Normally a price tag tells us how much to pay. Even then, some are negotiable, like the price of a house or a car. We celebrate when things are on sale and love the feeling of nabbing a bargain. There are few feelings that are worse than that of feeling ripped off.  Yet, there are some things that many people are happy to pay full price for, or even extra.

• Cleaners
• Gardeners
• Painters
• Coffee

It depends on what we value as to what we are okay to pay for.

When it comes to giving money away, when there is no price tag, how do we know how much to give?

Many of us like rules and having someone tell us the right thing to do. We don’t want to get things wrong and end up with God being upset with us.

Nobody wants an Angry Jesus.

So we search high and low for the rules of how to live and please God so we will be blessed because of our actions. If we do the right thing then God will like us, and if we are lucky, even love us. On the face of it, that is a nice notion, but in reality it is a horrible way to live and not at all how God works.

Some of the most difficult times that I have had in my journey with God is when He didn’t live up to my expectations because I didn’t get what I thought my good behaviour deserved. That sort of thinking hinders our view of who God is, and we start to follow rules in an attempt to not get into trouble with a scary parent type figure who lives in the sky somewhere.

God doesn’t want our behaviour. He wants our hearts. He cares less about what happens on the outside as He does about what is happening on the inside. Romans 8 talks about how believers now live according to the Spirit and not the flesh/law, because Jesus met the requirements of the law for us. We don’t need to obey rules; we are guided by the Spirit. This can make people uncomfortable because if we are not living by the rules then there will be chaos. But God is bigger than that, and His Spirit can be trusted.

So, how much money should we give to the church and other organisations/people? Many will say 10% as a starting point, based on the concept of tithing from the Old Testament (although I don’t see any comparative reference in the New Testament), some suggest 25-30%, and many others in between or even more. Don’t get me wrong, there is some wisdom to these numbers but ultimately any suggestion of what percentage you should give away is counterproductive.

Nobody can tell you what you should give. We are called to be generous with what God has blessed us with, plus we have the Holy Spirit living in us, so if you want to figure out how much to give, ask God. His Spirit will guide you. Then talk to some wise people about it. That’ll set you off in a good direction.