This is the first of five reflections on Jesus’ teaching about heart and treasure from Matthew 6. If you enjoy the study, you can access the full guide in the Stewarding Giving App, available in the Apple and Android stores.
Generosity always begins with the heart. That may feel surprising, because most of us naturally assume it begins with our treasure.
Jesus certainly taught that our hearts and our treasure are deeply connected: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Yet He flips the order and says that our heart dictates the direction that our treasure then follows. This insight is contained within a wider section of teaching about storing up treasure in heaven, seeing the world with generous eyes and making a choice about which master we will serve, God or money (Matthew 6:19-24).
This means generosity is not primarily about how much we give, but more about how and why we give. Generosity is ultimately about what we value most, where our priorities lie and how we can best invest our time, energy and money.
Read
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Matthew 6:19-24 (NIV)
Reflect
Jesus begins His teaching with something surprising. He connects our treasure directly to the inclination of our hearts. Sometimes we read the verse almost backwards, assuming He means that if we place our treasure somewhere, our hearts will eventually follow.
But Jesus suggests that it’s the other way around. If you want to understand what someone truly loves, look at where their treasure goes. Consider how they spend their resources, their money, time and attention, and you will begin to see what truly holds their heart.
Do they focus primarily on building financial security? On experiences and possessions? On comfort, status or success? None of these things are necessarily wrong in themselves, but they can reveal what people rely on most or where they look for satisfaction.
Jesus’ words therefore do more than expose our priorities. They give us a window into the true condition of our hearts.
And yet there is hope in this. Because while our treasure reveals our hearts, it can also begin to shape them.
Jesus’ first point is diagnostic: our treasure reveals what our hearts already love, but there is also a deeper invitation hidden within it. When we invest in something, our hearts often begin to move in that direction. Investment deepens affection. Commitment grows love. Over time, where we place our treasure helps shape what our hearts care about.
This is why Jesus’ teaching is both revealing and inviting. Our treasure exposes where our hearts are currently aligned, but it also gives us a way to begin realigning them. And when our hearts begin to align with God’s Kingdom, the fruit of that life begins to appear.
When we place our treasure in the things that matter to God – people, justice and mercy, the work of the Gospel – our hearts gradually begin to move in that direction too. What God values becomes what we value. What He loves becomes what we love.
This is why true generosity cannot simply be about funding good things. It must be about aligning our hearts with what matters to God, allowing our treasure to follow to the places where He is at work.
This is the invitation of biblical stewardship: to allow God to reveal the true state of our hearts, to be open to aligning them with His purposes, and then to let our treasure follow.
Question
- What currently captures most of your attention and energy?
- Where does your treasure naturally tend to go?
- What might it look like to intentionally invest more in what matters to God?
Pray
Lord, you know my heart better than I do.
Help me to see clearly what I truly treasure.
Teach me to value what you value and shape my heart so that my life reflects your Kingdom priorities.
Amen.
Download the Stewardship Giving App
The Stewardship Giving App makes giving joyful, simple and intentional. Support the causes that reflect your values, track your generosity over time, and be ready to give when God prompts you.
This study is an extract of the first part of a reflection guide in the Journey tab, which is contains curated resources helping you to engage with scripture, reflect, pray and then act.
Matt Holderness
Matt joined Stewardship in 2022 with over twenty years of marketing experience from roles at Kendal College and Capernwray Bible School. He has degrees in Business and Marketing, Theology, Management and most recently a Masters in Hermeneutics.
Through raising awareness of Stewardship’s various products and services, Matt helps people explore the Kingdom impact that their growing generosity can have, and helps the Church and Christian charities gather faithfully and grow purposefully.
He’s passionate about supporting Evangelism and Bible causes, and has a particular interest in charities that are helping people in Poverty and Debt in the UK.
