One of the most fascinating verses in the Bible is found in Matthew 6:21. It says:
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say your treasure follows your heart; He says your heart will follow your treasure.
Think about it. You may not care anything about Apple Inc., but if you invested $10,000 in Apple stock, suddenly Apple would have a piece of your heart. When the stock rises, you’d celebrate. When it drops, you’d feel discouraged. Why? Because our heart follows our treasure.
If this is true about natural things, how much more true is it about spiritual things?
For example, I’ve heard people say, “I’ll give whatever God puts in my heart to give.” And yes—of course we should obey whatever the Holy Spirit leads us to do. But the Bible also teaches we can posture our hearts so that we are more receptive to God’s voice.
Look at 2 Corinthians 9:7:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Notice what Paul emphasizes: we are to give as we purpose in our heart. This passage doesn’t even mention God telling us how much to give. While I absolutely believe God can and does direct people to give specific amounts, I also believe He is after something deeper.
God wants us to have a heart to give.
When we cultivate a generous heart, we begin to look like our Father. We become willing to give extravagantly—confident that our Heavenly Father will provide everything we need. We cultivate a heart to give by giving because our heart follows our treasure. In other words, giving shapes us and causes us to grow.
When we cultivate a generous heart, we begin to look like our Father. We become willing to give extravagantly—confident that our Heavenly Father will provide everything we need. And how do we cultivate that heart? By giving. Because our heart follows our treasure. Giving shapes us. Giving grows us.
And lest you think this is an article telling people to give big offerings so the church has more money, understand this: there are more ways to give than money. We can give through our time and our talents. In fact, some people are faithful tithers who never lift a finger to help a brother or sister in need. They don’t volunteer in the church or serve in any ministry because they think their financial giving frees them from the responsibility to serve.
But that simply isn’t true. You can’t buy your way out of serving any more than you can serve your way out of giving. If we want to grow, we must do both.
Let’s take a look at how the early church grew in faith. In Acts 2 we read:
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and [o]sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
The people in the church in Jerusalem had all things and common and shared their goods with one another as brothers and sisters had need.
Now look at Acts 4:
32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
Notice the description: they were of one heart and one soul. That is a picture of unity—unity that reflects the very heart of God. Think about Jesus’s high priestly prayer in John 17. His desire was that His disciples would walk in unity just as He and the Father are one.
This early church embodied that prayer. Their unity was so deep and so real that Scripture says “great grace”—literally mega grace—was upon them all. And what does grace do? Grace empowers. Grace causes us to grow!
In that atmosphere of unity and grace, the church shared everything they had, and the result was extraordinary: no one in the body lacked anything. This meant believers grew individually and the church grew collectively!
If we want to grow in 2026, we need to be givers. Yes—we need to go to church, read our Bibles, and be part of a small group. All of those things matter. But if we don’t develop a habit of giving, we will stunt our own growth. Spiritual maturity requires that we learn to give of our time, talents, and treasure—not only to see the kingdom of God expand around us, but to see the kingdom of God expand within us.
There is something powerful that happens to us experientially when we cultivate a heart to give. Our priorities shift. Our faith strengthens. Our hearts enlarge. We begin to reflect the generosity of our Father in practical, tangible ways. If you’d like to hear more—and hear part of my own testimony—check out this message I taught at Grace Life Church.
If this article encouraged you and you’d like to learn more about how to grow spiritually in 2026, click here to read last week’s article.
Until next week, God bless!
