We all find the subject of giving a difficult one. How much should we give? Should we give at all? What should we give to? Should we save some of our money? How much should we save compared to how much we give? How much should we give compared to how much we spend?How much should we spend compared to how much we save, and give, and earn? And so it goes on. We can really tie ourselves up in knots about it.

We've found Psalm 24:1 to be really helpful when thinking about the subject of giving.

'The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.'

It reminds us that none of the things that we own belong to us. It’s all God’s.

When it comes to giving, this turns everything on its head. Instead of asking “how much of our money should we give to God?”, the question becomes “how can we best use God's money for his glory?”

The financial decisions which we make should be based upon what we know about God. His priorities and concerns should shape how we use the money he has given us. The practical application of this will differ from person to person, but in every situation we ought to be thinking: “This is all God’s money. How can we best use God’s money for his glory?”

When the pay check comes in at the end of the month: “How can we best use God’s money for his glory?” When the annual bonus arrives: “How can we best use God’s money for his glory?” When we're planning our summer holiday, when we're deciding whether to go for dinner with friends, when we're deciding how much to spend on rent, the question is the same: “How can we best use God’s money for his glory?”

And let’s be clear, the answer is not always “give it all away!” Spending money on a meal with friends, or to go on holiday with our family, can be a great and God glorifying thing to do. But so is looking for ways to save money to support a missionary somewhere that you would not otherwise be able to afford to do. As so often, it’s the attitude that counts.

For the money which we have decided to give away, we like to give to three different things. We give most of our money to our local church and churches we attended while we were at university. These churches are longing to make Jesus known, so it seems a good way to use our money for God’s glory. We also give some money to Christian organisations which run summer holiday camps for school children. We both attended camps like this when we were younger, so we enjoy being able to use some of the money God has given us to help other young people hear the good news of Jesus there, as we did. We also give some money to friends of ours who have decided to go into full time paid ministry. They need support to do the good work for the gospel they are doing, so it is fun to think that God has given us money which we can then use to help them spread his word. We find it particularly exciting to be able to support friends who have gone off to share Jesus in other parts of the world and to be able to partner with them financially, as well as in prayer and friendship.

So there are lots of practical questions for us to consider concerning our finances. But underpinning all of this is the big principle: “How can we best use God's money for his glory?”

'The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.'