At the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the subject of giving. At first this seems a strange place to bring it up. He moves immediately from the triumph of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 to the triumph of the collection plate in 1 Corinthians 16. But when we understand that our giving is an extension of our faith in Christ, this placement begins to make sense. Because we believe Christ was raised from the dead, we also believe that one day we will be raised, too. And because we believe we will spend eternity with our Lord, we ought to deposit our treasure in heaven today. We do this by giving to the Lord and His work in our world.

Paul gave the Corinthians three timeless principles to guide them in their giving, which are helpful to us today as well. First, he said that our giving should be regular—not haphazard or when we feel like it but right on time, right on schedule, according to a plan. Second, he said giving should be done with a sense of personal responsibility. No one in Corinth was exempt. Rather, Paul said, "each one" should give (see 1 Corinthians 16:2). Paul didn't want anyone to miss out on the blessing of giving—storing up treasure in heaven. Finally, he instructed that giving should be proportional to our income. Since everything we earn, everything we are given, comes from God, it's only right that our giving be in keeping with our blessing.