithing is not a duty under law, but a privilege under love. Grace does not do away with the law, but only with the sting in it. The tithe is not the ceiling but the floor. When one tithes his income, he does not go over the top—only the bottom. In the New Testament, tithing is the starting point in commitment. There are some who say that Christians are not now subject to the tithe. But Jesus never repealed this law of giving. It is true that in His death and resurrection the ceremonial laws were fulfilled. Under grace we do not sacrifice sheep or goats. His blood sacrifice on Calvary took care of all of that. But the law of the tithe still stands. Jesus did not destroy it. Then why did Jesus not say more about the tithe? It was because this practice was so embedded in the lives of the Jews that it was not necessary to do so. Why should He harangue people to do something that they were already doing? It was obvious that tithing was the custom in His day.