Faith Quotes

"If everyone in your church followed your pattern of giving, would your church receive a token, a tip or a tithe?"

- Brian Kluth, Pastor and Generosity Speaker & Author

"One of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’"

- Doug Pagitt, pastor

"My take on tithing in America is that it’s a middle-class way of robbing God. Tithing to the church and spending the rest on your family is not a Christian goal. It’s a diversion. The real issue is: How shall we use God’s trust fund—namely, all we have—for His glory? In a world with so much misery, what lifestyle should we call our people to live? What example are we setting?"

- John Piper

"I was once young and now I am old, but not once have I been witness to God’s failure to supply my need when first I had given for the furtherance of His work. He has never failed in His promise, so I cannot fail in my service to Him."

- William Carey (1761-1834), Baptist missionary to India

"Dearest lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost."

- Ignatius of Loyola

"paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord."

- James L. Kraft

"I am convinced that the devil has caused the subject of giving to stir up resistance and resentment among God’s people because he knows there are few ways of spiritual enrichment like the exercise of faithful stewardship."

- Stephen Olford

"Our culture values the size of the gift, but God values the size of what we keep."

- Ed Owens, Chicago fund manager

"I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week."

- John D. Rockefeller

"I believe it is every man’s religious duty to get all he can honestly and to give all he can."

- John D. Rockefeller

"Giving is more than a responsibility—it is a privilege; more than an act of obedience—it is evidence of our faith."

- William Arthur Ward

"Charitable giving should be a spiritual, rather than an economic decision. Economically, charitable giving never pays."

- Ron Blue

"Looking for the reward of good works, we must wait patiently till the last day, the day of resurrection."

- John Calvin

"I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity."

- John Wesley

"Without a rich heart wealth is an ugly beggar."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I have watched hundreds of Christians in my time become financially blessed then develop an acquisitive streak that in turn makes their souls as metallic as the coins they seek."

- Selwyn Hughes

"Prosperity inebriates men, so that they take delight  in their own merits."

- John Calvin

"I shovel [money] out, and God shovels it back ... but God has a bigger shovel!"

- R.G. LeTourneau

"Americans are especially vulnerable to an appeal that says, ‘Give us your dollars, but not your sons and daughters.’ If we do that, missionary vision will die within a generation, and the dollars will also eventually stop."

- Roger Hedlund

"I believe with all of my heart that God’s people possess God’s provision to accomplish and fulfill God’s purposes in the world."

- Joel Vestal

"God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply."

- J. Hudson Taylor

"I will place no value on anything I have or possess except in relation to the Kingdom of Christ. If anything I have will advance that Kingdom, it shall be given or kept whichever will best promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes, both for time and eternity."

- David Livingstone

"have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week."

- John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1839-1937), American industrialist and philanthropist

"When we give to God, we are just taking our hands off what already belongs to Him."

"You should give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving."

"Some people give God a tenth—a tenth of what they ought to give."

"Two things ruin a church--loose living and tight giving."

"God looks at the heart, not the hand--the giver, not the gift."

"With the price of everything else going up these days, aren’t you glad the Lord hasn’t increased the tithe to 15%?"

"Some people say, “Give till it hurts.” But God recommends that we give until it feels good."