One question that inevitably comes up when we talk about stewardship is, "How much should I give?" There is no simple answer.

As Christians, the church has a prominent place in our lives, and it should have a prominent place in our giving. Through the church we worship God, nurture and educate our congregation, care for those who are hurting, serve those in need, and reach beyond our walls through mission. How fully we can live into that calling depends upon the willingness of all of us to contribute our time, our talents, and our financial resources.

But we are a diverse congregation, and God has blessed each of us differently. Some of us are rich in time but have limited financial resources. For others, the opposite is true. Jesus reminds us in the story of the widow and her two small coins that the significance of a gift is not measured simply by its size.

The traditional biblical benchmark for giving is the tithe—ten percent. For some, that remains a meaningful guide. But the New Testament gives us something more challenging than a percentage: a call to stewardship.

Everything we have is ultimately a gift from God, and we are called to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded" (Luke 12:48). Paul tells Timothy that those who have been blessed should "do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous" (1 Timothy 6:18).

So perhaps the better question isn't simply, "How much am I supposed to give?" It is, "Given all that God has entrusted to me, what does generosity look like in my life?"

That is a question each of us must answer for ourselves, with prayer and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. "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).

The important thing is that we make the decision intentionally and prayerfully—and that our giving reflects our faith, our gratitude, and the blessings we have received.