Many Christians are reluctant to test God with their finances because of greed. Greed is when we envy what others have or want something we don't have. This greed leads to a fear of lack and insufficient money if they prioritize giving over other expenses. Giving should come first to recognize God's ownership and break the power of money over our lives.
God doesn’t promise to make us wealthy because we give generously.
When you give, you need to give up ownership of the money and what happens to it after that is up to God. God does not promise that he will return the money multifold. People sometimes mistakenly attach that expectation to giving, but God does not explicitly promise wealth or return on investment in the act of giving.
The answer to that begins with a principle or a truth. The truth is this: God owns it all and is interested in it.
If I believe that God owns it all, and it says that in many places in Scripture, God owns it all, it's all his. The earth and everything in it are the Lord's. He created it. If he owns it, and I'm a steward or a manager, I make a biblical decision every time I spend money. I'm making a stewardship decision, a scriptural decision.
So if I'm paying off debt, I'm using God's money to pay off debt. If I tithe, I'm using God's money to tithe. He gave it to me. So we can begin by saying that from a scriptural standpoint, there's no difference in using God's money, whether I pay off debt or give because it all belongs to him.
When you make giving your highest priority, you begin to set the right priorities for your money.
Suppose you're in a crisis where you can't give and pay off debt, get some counsel. Get some accountability. If you reduce your giving to pay off debt, it needs to be under a plan and with accountability.
The best accountability is to go to your pastor and say, “This is what I'm thinking of doing. Will you hold me accountable to it?” Do you agree with this decision so that you will eventually get out of debt? If you're using your giving dollars to get out of debt because you're in a crisis, do it with accountability and a plan—don't just do it.