(Excerpt from Relaxing with God by Andrew Farley, Baker Books 2014)
God doesn't need our money.
Acts says that he doesn't need anything at all from us (17:25). Remember, he is God, and he already owns everything! So let's ditch the idea that we owe God and that we are robbing him when we don't pay "enough" at church. That's just guilt theology in action. Instead, as we work our way through 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, we discover that we can give cheerfully when we see a need, when we are excited about the ministry, and when we have extra to give (8:12-14; 9:7).
This is very different from a preacher telling the single mother of five who is barely squeaking by on $15,000 a year that she needs to shell out at least $1,500 to her local church or she is robbing God. It's also very different from telling her the lie that if she does give her $1,500 this year, she'll get it back (perhaps with heavenly interest) within a time limit of three months! Yes, the so-called "Three Month Tithing Challenge" is gaining popularity today, but Paul describes people who push such ludicrous ideas as "people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain" (1 Tim. 6:5). Enough said.
So relax and enjoy giving from your heart, all the while remembering that you don't owe God. After all, God himself has announced that through the cross he canceled all indebtedness to him and thereby disarmed anyone that might accuse us:
"Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:14-15).