COMMENTARY
Christmastime invites hundreds of millions of people to step into a season of giving—something far bigger and more rewarding than simply exchanging gifts. Yet, despite all our giving, many of us still quietly wrestle with a deeper spiritual tension: the pull between what we want to do with our resources and what God desires for them.
This struggle isn’t new. From the very beginning, humanity has wrestled with the call to serve only one Master. In Eden, God created man and woman in His image, providing for every need and inviting them into direct relationship with Him. Everything belonged to Him. Abraham Kuype beautifully captured this truth: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
And yet by Genesis 3, the story shifts. Temptation whispers. Trust fractures. Adam and Eve choose to substitute the Giver for His gifts—a pattern A.W. Tozer later described as “a monstrous substitution.” The desire to possess, to control, to hold tightly took root in the human heart. It is a desire we know all too well.
But Scripture is also a story of redemption. A Savior is promised—one who will crush the serpent’s head and free us from the bondage our first parents brought us into. And for those of us who follow Christ, this redemption means learning not just to give, but to surrender: to trust God with everything He has placed in our hands.
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I know this road personally. Like many people of faith, I’ve often said, “God owns it all,” while living as though I owned most of it myself. Until I was 50, I tried to serve two masters, balancing tithing with the comforts I didn’t want to let go. Jesus saw my divided heart and with love He confronted it.
In a difficult season, He made it clear that I was trying to fit “twin beds” into the master suite of my spiritual life: one for God and one for earthly security. He showed me that as long as I ranked other loves before Him, my relationship with Him would remain distant. But as I truly surrendered, He began transforming my heart. My question changed from How much do I give? to How much do I keep?
Walking with Jesus into this new way of living became a pathway of freedom, joy, purpose and a deep spiritual life I had never known before. I discovered that generosity is not something God demands. It’s something He creates in us.
Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds us: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Wealth creation is a gift from God—meant to be glorious when used for God’s kingdom purposes and deeply joyful when given away for His glory.
And so, during this Christmas season, we pause again not simply to give, but to remember the One who enriches us “in every way” so that our generosity might overflow in thanksgiving to God. We pause to consider the beautiful opportunity before us: to live not as owners clutching what is passing away, but as stewards joyfully returning everything to the One who “gives us life and breath and all things,” (Acts 17:25).
May our giving of our resources, time and presence be an act of worship. A declaration that God owns everything. And may we invite Him to continue transforming our hearts until we serve Him, and Him alone, as our one true Master.
Jay Bennett is the Chairman of the National Christian Foundation Board of Directors and the Founder of NCF Twin Cities
