Giving Is Not an Expense — It's the Wisest Investment You'll Ever Make

A Biblical Perspective on Generosity and Abundance | Lyndon Christian Church | Louisville, KY

Most people in Louisville — and really, most people everywhere — handle money the same way: earn it, spend it, and save whatever's left. It's the natural order of things. You pay your bills, cover your expenses, buy what you need (and a few things you don't), and then, if anything remains, you set a little aside.

But that approach has a problem. There's almost never anything left.

Here's a different framework — one that Warren Buffett figured out at eleven years old in 1942. While other kids were spending their earnings on Cokes and baseball cards, a young Buffett was buying pinball machines and placing them in barbershops to generate passive income. He didn't earn money to spend it. He spent money on things that would make him more money. By the time he graduated high school, he had accumulated what would be $80,000 in today's dollars.

Two completely different relationships with the same resource. And the difference wasn't income — it was order of operations.

The Bible has been making this same argument for thousands of years.

Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." The word to pay attention to is "firstfruits." Not "lastfruits." Not leftovers. First. Before expenses. Before anything else.

This is not a quirky religious tradition. It is a financial philosophy — one that mirrors exactly what the world's most successful investors have always known. You invest first, and you live on what remains.

Around 520 BC, the prophet Haggai delivered this message to the people of Israel with striking economic clarity. The Jewish people had returned from Babylonian captivity and were rebuilding their lives — comfortable homes, reestablished routines — but God's house sat in ruins. And the result, God told them plainly, was economic hardship: "You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough." They were pouring money into a bag with holes. Not because of bad luck. Because of misaligned priorities.

The prescription was simple: build God's house first, and abundance would follow. It defies conventional logic — until you understand what comes next in the text. God's rationale wasn't that generosity would trigger a reward. It was the promise of his presence: "I am with you." The giving didn't earn God's blessing. The giving was an act of alignment with the God who is already the source of every good thing. When your priorities reflect that truth, you are no longer operating alone.

This is what the Bible means by stewardship. Not simply managing money carefully — but ordering it rightly. Giving to God's kingdom isn't paying a spiritual bill. It is the wisest investment available to any person: a stake in eternal work, backed by a God who keeps his promises.

For followers of Jesus in Louisville, this isn't abstract theology. It's a practical question asked at the beginning of every month, every paycheck, every financial decision: "What comes first?"

The answer Scripture gives is clear — and it always has been.

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*Lyndon Christian Church has been serving the Louisville, KY community for over 72 years. We're located in the Lyndon neighborhood and exist to help people find hope and restoration in Jesus Christ.*