For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord. 2 Corinthians 8:3 ESV
If you give to God out of your surplus, is that really even giving?
Let’s do some quick math. If you give away 10% of a million dollars, that leaves you with $900,000—a huge amount of money to live on, right? But if you give 10% of $3,400, which is the median annual income across the globe, that leaves you with just over $3,000 for the year.[1] The person who started with a million bucks a year has a lot more left to live on than the average person, after giving.
Jesus told a story about radically proportional giving in the Bible book of Luke. Jesus was in the temple in Jerusalem watching rich people drop their gifts in the collections box when a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins (Luke 21:1-2). “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to the wealthy worshippers, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (Luke 21:3-4).
The wealthy people were giving out of their surplus and not, “according to their means,” or “beyond their means,” as the Bible teaches (2 Corinthians 8:3). Making this personal, I wonder if I am giving to and in right proportion to my means, or simply out of my surplus, when my giving doesn’t impact my lifestyle. Has my giving become just another “bill” I’ve budgeted to pay, along with my electric, phone and rent? That’s not the radically proportionate giving Jesus talked about.
It’s something for me to think about and pray about. And maybe for you too.
[1] Our World in Data, “Global Inequality Is Huge — but So Is the Opportunity for People in Poorer Countries,” Our World in Data, accessed November 3, 2025, https://ourworldindata.org/global-inequality-opportunity-to-give.
