Day 1: Where Is Your Heart?
Devotional
Have you ever wondered what truly matters most to you? Jesus gave us a simple yet profound way to find out: look at where we invest our treasure. Our resources—whether money, time, or energy—naturally flow toward what we value most.
When we examine what we hold onto most tightly, we discover the true condition of our hearts. For some, it’s financial security. For others, it’s control over their schedule. Still others cling to past hurts, unwilling to extend forgiveness.
In our culture, we’re taught to accumulate possessions as trophies that validate our success. The more we have, the more we’ve ‘won’ at life. But God’s kingdom operates on entirely different principles. What if the resources we’ve been given aren’t trophies to display but tools to deploy for God’s purposes?
Today, take a moment to honestly assess: What are you holding onto most tightly? What would be most difficult to surrender if God asked for it? Your answer reveals more about your spiritual condition than perhaps any other question you could ask yourself.
Remember, God doesn’t want something from you—He wants something for you. He desires to free you from the grip of materialism and self-sufficiency so you can experience the joy and freedom that comes from open-handed living.
Bible Verse
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21
Reflection Question
What one thing do you find most difficult to be generous with—your money, your time, your forgiveness, or something else—and what might this reveal about where you’re still struggling to trust God completely?
Quote
If you really want to know where your heart is, look at what you’re holding on to tightly. For some people, it’s time. For some people, it’s money. For some people, it’s forgiveness. For some people, it’s something else. But if you really want to know where your heart is, look at what you hold on to the tightest. It’s an indicator of where you are.
Prayer
Father, help me to see clearly what I’m holding onto too tightly. Give me the courage to open my hands and trust You with everything I value. Create in me a generous heart that reflects Your own abundant giving. Amen.
Day 2: Trophies or Tools?
Devotional
Our culture has trained us to view our possessions, money, and even our time as trophies—symbols of our success and status. We display them, protect them, and often define ourselves by them. The more we accumulate, the more successful we appear.
But God invites us to a radical perspective shift. What if everything we have isn’t meant to be a trophy but a tool? What if our resources aren’t primarily for showcasing our achievements but for advancing God’s kingdom?
When we begin to see our possessions as tools rather than trophies, everything changes. Our homes become places of hospitality rather than showcases. Our money becomes fuel for ministry rather than symbols of status. Our time becomes an opportunity to serve rather than a commodity to hoard.
Even more, God calls us to view our resources as seeds we can plant. Just as a farmer doesn’t mourn the loss of seed scattered in the field, we don’t need to grieve what we give away. Instead, we can anticipate the harvest that will come—both in this life and the next.
Today, look at what you have through new eyes. Ask yourself: Am I treating my resources as trophies to display or tools to deploy? Am I hoarding seeds that should be planted?
Bible Verse
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24
Reflection Question
What is one specific resource (money, possession, talent, or time) that you’ve been treating as a trophy that God might be asking you to use as a tool for His kingdom?
Quote
In our culture, money and possessions and time is treated like trophies. Treated like. That’s the way that we know if we win. In the kingdom of God, we find out that money and time and possessions are tools that. That we steward and seeds that we sow.
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve treated Your blessings as trophies rather than tools. Help me to hold everything with open hands, ready to use what You’ve given me for Your purposes. Show me specific ways I can deploy my resources for Your kingdom today. Amen.
Day 3: The Heart of Giving
Devotional
When we think about generosity, we often focus on amounts—how much we give, how it compares to others, whether it’s enough. But God’s economy operates differently. In His kingdom, the heart behind the gift matters more than the gift itself.
Remember the widow Jesus observed at the temple? While wealthy donors made large contributions, she gave just two small coins. Yet Jesus declared her gift greater than all others. Why? Because while others gave from their abundance, she gave from her poverty—offering everything she had.
This teaches us a profound truth: Generosity isn’t measured by the size of the gift but by the sacrifice it represents and the heart from which it flows. God doesn’t need our resources—He owns everything already. What He desires is the trust and love that sacrificial giving demonstrates.
When we struggle to give generously, it’s rarely about lacking resources. It’s about lacking trust. What we can’t give reveals what we don’t trust God with. Each act of giving is an opportunity to declare, “God, I trust You more than I trust my bank account, my schedule, or my own abilities.”
Today, consider whether your giving—of money, time, or talents—reflects a heart of genuine trust in God. Are you giving out of obligation or overflow? Are you giving sacrificially or conveniently?
Bible Verse
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7
Reflection Question
Think about your most recent act of giving (whether money, time, or service). What motivated it—duty, guilt, gratitude, love? How might your giving change if it consistently flowed from a heart of trust and joy?
Quote
Generosity is not a money issue. It’s a heart issue. Generosity is never about money. It’s always about your heart. Because here’s what I understand. What you can’t give tells what you don’t trust.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, examine my heart when it comes to giving. Forgive me for times I’ve given reluctantly or with wrong motives. Help me to give joyfully, trusting that You will provide for all my needs. Transform my heart so that generosity becomes my natural response to Your goodness. Amen.
Day 4: Breaking the Grip of Greed
Devotional
We all have things we hold onto tightly—possessions, money, time, relationships, or control. These tight grips reveal our deepest insecurities and the areas where we struggle to trust God completely. Anything we cannot release has become an idol in our lives.
Jesus taught that we cannot serve both God and money. This principle extends beyond finances to anything we value more than our relationship with Him. When our hands are clenched around our resources, they cannot simultaneously be open to receive what God wants to give us.
Generosity is God’s antidote to greed. Each time we give, we loosen greed’s grip on our hearts. Each act of giving is an exercise in trust—a declaration that God, not our resources, is our true security. As we practice generosity, our faith stretches and grows stronger.
Perhaps most surprisingly, generosity creates space for God’s provision in our lives. When we release what we’ve been clutching, God often fills that space with something better. Not because giving is a formula for getting, but because open hands can receive what clenched fists cannot.
Today, identify one area where you’re holding on too tightly. What would it look like to loosen your grip through an act of generosity?
Bible Verse
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26
Reflection Question
What is one thing you find yourself clutching most tightly (money, time, control, etc.), and what specific act of generosity might help you begin to loosen that grip?
Quote
Generosity breaks greed. It stretches faith and it makes room for God’s provision. You’re not losing money. You’re actually creating space for God’s blessings when we give.
Prayer
God, I confess that I often hold too tightly to things that were meant to be held loosely. Show me where greed has taken root in my heart. Give me courage to practice generosity, especially in areas where I struggle to trust You. Replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh that beats with Your generosity. Amen.
Day 5: The Only Test God Invites
Devotional
Throughout Scripture, God warns against testing Him—with one remarkable exception. In Malachi 3, God actually invites us to test Him in the area of giving: “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.”
This unique invitation reveals how central generosity is to God’s heart and His plan for our lives. God knows that our approach to money and possessions reveals more about our spiritual condition than perhaps any other single factor. If we can’t trust Him with our finances, how can we claim to trust Him with our eternal souls?
The practice of tithing—giving the first 10% of our income—represents our basic obedience in this area. It acknowledges that everything we have comes from God and belongs to Him. But true generosity begins where tithing ends—at 10.1% and beyond. These offerings above and beyond our tithe demonstrate a heart that’s being transformed by God’s generosity.
When we accept God’s invitation to test Him through generous giving, we position ourselves to experience His provision in ways we never imagined. Not because giving is a formula for getting rich, but because generosity aligns our hearts with God’s and creates space for Him to work in our lives.
Today, consider whether you’re ready to take God up on His invitation to test Him in this area.
Bible Verse
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” – Jeremiah 29:11
Reflection Question
If God is explicitly inviting you to test Him in the area of giving, what step of financial generosity might He be asking you to take that would require genuine faith on your part?
Quote
Giving is the only thing that God ever said test me on. If I can’t trust you with my money, how can I trust you with my eternity?
Prayer
Lord, thank You for Your invitation to test You in the area of giving. Forgive me for times I’ve held back out of fear or lack of trust. Give me the courage to take You at Your word and experience Your faithfulness firsthand. Help me to be obedient in tithing and increasingly generous in my offerings. I want to trust You with everything, starting with my finances. Amen.