As I’ve talked to Christians all over the world about financial giving, one question has rarely come up. I often hear questions like “What should I give?” or “Where should I give it?” or “To whom, how much, or when should I give?” These are all important tactical and transactional questions to ask.

But there’s a key conversation starting question that few people ask, and it is a transformational one: “Why give in the first place?” Unfortunately, Christian leaders and churches often get tangled up in topics that are on the margins of biblical stewardship and generosity before addressing this critical question. But our most crying need today is to recover the implications of the Gospel for giving. As Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 8-9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for you sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in praise to God. (2 Corinthians 9:11)

Here we discover the Bible’s clearest and most climatic answer to the question, “Why give?” There are, of course, many reasons to give. But in the final analysis, it is because we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

When we give in the power of this grace we are not simply responding to a gift God gave thousands of years ago but are actually participating in the reality of God’s generosity today. For in giving us his Son, God has not only loved us but has made it possible for his love to be poured into our own hearts by the Spirit whom he has also given us (Rom. 5:5). Thus, we have received an inexhaustible reason to give and have been fully freed to participate in this great work of God’s generosity.

Of course, these brief words only begin to scratch the surface. But it’s also a good place to start this conversation. I want to hear from you. Do you agree that the “Why Give?” question is an important one—a question that essentially brings us back to the Gospel? How would you address this question? Here is where I would like to start our conversation on this topic of biblical stewardship and generosity…