Faith & Finance with Rob West
Jesus taught that the true measure of giving isn’t the size of the gift but the heart behind it. Generosity begins long before anything leaves our hands. It starts with what we treasure, love, and worship. Few writers explore the inner life of faith as clearly as Pierce Taylor Hibbs, senior writer at Westminster Theological Seminary and the author of more than twenty books on Christian living. In today’s episode, he joins us to invite believers to examine not just the act of giving but the spiritual forces beneath it.

Jesus taught that the true measure of giving isn’t the size of the gift but the heart behind it. Generosity begins long before anything leaves our hands. It starts with what we treasure, love, and worship.
Few writers explore the inner life of faith as clearly as Pierce Taylor Hibbs, senior writer at Westminster Theological Seminary and the author of more than twenty books on Christian living. In today’s episode, he joins us to invite believers to examine not just the act of giving but the spiritual forces beneath it.In a recent article for the latest issue of Faithful Steward magazine titled "Motive Is Everything," he draws from counselor David Powlison to explain that there’s always a “sun” around which the planets of our lives turn. We’re always pulled toward something—success, security, comfort, pleasure, affirmation, or money—because we’re created to worship. The question isn’t whether we worship, but what we worship.When the created things we enjoy begin to occupy the center, Scripture calls it idolatry. Money is especially powerful in this way because it overlaps with pleasure and power. It promises control over life and the ability to enjoy it—two desires that easily eclipse our devotion to God if left unchecked.
To explore the heart behind generosity, Hibbs points to one of Scripture’s most striking stories: the widow’s offering in Mark 12. We don’t know her name, but Jesus knew her heart. While others gave large sums, she dropped two small coins into the temple treasury—an amount no one else would have celebrated. Yet Jesus did. He saw not the amount but the motive.

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That’s the point: Giving is never merely transactional. It’s deeply spiritual. It reveals what we value most.
This reframes generosity. It’s not just about allocating money. It’s about the posture of the soul. It includes time, attention, hospitality, compassion, and quiet acts of service—not only dollars in a plate.
So how do we cultivate godly motives? Hibbs suggests beginning with Scripture—especially the Gospels—and watching how Jesus treats people. Jesus continually draws attention to what’s happening beneath the surface: motives, desires, and loves.
We don’t wait for perfectly pure motives to give—we’ll never act if we do. But we do allow the Spirit to search us, shape us, and re-center our hearts on Christ, the God who gives first so that we might become givers.
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