1. The Declaration of Ownership

Leviticus 27:30 Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

Hang around kids for long enough (usually only about 15 minutes!) and you will see them grab something and shout, “Mine!” Something in our fallen hearts beats with the rhythm of possession. We want to own, to control, to claim.

You know that feeling too. Standing in your home, surrounded by your stuff, paying bills with your money from your account. The language of ownership comes so naturally that we barely notice how it shapes our perspective. “My house, my car, my savings, my future.” The possessive pronouns roll off our tongues without a second thought.

But what if that language is fundamentally distorted?

God’s command about the tithe in Leviticus reveals something we desperately need to remember: the tenth didn’t become the Lord’s when it was given—it already was His. The tithe wasn’t a donation; it was a declaration.

When Israel gave their tithe, they weren’t being generous—they were being honest. They were acknowledging a reality that existed whether they recognized it or not: everything belongs to God.

This truth should hit us like a splash of cold water on sleepy eyes. When was the last time you looked at your paycheck and thought, “This isn’t mine to begin with”? When did you last survey your possessions and see them as belongings temporarily entrusted to your care?

The illusion of ownership runs deep in our veins. We think:

• I earned this money through my hard work
• I deserve to enjoy the fruits of my labor
• I should decide what happens with what’s mine

But these thoughts reveal hearts that haven’t fully embraced the reality of God’s ownership. Every dollar in your account, every object in your home, every talent in your arsenal—none of it is yours. All of it belongs to your King.

This isn’t bad news—it’s gloriously liberating! The pressure isn’t on you to fund your kingdom. The burden isn’t on you to secure your future. You’re a steward, not an owner. A manager, not a master.

When you give, you’re not doing God a favor. You’re simply declaring what’s already true: “Lord, it all belongs to You. I’m just giving back what was already Yours.”

What would change if you lived today with the deep awareness that everything you have belongs to God? How would it affect your spending, your saving, your giving? Let your giving become less about reluctant sacrifice and more about joyful declaration.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for the subtle idolatry of ownership. Everything I have comes from Your hand. Help me to hold my possessions with open hands, remembering that they belong to You. May my giving declare Your ownership over every area of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day 2:  When Control Becomes Your Counterfeit God

Leviticus 27:32 Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the shepherd’s rod, will be holy to the Lord.

Are you one of those people that is really, really on top of your finances? You check your bank account three times before breakfast. You’ve got spreadsheets tracking spreadsheets. Every penny has a purpose, every dollar a destination. You call it “being responsible,” but let’s be honest—it’s more than that, isn’t it?

Most of us aren’t that intense, but we still don’t treat our wealth like we should. Maybe you believe that if you can just control enough variables, you’ll be safe. If you can just manage enough outcomes, you’ll be secure. Control has become your functional savior.

But here’s what control whispers in the dark corners of your heart: “God might drop the ball, but I won’t.”

That’s why these ancient instructions about tithing feel so threatening. God tells the shepherd not to inspect the sheep, not to evaluate, not to strategize. Just let every tenth one pass under the rod. No quality control. No risk management. No contingency plans.

Why would God design it this way? Because He knows that your white-knuckled grip on control is slowly suffocating your soul.

Think about it. When was the last time you made a financial decision without calculating seventeen different scenarios? When did you last give without first making sure nothing would be at risk?

Your need to control reveals what you really believe:

• That God’s wisdom needs your editing
• That God’s provision needs your backup plan
• That God’s faithfulness needs your safety net

But what if your obsession with control is actually the very thing keeping you from experiencing God’s faithful provision? What if your backup plans are preventing you from seeing His primary plan?

The shepherd who tried to manipulate which sheep went to God lost both the original and the substitute. There’s a warning here: when you try to manage God’s portion, you end up losing more than you tried to save.

Today, where is God asking you to loosen your grip? Where is He inviting you to trust His wisdom over your calculations? Your controlling heart needs the medicine of surrender. And giving—real, non-negotiable, faith-filled giving—is how God administers the cure.

Let today be the day you stop trying to be CEO of the universe. You make a terrible god anyway.

Prayer: Heavenly father, I admit that I have been trying to be in control of everything when it comes to my finances. I know you’ve told me to be responsible, but I go beyond that—there are times that I don’t trust you to provide. Forgive me for making control my counterfeit savior. Today, help me choose to loosen my grip of control and trust your wisdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day 3: The Development of Trust

Leviticus 27:33 He is not to inspect whether it is good or bad, and he is not to make a substitution for it. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute will be holy; they cannot be redeemed.

Remember the first time you tried to do a trust fall? That moment of suspension between standing upright and falling backward, wondering if those arms behind you would really catch your weight? 

You’ve probably wondered at times how some believers seem to have unshakable faith. No matter what chaos swirls around them, their trust in God remains steady. You ask yourself, “How did they get there? Were they born with some spiritual superpower I didn’t get? Did God give them some special connection to Heaven?” 

The truth is both simpler and harder: trust is developed through practice. It’s built through repeated acts of surrendering control. 

God’s instructions about tithing in Leviticus reveal this to us. The detailed rules weren’t just about getting the right percentage to the priests. They were spiritual formation exercises designed to develop trust. 

When the shepherd was forbidden from inspecting or substituting the animals, God was saying, “Don’t try to control this process. Let go. Trust Me.” Every time an Israelite followed these commands—giving without manipulation, surrendering without reservation—their trust muscles grew stronger. 

Giving has always been one of God’s tools for developing trust. It’s a spiritual trust fall. When you release what you’d rather keep, when you give first instead of last, when you choose generosity over security, you’re exercising faith in a God who promises to provide. 

The first time is terrifying. Your mind screams: 

What if I can’t pay my bills? 

What if an emergency comes up? 

What if God doesn’t come through? 

But then He does. And the next time, the fear is a little less intense. After years of practice, you discover that your trust has grown—not because you’re spiritually superior, but because you’ve experienced God’s faithfulness over and over again. 

This is why many Christians who have been giving consistently for years will tell you it no longer feels sacrificial. It’s not that they have more to spare—it’s that they’ve trained their hearts to trust in God’s provision rather than their own resources. 

If you want to grow in trust, there’s no shortcut. You must give. Start where you are—even if it’s uncomfortable, even if it stretches you. Each act of giving is a rep in your spiritual workout, strengthening the muscles of faith. 

Today, see your giving not as God taking something from you, but as God developing something in you—a deeper, stronger, more resilient trust in His faithful provision. 

Prayer: Father, I want to trust You more deeply than I do today. Use my giving not just to advance Your Kingdom, but to transform my heart. Help me to see each opportunity to give as a chance to develop greater dependence on You. May I fall backward into Your faithful arms today, trusting that You will catch me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day 4: The Response of Gratitude

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Think of the last truly meaningful gift you received. Not something you asked for or expected, but something that took your breath away because it revealed how deeply the giver knew and loved you.

You and I struggle with giving for one fundamental reason: we’ve forgotten what we’ve been given. We hold tight to our resources, our time, our very lives because we’ve lost sight of the extravagant generosity of our God.

The rules about tithing in Leviticus might seem like just another set of religious obligations. But they were never meant to stand alone. They were meant to flow from a deep awareness of God’s prior giving. Before Israel ever gave a tenth, God had given them everything—freedom from slavery, identity as His people, land flowing with milk and honey, His very presence among them.

How much more true is this for us who live on this side of the cross?

The apostle Paul didn’t motivate the Corinthians to give by quoting tithing laws. He pointed them to Jesus, who “though he was rich, for your sake became poor.” Before Paul asked for a single coin, he reminded them of the grace they had already received—the Son of God who emptied Himself completely for them.

This is the only sustainable motivation for generous giving: not guilt, not obligation, not even the promise of blessing, but gratitude for grace already given.

When you truly grasp what Jesus sacrificed for you, giving no longer feels like a burden—it feels like a privilege. When you remember that you were spiritually bankrupt and Christ made you rich with His righteousness, releasing your grip on material wealth doesn’t seem so difficult.

Ask yourself honestly:

• Do I give out of duty or out of delight in what Christ has done?
• Is my giving a response to grace or an attempt to earn favor?
• Does my giving reflect how overwhelmed I am by God’s generosity toward me?

If your giving feels joyless or burdensome, you don’t need more rules—you need a fresh encounter with grace. You need to stand again at the foot of the cross and remember that everything you have—your salvation, your hope, your very breath—comes from the hand of a giving God.

Let your giving today flow not from obligation but from overflowing gratitude. Not because God demands it, but because Jesus deserves it. Give as someone who has received immeasurably more than you could ever return.

After all, we don’t give to become like Jesus; we give because Jesus gave to us first.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am humbled by Your extravagant gift to me. You who owned everything became nothing, so that I who had nothing might gain everything. Forgive me for giving reluctantly what You gave freely. Awaken my heart to the wonder of Your grace, that my giving might flow from a heart overwhelmed by gratitude. Help me give today not out of duty, but out of delight in You. Amen.

Day 5: When Giving Feels Like Dying

Leviticus 27:31 If a man decides to redeem any part of this tenth, he must add a fifth to its value.

Let’s talk about that knot in your stomach when you think about giving to God. You know the one—that mixture of guilt, fear, and frustration that rises when the topic of giving comes up.

You’ve done the math. You’ve seen what ten percent looks like. And honestly? It feels like death.

Death to your vacation plans. Death to your safety cushion. Death to your lifestyle. Death to your carefully constructed financial security. No wonder you want to “redeem” that tenth—to buy it back, to keep it for yourself.

But notice God’s strange math here. If you want to keep what belongs to Him, it’ll cost you twenty percent more. If you try to buy back the tithe, you’ll pay 12% instead of 10%. It’s like God is saying, “Fighting Me on this will cost you more than surrendering.”

Here’s what we need to face: giving does feel like dying because it is a kind of death. It’s death to the illusion that you’re your own provider. Death to the fantasy that money can save you. Death to the idol of self-sufficiency.

But here’s what changes everything—you’re following a Savior who died and rose again. In God’s economy, death is never the end of the story. It’s the beginning of resurrection.

When you give sacrificially:

• Your greed dies, but generosity rises
• Your fear dies, but faith rises
• Your self-reliance dies, but God-dependence rises
• Your kingdom dies, but God’s Kingdom rises

Yes, giving feels like dying. But you serve a God who specializes in resurrection.

So today, don’t try to redeem what God has claimed. Don’t negotiate with the grave. Die the small deaths of generosity, trusting that your God will raise up something far better than what you laid down.

After all, nothing you release to God ever stays dead.

Prayer: Generous Father, giving feels like dying because I’ve made money my life. But You showed me that death with You leads to resurrection. Give me courage to die the small deaths of sacrifice, trusting You to raise up something eternal. Help me stop trying to redeem what You’ve already claimed. Teach me that in Your Kingdom, dying is the pathway to truly living. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day 6: When The Offering Box Becomes A Mirror

Luke 21:2-4 He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

Jesus is watching. Not in some creepy, surveillance-camera way. But He’s watching how you give. He watched then, and He watches now. And apparently, He doesn’t count the way we count.

Here’s this widow—no name, no status, no security. She drops in two coins worth almost nothing. In today’s money, maybe enough for a cup of coffee. The wealthy are dropping in bags of gold, and she’s got pocket change. Embarrassing, right?

But Jesus stops everything. Points her out. Makes her the hero of the story. Because in the arithmetic of heaven, she gave more than everyone else combined.

How? Because God doesn’t measure your gift by what you give. He measures it by what you keep.

Sit with that for a moment. Let it mess with your carefully calculated giving strategy. You’ve been so focused on amounts, percentages, tax deductions. But God is looking at something entirely different—He’s looking at the cost.

What does your giving cost you?

• Does it cost you a lifestyle adjustment?
• Does it cost you a faith risk?
• Does it cost you a trust fall into God’s arms?
• Or does it just cost you pocket change?

The widow’s gift cost her everything. The rich people’s gifts cost them nothing. Same temple, same offering box, completely different worship.

You see, the offering box is actually a mirror. It reflects what you really believe about God:

• Small gifts from large resources say, “God, I don’t really trust You”
• Safe gifts from secure positions say, “God, I’ve got other saviors”
• Convenient gifts from surplus income say, “God, You’re an afterthought”

But sacrificial gifts? Costly gifts? Gifts that make you nervous? They say, “God, You’re my only hope. You’re my true security. You’re worth more than anything I could keep.”

Today, when you give—whether it’s at church, to a ministry, or to advance God’s Kingdom—remember that Jesus is watching. Not to condemn but to celebrate. He’s looking for modern widows who trust Him with everything.

The question isn’t “How much should I give?” The question is “How much am I willing to trust?” Because in God’s economy, trust is the real currency.

What if your next gift cost you something? What if it made you nervous? What if it forced you to actually believe that God will provide?

That’s when two tiny coins become a fortune in heaven.

Prayer: Almighty God, forgive me for giving You my leftovers while keeping the best for myself. I’ve been so careful to give amounts that don’t require faith. Help me see the offering box as a mirror that reflects my trust in You. Give me the courage of the widow—to give not from my surplus but from my substance. Make my giving an act of worship that costs me something. Because You’re worth everything. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Day 7: The Test Hidden In Your Giving

Leviticus 27:34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Commands. Rules. Requirements. Your heart sinks a little when you read those words, doesn’t it? You thought following Jesus was about freedom, not more religious regulations. You thought grace meant the end of the law, not a new list of obligations.

So why does God still care about your giving? Here’s what you need to see: giving was never about God’s need. It was always about revealing what’s in your heart.

Think of it like a spiritual stress test. You know, when doctors put you on a treadmill and make you run while monitoring your heart? They’re not trying to make you tired—they’re trying to see how your heart responds under pressure.

That’s what giving does. It puts your heart under financial pressure to reveal what’s really inside:

• Do you trust God’s provision or your own portfolio?
• Do you love God more than your comfort?
• Do you believe His promises or your bank balance?
• Is Jesus Lord of your whole life or just your Sunday mornings?

The command to give is like a searchlight in a dark room. Suddenly you see the cobwebs of greed you didn’t know were there. The dust of materialism you’ve been breathing. The idols you’ve been polishing.

And here’s the thing—God already knows what’s in your heart. The test isn’t for His information; it’s for your transformation. He’s not checking up on you; He’s checking in on you. The Father who loves you wants you to see what He sees, so you can be free from what’s binding you.

Mount Sinai seems so far away, so ancient, so irrelevant to your modern life. But the God who spoke there still speaks today. And He’s still using money to reveal and heal hearts.

What is your resistance to giving revealing about your heart today? What is your giving—or lack of giving—teaching you about what you really trust?

Don’t run from the test. Lean into it. Let God use your giving to show you where fear still reigns, where greed still grips, where self still sits on the throne. Then let Him heal what He reveals.

The command to give isn’t a burden—it’s a mercy. It’s God’s loving way of showing you what’s competing for His place in your heart.

Prayer: Father, thank You for loving me enough to test my heart. Thank You for using something as practical as money to reveal what’s really inside me. I confess that my resistance to giving reveals idols I didn’t know I was serving. Show me what You see, and give me grace to surrender what You reveal. Use my giving to free me from everything that competes with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.