God Doesn't Want Your Money, He Wants Your Heart

This week, Elon Musk made headlines with a promise: next year, he says he'll give one share of SpaceX stock to every kid in America. With roughly 73 million children under 18 in the U.S. and SpaceX trading around $145 a share, that's a gift worth more than $10 billion. The White House says the shares will go into Trump Accounts, the new tax-advantaged investment accounts for kids, but details are still unconfirmed as of October 25, 2026, including who qualifies and how the shares will actually be delivered.

Think about that for a second. Millions of kids may soon own a piece of a rocket company. They didn't build it. They didn't earn it. They didn't even ask for it. It would simply be handed to them.

And here's what hit me sitting in church this morning: that's true of everything you and I have, too.

Our pastor put it in three simple lines that I haven't been able to stop thinking about:

And underneath all three was one big idea: God doesn't want your money. He wants your heart.

A quick note before I go any further: I'm still a student here. I'm learning, one week at a time, what it looks like to understand God's word and live it out faithfully, and I fall short more often than I'd like to admit. I'm simply sharing my own journey. Please don't take anything here to mean I've mastered it. I haven't.

Jesus didn't leave much wiggle room on this one:

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

Notice He doesn't say you shouldn't. He says you cannot. Money will either be a tool in God's hands or a master over yours. There's no sharing the throne.

The verse our pastor put up on the screen this morning takes it a step further:

"But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth."
Deuteronomy 8:18

That means even the paycheck I worked hard for isn't fully "mine." The health to show up, the mind to learn a skill, the opportunity to earn: all of it came from Him. Like a kid opening an account with a share of stock already in it, I started this life holding gifts I never earned.

Once I settle who owns it, a lot of my money anxiety starts to loosen. I'm not the owner trying to protect my stuff. I'm a manager taking care of His.

If God is the owner, my job is to be a faithful manager. Jesus told a story about a master who handed his servants different amounts to look after while he was away. When he came back, here's what he said to the one who handled it well:

"Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."
Matthew 25:21 (ESV)

I love that God isn't impressed by the size of what we manage. He's looking for faithfulness with whatever is in our hands right now, whether that's $50 or $50,000.

This is where Dave Ramsey's famous line fits so well: "If you will live like no one else, later you can live and give like no one else." Faithful management looks like sacrifice now: a budget, saying no to things, paying off debt. But the goal isn't just to get rich. It's to get free, so you can be outrageously generous later.

If you want to see what that looks like in real life, Dave's team hosts an Annual Giving Show every December where listeners call in with their generosity stories. It's one of the most encouraging things you'll watch:

This is the line that stuck with me most. Just a few verses before the "two masters" passage, Jesus says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21, ESV).

We usually think it works the other way around: I'll give once my heart is in it. But Jesus flips it. Your heart follows your treasure. Where your money goes, your affection, your attention and your worry go right along with it.

That's why Proverbs warns us:

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)

If I pour my treasure into stuff, my heart gets tied to stuff. If I pour it into debt payments, my heart stays chained to the lender. But when I put my treasure into God's purposes, my heart starts moving toward Him.

During worship this morning, we sang about prisoners being set free, and I couldn't help thinking about money. So many of us are prisoners to it: to debt, to the next purchase, to the fear of not having enough. Settling who owns it and choosing to manage it faithfully is how we start walking out of that cell.

And the other side of that freedom is joy. Generous people are some of the most joyful people I know. That's not a coincidence. That's a heart following its treasure home.

You don't need a share of SpaceX to start living this out. You just need to be faithful with what's already in your hands. Pick one of these and do it before next Sunday:

1. Give something on purpose. Choose an amount that stretches you a little and give it to your church or a cause you believe in. Notice what it does to your heart.
2. Attack one debt. Put an extra payment, even a small one, toward your smallest debt. Every dollar is a step toward freedom.
3. Hold a "manager's meeting." Sit down with your budget and pray over it line by line. Ask: If God owns all of this, would He agree with how I'm managing it?

Start small. Remember, the faithful servant was trusted with much after he was faithful with a little.

This sermon also made me look at how I earn. One reason I build my blog with The Home Business Academy (HBA) is that giving is built into it: part of every HBA subscription goes to Feed My Starving Children, which packs meals for kids around the world. It's a small way my work can point beyond me.

If you've ever thought about starting a blog of your own, I'd love to show you how I do it.

Disclosure: I'm an HBA affiliate. If you join through my link, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you.