Putting God First: Tithes, Trust, and Generosity

Devotional

Day 1: Putting God First in the Order of Our Lives

Our lives are filled with many financial responsibilities and desires, all vying for the top priority. When we allow these things to take precedence, our spiritual lives can easily fall out of order. Generosity, particularly through the biblical principle of the tithe, is a practical way to reorder our priorities. It is an act of trust that places God at the beginning, acknowledging Him as the ultimate provider of every good thing in our lives. This act realigns our hearts and our finances with His design. [32:52]

"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10, NIV)

Reflection: As you look at your monthly expenses, what is the current order of your financial priorities? What would it look like, in practical terms, to move giving to the very top of that list as an act of putting God first?

Day 2: Trusting God With Our Hearts, Not Just Our Minds

Financial trust in God often begins as a heart issue before it becomes a logical one. We can intellectually understand the concept of provision, but it requires a deeper, heart-level faith to actually release our resources. God is far more concerned with the posture of our hearts than the calculations of our minds. When we choose to trust Him with our finances, we are actively choosing to not lean on our own understanding but to submit our entire way of life to His care and provision. [37:13]

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV)

Reflection: Where is the tension between your heart's desire to trust God and your mind's tendency to worry about financial security? What is one specific financial concern you need to stop leaning on your own understanding for and instead submit to Him?

Day 3: Generosity Releases the Grip of Greed

Human nature instinctively holds tightly to possessions, fearing there will not be enough. This grip of greed can take up residence in our hearts, convincing us that security is found in accumulation. However, the act of giving has a unique power to break this stranglehold. Each act of generosity, whether large or small, weakens the hold of materialism and builds a lifestyle of open-handedness. It shifts our focus from what we stand to lose to the joy we can freely give. [43:05]

"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." (Proverbs 11:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: Can you identify an area where greed has a subtle grip on your heart, perhaps through a desire for a nicer possession, a more lavish vacation, or financial independence? How could a specific act of generosity this week begin to loosen that grip?

Day 4: The Invitation to Test God's Faithfulness

In matters of faith and finances, God extends a unique invitation: to test Him. This is the only area in Scripture where God explicitly invites His people to put His promises to the test. He asks us to trust that when we honor Him with our first and best, He will provide for all our other needs. This testing is not about manipulation but about building a confident faith that has experienced God's provision firsthand. It moves our belief from a theory to a lived reality. [46:05]

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." (Malachi 3:10, NIV)

Reflection: What is holding you back from accepting God's invitation to test Him in the area of generosity? Is it a fear that there won't be enough, or a past disappointment? What would a first step of trust look like for you right now?

Day 5: God Provides Abundantly for Those Who Trust Him

The ultimate goal of reordering our lives is not simply financial discipline, but to experience the abundant provision of a loving Father. God is not a distant taskmaster demanding a portion; He is a generous parent who delights in caring for His children. When we prioritize His kingdom, we step into the reality that He is our source. He promises to meet our needs and often provides beyond what we expect, not so we can hoard more, but so we can see His generous character and become conduits of His blessing to others. [47:33]

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33, NIV)

Reflection: When have you experienced God's provision in a way that felt personal and abundant, whether financially or otherwise? How does remembering that experience encourage you to keep seeking His kingdom first in all things?

Sermon Summary

A congregation is invited to consider how generosity orders the heart and the household. Using a familiar, playful image of an old soda machine—full, nostalgic, and, when neglected, temperamental—the speaker draws a line from small daily choices to spiritual priority. The central claim is that money and material decisions are not merely fiscal; they reveal what occupies the center of life. Bringing the best of the first fruits to God is not a burdensome ritual but a discipline that reorients trust: give the first portion back, and the rest is lived out with God in the rightful place.

Biblical wisdom is paired with practical counsel. Proverbs’ call to trust the Lord with all the heart is connected to Malachi’s call to offer first fruits; together they frame generosity as both heart-work and counterintuitive practice. The tithe is presented as a formative rhythm—ten units received, one returned—designed to break the habitual priority of things that quietly become ultimate. That discipline trains dependency, loosens the grip of greed, and cultivates a lifestyle in which giving becomes easier each time.

Practical transparency and stewardship are affirmed: accountable financial oversight, a volunteer board, and open conversations about resources are part of creating a trustworthy community that dares to test God’s promise. The invitation that follows is not a fundraising blitz but a spiritual experiment—an encouragement to try trusting God with the first portion, to watch whether life rearranges itself around faith rather than fear. The talk closes with a simple, tangible step: take a small reminder card, place it where daily choices are made, and let the practice of giving rework the ordering of the heart and household.

Key Takeaways

1. Put God first financially Giving the first portion reframes the rest of life. When the earliest and best part of income is returned, it creates a posture of dependence rather than hoarding, forcing priorities to be measured by trust not margin. This practice trains the heart to remember origin and provision, so decisions about mortgages, phones, and pleasures are governed by faith. [34:16]
2. Tithe as trust, not transaction The tithe functions as a formative habit more than a ledger entry. Tithing is a tangible rehearsal of reliance: it tests whether life can be lived on what remains and whether God honors that trust. Viewing the tithe this way shifts attention from duty to discipleship—an embodied confession that ultimate provision comes from beyond one’s own control. [33:25]
3. Generosity breaks greed's stranglehold Giving is a spiritual lever that loosens attachment to possessions. The act of generosity recalibrates desire, producing a surprising internal freedom and a repeatable pattern that reshapes identity. Over time generosity moves from occasional action to core character, weakening the instincts that hoard and protect. [42:42]
4. Test God with first fruits Scripture uniquely invites testing God through faithful giving. Offering the first fruits is not blind optimism but a disciplined experiment in divine faithfulness—watching whether provision follows when God is kept first. This test asks for a posture of risk: surrender a small part and notice whether God’s promises prove truer than scarcity-driven calculations. [43:35]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[18:37] - Football opener and youth leader
[26:09] - Nostalgic soda machine demo
[29:24] - When things go out of order
[30:04] - Series: core values introduced
[31:47] - Scripture: bring first fruits
[33:05] - What the tithe teaches
[36:48] - Proverbs: trust and surrender
[42:42] - Generosity vs. greed
[43:35] - Test God with the tithe
[49:31] - Reminder cards and next steps
[50:42] - Invitation to worship

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
*Proverbs 3:5-10 (ESV)*
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

*Malachi 3:10 (ESV)*
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Observation questions

What two specific things does Proverbs 3 instruct us to do with our hearts and our wealth?
According to the passage in Malachi, what is the unique invitation God extends to us regarding our resources?
What is the promised result described in both passages for honoring God in this way?
The talk used the image of an old soda machine to illustrate a point about order. What happens when the machine, or our priorities, are "out of order"? [29:24]

Interpretation questions

Why do you think the instruction to "honor the Lord with your wealth" is placed immediately after the famous call to "trust in the Lord with all your heart" in Proverbs 3?
The tithe is described as a way to keep God in the right order, not because He needs it, but because we need the reminder. What does this practice teach us about the origin of everything we have? [35:18]
Malachi 3:10 is the only place in the Bible where God says to "test me." Why would testing God with our finances be an act of faith rather than a lack of it?
How does the act of giving the first portion, rather than what is left over, actively fight against the natural tendency of greed in our hearts? [42:42]

Application questions

Take a moment to mentally review your monthly "order" of expenses. Where does giving fit into that list right now? What would it look like to move it to the top, as the "first fruit"?
Generosity is said to release the stranglehold of greed and build on itself, becoming a lifestyle. [43:05] What is one small, practical step you could take this week to be generous to someone outside of your normal giving?
The idea of living on "nine units" after giving one can feel impossible when living on ten already feels tight. [46:32] What is one fear or practical obstacle that makes it difficult to trust God with the first portion of your income?
If God's provision is like a well-stocked soda machine that always has what we need and even extra, [47:09] how might remembering that truth change your attitude towards a current financial stress or worry?
Placing a reminder card somewhere visible is a suggested way to keep this truth front of mind. [49:54] Where is a place in your daily routine where a reminder to trust God with your resources would be most impactful for you?

Sermon Clips

So there's this really great proverb, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lead on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him. He will make your path straight. We quote that verse all the time in Christian circles. But then just three verses later, it preemptively sets it up for this verse. It says this, honor the Lord with all your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. [00:37:37] (32 seconds) #Do you want a hashtag for each blank-line paragraph in your message, or can you confirm how many distinct quotes I should create hashtags for?

So then Malachi goes on and it says this, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. The Lord says, test me in this, the Lord Almighty says, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room enough to store it. So here's the deal. [00:43:13] (26 seconds)

We can test God's promise when he is in the right order. There's this unique place in time where God actually says we're we can test him. And he says order is important. Yes. Mortgage is the first thing we think about, but it always comes under the tithe. Then we're always gonna think about our car. Man, we got that car loan we gotta pay. Man, we're gonna put it there. And then something comes up like, man, my phone breaks. We're gonna have to pay for that. But what about there comes a time when you have to trust that if he is in the right order, everything will still be taken care of. [00:43:39] (44 seconds)

It's this. And I want you to hear this. If God is not placed in his proper order, our lives will always be out of order. We'll always be searching, trying to get the next dollar. We're always gonna be searching, looking for the next promotion. We're always gonna be, you know, coveting the next vacation house. Those are all good things. But if we just put God first, he seems to always provide those things after. [00:48:03] (28 seconds)

And for us, there's with this with this talk today, there's no giving campaign that we're talking about. There's no pledge. There's no nothing. It's just to remind us to keep God in the proper order. I love what Matthew says. Jesus said it himself. Seek first the kingdom of God, and everything will be given to you as well. You know, when you when you put your faith there, you can trust God that he'll be there. [00:48:55] (27 seconds)

So here's what the Bible says about pop this morning. It says this, bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord. And I wanna say it again. Bring the best of, it says, first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord. And so the first thing when it comes to generosity, generosity puts God in the right order. [00:31:32] (23 seconds)

But here's the deal. Generosity releases the stranglehold of greed in our lives. If you've ever given something to somebody, if you've ever given away something, if you've ever been generous with somebody, you know that feeling. All of a sudden, you feel better. There's something that happens inside you. You you feel like, man, that was good. And what happens with generosity? Generosity builds on itself. When you're generous once, it becomes easier to be generous twice, and then generosity becomes more of a lifestyle than it is an action. [00:42:42] (31 seconds)

Pop itself is not inherently bad. It's really not. It's our tithe of pop teaches us to keep God in the right order. That's really all it's about. God gives us 10, and he says, you can keep nine. You can keep all 10 if you want, but live your life on nine and put one pop back in the refrigerator, in the vending machine. [00:32:59] (28 seconds)

This is the crazy paradigm shift when you choose to put your life and your trust in God. You gotta trust that he provides everything. Not only does he loves you, but he loves to take care of you just as parents take care of their kids. [00:48:31] (15 seconds)

Now the reason why this proverb is so good is it begins to speak to the spiritual things. It tells us to do first things. It says, trust the Lord with all your heart. And then it says, lean not on your own understanding. And if I was to wrap up what spirituality is, the first one is to trust God with all your heart. That's when it comes to really seeking out God in your life and trying to figure that out. At first, it's a heart thing and not a mind thing. But then it says, don't lean on your own understanding because spiritual things sometimes you can't understand. [00:37:03] (33 seconds)

And it was kind of counterintuitive for the Israelites because it's like, well, I can make the most money selling that top 10%. Why would I wanna do that? Well, God was making a point of saying, if you bring your top 10%, you bring it back to me, you're gonna have to remember of where all of the pop came from at the beginning. The pop has always come from me, and the pop will always be provided from me. [00:35:00] (26 seconds)

If you really wanna keep God first in your life, you need to know that the the premise of faith in Jesus has always been a heart issue. That's why we talk about that so much on every Sunday morning. We talk about the fact that we're we're okay with where you're at and what you believe, even how you're acting, how you're talking, because what's more important is your heart. Your heart then dictates every other part of your life. [00:38:32] (25 seconds)

And what happens is your true love is in your heart, and your heart is revealed through your actions. Just know the things you value the most in your life sit in your heart. And God has always fought for our heart because everything in our heart is revealed in how we live. Now here's the other thing. We can also only give God a part of our heart. [00:41:05] (30 seconds)

And I think it's interesting. I think Solomon, who wrote the Proverbs, set up the scripture verse with Proverbs three five and six. Because when it comes to something like pop, we have to trust God not with our minds, but with our hearts. God has always cared about the heart. And in fact, keeping God in the right order is a heart issue. [00:38:09] (23 seconds)

Right now, my wife and I were doing our faith and finance class at the church. It's been super cool because, really, it talks about this. And it talks about the the way you get to where it's in the right order is sometimes you gotta cut out some things. You gotta cut out having a nice phone in the right moment and put there. Or maybe it's instead of going out and eat all the time, you know, you gotta save up and do a little more for mortgage. And so it's, like, really practical and yet also really spiritual. But it prioritizes the fact of where God challenges us that the tithe should always be back at the top. [00:35:48] (36 seconds)