Howard Pyle illustration of pirates burying treasure, from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates.

Jesus taught this great and sobering principle in his Sermon on the Mount (see especially Matt. 6:19-21).  His point is as simple as it is profound—that the things we value reveal the people we truly are.  The guy who values his wife and kids can rightly be described as a family-man.  The person who values his money and toys can rightly be described as a selfish man.  You see how this works.

Regarding a professing Christian’s giving record to a local church or donations to gospel-sharing missions organizations (e.g the IMB or GFA), this same principle can also be applied—whether and how much percent we give reveals the persons we truly are in relation to our Savior’s mandate to go and tell the world the gospel.

If you turn Jesus’ statement in Matt. 6:21 upside down it really adds valuable perspective.  Not only is it true that ‘where our treasure is, there are hearts will be also,’ but its also equally true that ‘where are treasure is not, there are hearts will also fail to be.’

If you’re not giving to the cause of sharing God’s good news of salvation through Jesus Christ then your heart is not where God’s heart is.  And friends, that’s not a good place to be.

Giving can take many shapes.  It’s not only shaped like a dollar sign.  It can take the shape of your time, effort, care, prayers, and many other wonderful and worthy-to-be-treasured forms.  I’m here to tell you, though, if your giving doesn’t also include the shape of a dollar sign, then something’s wrong.

(This post discusses one point out of five that I preached to my church in a sermon titled, “Living Distraction-Free for the Glory of God.”  That sermon can be listened to or downloaded here.)