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This principle has radically changed my life and Jana's life, and I believe it's the most important message I can share with you. In 23 years of ministry, I've never had anyone confess to me that they have a greed problem. Not once. Yet Jesus specifically warned about it, which tells us something crucial: greed is uniquely deceptive.
Jesus said this in Luke 12: "Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed." Notice He didn't say to watch out for murder, theft, or adultery the way He did for greed. That's because those are sins you know you're committing. Greed is different—the presence of greed blinds you to its existence. It creates the illusion that you don't have it.
Let me share a story from my time as a pastor in Nashville. A church planner visiting from Atlanta saw a massive house on a hill in an affluent neighborhood and sneered, "Sounds like you need to preach a sermon on greed."
Something triggered in me. I told him: "You don't know that this man has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. He paid for five plane tickets so a family in his life group could adopt a child from China. He flew our leadership team to Chicago on his dime. He bought that house specifically to host church events."
Then I said, "I don't think he's got a greed problem. I think you've got a jealousy problem."
Here's the key insight: The Bible's dividing line is not between rich and poor—it's between greedy and generous. You can be wealthy and generous, or poor and greedy. The amount of money you have has nothing to do with whether you struggle with greed.
Let me give you a clear definition by looking at the story of Achan in Joshua 7–8.
When Israel conquered Jericho, God commanded them: "Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury." Everything. The entire first city belonged to God.
But one man, Achan, disobeyed. He took some of the plunder and hid it. The moment he did this, the blessing of God was immediately removed from all of Israel, and a curse fell upon them.
When Israel attacked the next city, Ai, which was ten times smaller than Jericho, they were routed. People died. Why? Because the blessing of God had been removed.
Eventually, God revealed that Achan was the problem. In Joshua 7:21, Achan confessed: "When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and I took them."
Notice two words: coveted and took.
Coveting and greed are like Siamese twins—they go together. Coveting is when you crave something that belongs to God. Greed is when you take something that belongs to God.
Here's the definition that will change your life:
If you view God's part as your part, and you end up keeping God's part as your part, you fail the greed test.
After Achan's sin was revealed, he and his family were destroyed, the plunder was returned to God, and then—only then—"the Lord turned from his fierce anger."
I've avoided teaching this principle for a long time because it's one of the most misunderstood teachings in the Bible. But I realized something: when you avoid teaching hard truths, you get shallow Christians. This principle is one of the most critical steps in going from a convert to a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Here it is plainly:
God promises to bless your life when you put Him first in your finances. God cannot bless any area of your life where you don't put Him first.
I use the word "cannot" intentionally. This isn't about God being unwilling—it's a spiritual law.
The Bible calls this principle the tithe. The word simply means "tenth"—10%.
Leviticus 27:30 says: "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord."
Proverbs 3:9-10 adds: "Honor the Lord with 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."
Notice the progression: first, then blessing follows.
Why did God command Israel to give everything from Jericho, not just 10%? Because Jericho was the first city. The first belongs to God. All of the first belongs to God.
This is the principle woven throughout Scripture.
Let me make this crystal clear: a tithe is the first 10% of everything you get.
Not 2%, not 4%, not 7.6%. Not dropping a $20 bill or a $100 bill when you feel generous. That's not a tithe—that's tipping God.
Here's the difference: You tip people who serve you at a restaurant to show appreciation. But you tithe to show adoration to the One you serve. By all means, tip your waiter. But the Lord God deserves a tithe.
Let me give you some examples:
Here's what I notice when I teach this: when I say "$100," everyone can handle it. But as the numbers grow larger, people tense up. There's a reason.
Statistically speaking, the people who struggle most with putting God first in their finances are not those with little—they're those with a lot. The more you have, the less likely you are to return the first 10% to God. You start thinking about what you could do with that $100,000 or $1,000,000.
This is why God constantly emphasizes in Scripture: Everything belongs to the Lord. Everything.
When this mentality begins to shift in your life—when you truly accept that everything belongs to God and you're simply a steward—your whole life starts to change, and you get a lot happier.
Statistically, the more you have, the less likely you are to return the first 10% to God. This principle runs throughout Scripture because everything belongs to the Lord—everything. When you truly begin to understand and accept this mentality, your whole life starts to change, and you become happier.
There are fundamentally different attitudes people have toward what they own:
When we embrace stewardship, we understand that everything we have—everything that has come to us and everything that will pass through our hands—belongs to God. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
I have a five-year-old son named Hudson who's a Happy Meal junkie. A few weeks ago when the girls were out, I took him to get a Happy Meal and even upsized his fries. On the drive home, the fries looked so good that I reached over and asked, "Hey bud, could I have a french fry?"
This little twerp smacked my hand and said, "Those are mine."
Now, what was I thinking? You pest. How dare you? I bought that with my money. I paid for it. I handed it to you. And frankly, I'm strong enough to just take it if I want to.
This illustrates exactly what God says about everything you have from Him and through Him. Do you understand this? Every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision when you start understanding that everything is His.
God says that everything made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron is sacred to the Lord. But notice the language carefully: the Bible never says to "give" your tithe. It says to "bring" it or "offer" it. Why? You cannot give something that doesn't belong to you. You can only bring back to its owner what belongs to them.
This is precisely why God later says in Joshua 7 that when Israel kept what was devoted to God, they had stolen from Him. You may never have realized it, but the first part belongs to God. When we keep God's part, we are stealing from the living God.
The passage says to bring the tithe "into His treasury"—a room attached to the Old Testament temple where people would go to worship. The New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament house of the Lord is the local church. This is crucial: you don't get to designate your tithe. You don't get to give some to a TV preacher, some to an animal shelter, and then give God His part. Why? Because it doesn't belong to you. You're a steward, not an owner.
There's a theology behind this principle that runs from Genesis 1 and 2 all the way to Revelation 22. Many people wonder why God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's. The answer is in the details.
Genesis 4 says: "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering."
Did you see it? One brought the first, and God respected it. One waited until the very end to see what he had left over and brought that.
It's not just that God didn't accept Cain's offering—God couldn't accept it. There are a few things the Bible says God cannot do:
You know why He couldn't accept Cain's offering? Because God can't be second. Even if He's not first in your life, He's still first in the universe. Your order doesn't change His order.
Some people say, "That's the Old Testament. I'm a New Testament Christian." But let me ask you: if Jesus stood on this stage and told you to tithe, would you do it?
In Matthew 23, Jesus addresses Pharisees who were hyper-focused on tithing—measuring out a tenth of their spices, literally calculating a tenth of their oregano. Jesus rebukes them, but notice what He says: "You should tithe. But don't neglect the more important things."
These are the red-letter words of Jesus Christ Himself. He's saying you need to do both. It's like saying, "When you come to church, you should wear a shirt and shoes, but do not neglect the pants." He's affirming the tithe while also emphasizing the spiritual priorities behind it.
Let me make this concrete. Imagine you're a landscaper and you complete a project at my house for a net payout of $1,000. A tithe on $1,000 is $100. Now here's the question: which of the ten $100 bills is the tithe? It's the first one. The first one out of your hand. The first one in your priority.
You can't get legalistic with this. In our family, we have a principle: we automate what's important. When we sit down to make our budget in January, the tithe is the first thing we automate. It comes out automatically so it's literally first.
I could wake up on February 1st reading my Bible when a payment notification dings—maybe a recurring Amazon purchase for some skincare product or probiotic. If that comes out before our tithe, I don't say, "Well, we're cursed now." It's not about being legalistic. It's about what's first in your priority. It's what's first in your heart.
Here's a vulnerable question: Is God first? Many people say, "God is first in my heart." But Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be." If God is not first in your finances, He is not first, period. You can say all day long that God is first in your heart, but if He's not first in your finances, the evidence speaks louder than your words.
Many people tell me, "Pastor, I would love to tithe, but I just can't afford to tithe."
Here's what my parents told me years ago: "You'll never be able to afford to tithe until you tithe."
There are blessings God promises to those who take this step of faith. Proverbs 3:9-10 says:
"Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your possessions, so your barns will be filled to plenty and your vats will overflow."
Once you give the first, the rest is blessed.
Jesus Himself says in Luke 6:38:
"Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
In Malachi 3:10, God makes an extraordinary invitation:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this... 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 is the only place in the Bible where God says, "Go ahead. Test me." Start doing this and watch what happens.
God and 90% of your income can do more than you and 100% of your income. I promise you this. Those who have seen the faithfulness of God understand this truth. 90% with the blessing of God can do more than 100% without it.
You may ask, "But why does God do it this way?" This is especially important for parents and grandparents to understand: tithing teaches us and our children to walk by faith. It takes faith to give the first. It doesn't take faith to wait and see everything you have, add it all up, and then give what's left over. It takes faith to give first.
Notice in Joshua 7 and 8, the greed of Achan gets passed down to his children. The financial choices we make have spiritual implications that affect the next generation.
The greed of Achan gets passed down to his children. Similarly, throughout the Bible, the faith of faithful parents gets passed down to generations. You will pass down either greed or faith into your children, and it will be by your response to this test. The question becomes: What are you going to do with the first?
This message is deeply personal. When I grew up, my parents were people of unbelievable faith. They got married in college with nothing, and they faced a decision: what are we going to do? They chose to trust God with the first. I heard countless stories of God's faithfulness—professors slipping checks under the door, groceries appearing from unknown sources. I grew up surrounded by stories of faith.
When Jan and I got married, I was 22 years old, a brand new youth pastor. We were a single-income family on a rural Kentucky youth pastor income—not exactly a generous salary. But we had always been budgeters, so we sat down that first year of our marriage and created a little P&L for the Howerton house, looking at what was coming in and what had to go out.
This principle has radically changed my life and Jana's life, and I believe it's the most important message I can share with you. In 23 years of ministry, I've never had anyone confess to me that they have a greed problem. Not once. Yet Jesus specifically warned about it, which tells us something crucial: greed is uniquely deceptive.
Jesus said this in Luke 12: "Watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed." Notice He didn't say to watch out for murder, theft, or adultery the way He did for greed. That's because those are sins you know you're committing. Greed is different—the presence of greed blinds you to its existence. It creates the illusion that you don't have it.
Let me share a story from my time as a pastor in Nashville. A church planner visiting from Atlanta saw a massive house on a hill in an affluent neighborhood and sneered, "Sounds like you need to preach a sermon on greed."
Something triggered in me. I told him: "You don't know that this man has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. He paid for five plane tickets so a family in his life group could adopt a child from China. He flew our leadership team to Chicago on his dime. He bought that house specifically to host church events."
Then I said, "I don't think he's got a greed problem. I think you've got a jealousy problem."
Here's the key insight: The Bible's dividing line is not between rich and poor—it's between greedy and generous. You can be wealthy and generous, or poor and greedy. The amount of money you have has nothing to do with whether you struggle with greed.
Let me give you a clear definition by looking at the story of Achan in Joshua 7–8.
When Israel conquered Jericho, God commanded them: "Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury." Everything. The entire first city belonged to God.
But one man, Achan, disobeyed. He took some of the plunder and hid it. The moment he did this, the blessing of God was immediately removed from all of Israel, and a curse fell upon them.
When Israel attacked the next city, Ai, which was ten times smaller than Jericho, they were routed. People died. Why? Because the blessing of God had been removed.
Eventually, God revealed that Achan was the problem. In Joshua 7:21, Achan confessed: "When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and I took them."
Notice two words: coveted and took.
Coveting and greed are like Siamese twins—they go together. Coveting is when you crave something that belongs to God. Greed is when you take something that belongs to God.
Here's the definition that will change your life:
If you view God's part as your part, and you end up keeping God's part as your part, you fail the greed test.
After Achan's sin was revealed, he and his family were destroyed, the plunder was returned to God, and then—only then—"the Lord turned from his fierce anger."
I've avoided teaching this principle for a long time because it's one of the most misunderstood teachings in the Bible. But I realized something: when you avoid teaching hard truths, you get shallow Christians. This principle is one of the most critical steps in going from a convert to a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Here it is plainly:
God promises to bless your life when you put Him first in your finances. God cannot bless any area of your life where you don't put Him first.
I use the word "cannot" intentionally. This isn't about God being unwilling—it's a spiritual law.
The Bible calls this principle the tithe. The word simply means "tenth"—10%.
Leviticus 27:30 says: "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord."
Proverbs 3:9-10 adds: "Honor the Lord with 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."
Notice the progression: first, then blessing follows.
Why did God command Israel to give everything from Jericho, not just 10%? Because Jericho was the first city. The first belongs to God. All of the first belongs to God.
This is the principle woven throughout Scripture.
Let me make this crystal clear: a tithe is the first 10% of everything you get.
Not 2%, not 4%, not 7.6%. Not dropping a $20 bill or a $100 bill when you feel generous. That's not a tithe—that's tipping God.
Here's the difference: You tip people who serve you at a restaurant to show appreciation. But you tithe to show adoration to the One you serve. By all means, tip your waiter. But the Lord God deserves a tithe.
Let me give you some examples:
Here's what I notice when I teach this: when I say "$100," everyone can handle it. But as the numbers grow larger, people tense up. There's a reason.
Statistically speaking, the people who struggle most with putting God first in their finances are not those with little—they're those with a lot. The more you have, the less likely you are to return the first 10% to God. You start thinking about what you could do with that $100,000 or $1,000,000.
This is why God constantly emphasizes in Scripture: Everything belongs to the Lord. Everything.
When this mentality begins to shift in your life—when you truly accept that everything belongs to God and you're simply a steward—your whole life starts to change, and you get a lot happier.
Statistically, the more you have, the less likely you are to return the first 10% to God. This principle runs throughout Scripture because everything belongs to the Lord—everything. When you truly begin to understand and accept this mentality, your whole life starts to change, and you become happier.
There are fundamentally different attitudes people have toward what they own:
When we embrace stewardship, we understand that everything we have—everything that has come to us and everything that will pass through our hands—belongs to God. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
I have a five-year-old son named Hudson who's a Happy Meal junkie. A few weeks ago when the girls were out, I took him to get a Happy Meal and even upsized his fries. On the drive home, the fries looked so good that I reached over and asked, "Hey bud, could I have a french fry?"
This little twerp smacked my hand and said, "Those are mine."
Now, what was I thinking? You pest. How dare you? I bought that with my money. I paid for it. I handed it to you. And frankly, I'm strong enough to just take it if I want to.
This illustrates exactly what God says about everything you have from Him and through Him. Do you understand this? Every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision when you start understanding that everything is His.
God says that everything made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron is sacred to the Lord. But notice the language carefully: the Bible never says to "give" your tithe. It says to "bring" it or "offer" it. Why? You cannot give something that doesn't belong to you. You can only bring back to its owner what belongs to them.
This is precisely why God later says in Joshua 7 that when Israel kept what was devoted to God, they had stolen from Him. You may never have realized it, but the first part belongs to God. When we keep God's part, we are stealing from the living God.
The passage says to bring the tithe "into His treasury"—a room attached to the Old Testament temple where people would go to worship. The New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament house of the Lord is the local church. This is crucial: you don't get to designate your tithe. You don't get to give some to a TV preacher, some to an animal shelter, and then give God His part. Why? Because it doesn't belong to you. You're a steward, not an owner.
There's a theology behind this principle that runs from Genesis 1 and 2 all the way to Revelation 22. Many people wonder why God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's. The answer is in the details.
Genesis 4 says: "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering."
Did you see it? One brought the first, and God respected it. One waited until the very end to see what he had left over and brought that.
It's not just that God didn't accept Cain's offering—God couldn't accept it. There are a few things the Bible says God cannot do:
You know why He couldn't accept Cain's offering? Because God can't be second. Even if He's not first in your life, He's still first in the universe. Your order doesn't change His order.
Some people say, "That's the Old Testament. I'm a New Testament Christian." But let me ask you: if Jesus stood on this stage and told you to tithe, would you do it?
In Matthew 23, Jesus addresses Pharisees who were hyper-focused on tithing—measuring out a tenth of their spices, literally calculating a tenth of their oregano. Jesus rebukes them, but notice what He says: "You should tithe. But don't neglect the more important things."
These are the red-letter words of Jesus Christ Himself. He's saying you need to do both. It's like saying, "When you come to church, you should wear a shirt and shoes, but do not neglect the pants." He's affirming the tithe while also emphasizing the spiritual priorities behind it.
Let me make this concrete. Imagine you're a landscaper and you complete a project at my house for a net payout of $1,000. A tithe on $1,000 is $100. Now here's the question: which of the ten $100 bills is the tithe? It's the first one. The first one out of your hand. The first one in your priority.
You can't get legalistic with this. In our family, we have a principle: we automate what's important. When we sit down to make our budget in January, the tithe is the first thing we automate. It comes out automatically so it's literally first.
I could wake up on February 1st reading my Bible when a payment notification dings—maybe a recurring Amazon purchase for some skincare product or probiotic. If that comes out before our tithe, I don't say, "Well, we're cursed now." It's not about being legalistic. It's about what's first in your priority. It's what's first in your heart.
Here's a vulnerable question: Is God first? Many people say, "God is first in my heart." But Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be." If God is not first in your finances, He is not first, period. You can say all day long that God is first in your heart, but if He's not first in your finances, the evidence speaks louder than your words.
Many people tell me, "Pastor, I would love to tithe, but I just can't afford to tithe."
Here's what my parents told me years ago: "You'll never be able to afford to tithe until you tithe."
There are blessings God promises to those who take this step of faith. Proverbs 3:9-10 says:
"Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your possessions, so your barns will be filled to plenty and your vats will overflow."
Once you give the first, the rest is blessed.
Jesus Himself says in Luke 6:38:
"Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
In Malachi 3:10, God makes an extraordinary invitation:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this... 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 is the only place in the Bible where God says, "Go ahead. Test me." Start doing this and watch what happens.
God and 90% of your income can do more than you and 100% of your income. I promise you this. Those who have seen the faithfulness of God understand this truth. 90% with the blessing of God can do more than 100% without it.
You may ask, "But why does God do it this way?" This is especially important for parents and grandparents to understand: tithing teaches us and our children to walk by faith. It takes faith to give the first. It doesn't take faith to wait and see everything you have, add it all up, and then give what's left over. It takes faith to give first.
Notice in Joshua 7 and 8, the greed of Achan gets passed down to his children. The financial choices we make have spiritual implications that affect the next generation.
The greed of Achan gets passed down to his children. Similarly, throughout the Bible, the faith of faithful parents gets passed down to generations. You will pass down either greed or faith into your children, and it will be by your response to this test. The question becomes: What are you going to do with the first?
This message is deeply personal. When I grew up, my parents were people of unbelievable faith. They got married in college with nothing, and they faced a decision: what are we going to do? They chose to trust God with the first. I heard countless stories of God's faithfulness—professors slipping checks under the door, groceries appearing from unknown sources. I grew up surrounded by stories of faith.
When Jan and I got married, I was 22 years old, a brand new youth pastor. We were a single-income family on a rural Kentucky youth pastor income—not exactly a generous salary. But we had always been budgeters, so we sat down that first year of our marriage and created a little P&L for the Howerton house, looking at what was coming in and what had to go out.
