Following are some of the data that I found in my study for last Sunday’s sermon on Christian giving. Some of the details are quite
startling. However, I suggest that, after analyzing these figures, we all pray to God to ask his help in (1) releasing our grip on our money, and (2) trusting him more to take care of our basic needs.

From “Scrooge Lives!” in Christianity Today, Rob Moll, December 5th, 2008:

“Households of committed Christians making less than $12,500 per year give away roughly 7 percent of their income, a figure no other income bracket beats until incomes rise above $90,000 (they give away 8.8 percent).”

“The median annual giving for an American Christian is actually $200, just over half a percent of after-tax income.”

“More than one out of four American Protestants give away no money at all – ‘not even a token $5 per year.’”

“... in absolute terms, the poorest Christians give away more dollars than all but the wealthiest Christians. We see the pattern in recent history as well: When Americans earned less money following the Great Depression, they gave more. When income went up, they began to give less of it away.”

Finally, consider these words on Christian giving:

“A man’s pocketbook is the last piece of him to be converted.” – Martin Luther

“It’s what you sow that multiplies, not what you keep in the barn.” – Adrian Rogers

“Nothing that you have not given away will ever really be yours.” – C. S. Lewis

May God shape us more into the likeness of Jesus that we may become people who give and love more deeply. May you be blessed in your giving!