Giving To Church Can Not Make You Prosper — Pastor Abel Damina

Nigerian cleric, Abel Damina, has stirred debate after challenging a widely held belief within Christian circles that generous giving guarantees financial security.

Speaking during a recent sermon, Damina argued that there is no biblical basis for the popular teaching that “givers never lack,” describing the claim as misleading and, in some cases, dishonest.

He maintained that while giving is encouraged in the faith, it does not automatically translate into material prosperity. Rather, he said, giving involves a real sacrifice that may not always be regained.

“There is no scripture in the Bible that says when you give, you will never lack. Anybody who claims that givers never lack is a fraud. Nobody prospers by giving. When you give, you lack because it leaves you and creates a vacuum, then you have to work again to recover it, and sometimes you never recover it,” he said.

Damina explained that his remarks were intended to address what he described as a deeply ingrained “mindset issue” among believers. According to him, many people have been conditioned to believe that wealth comes primarily through giving to God, rather than through productive effort.

Reflecting on his own observations, he noted that he had encountered numerous individuals who gave consistently yet remained financially constrained.

“Our mindset was wired to think that we only get rich when we give to God. I kept questioning it because I saw people who were diligently giving yet remained broke. I never saw anyone who became a billionaire simply because they tithed,” he added.

He further argued that individuals who achieve significant wealth while practising tithing do so because of their economic activities, not their religious giving.

“Even those that became billionaires while tithing did so because they had jobs and businesses. That is why they became billionaires, not because they tithed,” he said.

In conclusion, Damina emphasised that divine blessings are not contingent upon tithes or offerings, but rather stem from what he described as God’s pre-existing provision for humanity.

“God did not bless you because you gave tithe or anything. He blessed because He has already blessed. The reason you have jobs, turn trees into paper, extract crude oil is because God has already blessed the planet,” he stated.

His remarks have since sparked conversations across religious and social platforms, with opinions sharply divided over the role of giving in financial prosperity.