Dear Brothers and Sisters,
According to the IMF’s 2026 data, Singapore is among the world’s wealthiest economies on a GDP-per-capita basis. The IMF puts Singapore’s 2025 GDP per capita at about US$98,878.
Wow!
We are indeed a wealthy nation.
Singaporeans are generally well provided for. We have good infrastructure, excellent healthcare, good education and a high standard of living.
According to the latest Singapore Department of Statistics data, 91.2% of resident households lived in owner-occupied homes in 2025.
Even though owning a car in Singapore is extremely expensive, we still see many people aspiring to own one.
And look at our airports during the June and December school holidays. Changi Airport can be incredibly busy as families travel overseas for their holidays.
These are signs of prosperity.
And we should pause and say:
Thank God!
What a blessing from the Lord.
God has taken care of Singapore. He has provided for us, our families and our loved ones in abundance.
But here is the question I want us to consider:
If Singapore is rich, are Singaporeans also rich toward God?
Rich in possessions, but rich toward God?
Jesus once told a parable about a rich man whose land produced an abundant harvest.
The man thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.”
So he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. Then he would be able to store everything and say to himself:
“Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
But God said to him:
“You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”
— Luke 12:20
Jesus then gave the warning:
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
— Luke 12:21
That phrase really challenges me:
“Rich toward God.”
It is possible to be rich in the eyes of the world but poor toward God.
It is possible to own a beautiful home, drive a nice car, have substantial savings, travel regularly and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle—and yet have very little generosity toward the Kingdom of God and those in need.
So perhaps the more important question is not:
“How much do I have?”
but:
“How much of what I have, am I willing to give?”
What does our giving say about our hearts?
I came across the World Giving Report 2026, which estimated that Singapore respondents gave an average of about 0.7% of their income in 2025 across charity, people in need and religious causes. The global average was about 1.0%.
Of course, these figures should not be treated as a precise measurement of every Singaporean's generosity. Giving can take many forms, including gifts made directly to people, churches and causes that may not always be captured in the same way.
But the broader question remains.
In an affluent society like Singapore, should our generosity be greater?
For Christians, the biblical standard is certainly much higher than simply asking, “How little can I give?”
The Old Testament speaks of the tithe—the giving of a tenth.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.”
— Malachi 3:10
And the New Testament moves beyond merely calculating a percentage.
Paul writes:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
— 2 Corinthians 9:7
The issue is therefore not simply mathematics.
It is the heart.
Why are we so affluent, yet sometimes so cautious about giving?
This is a question we need to search deeply within ourselves.
Why can we spend thousands of dollars on a holiday without thinking twice, but hesitate when someone asks us to give a few hundred dollars to help someone in need?
Why can we stretch ourselves to upgrade our car, our home, our phone or our lifestyle, but find it difficult to increase our giving?
Why do we constantly think about building more for ourselves, but give so little thought to building God's Kingdom?
Perhaps the answer is uncomfortable.
We have become accustomed to abundance.
When abundance becomes normal, we stop seeing it as abundance.
We simply call it:
“My money.”
“My house.”
“My car.”
“My investments.”
“My savings.”
But the Bible gives us a different perspective.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
— Psalm 24:1
Everything ultimately belongs to Him.
We are not owners.
We are stewards.
We have forgotten how blessed we are
Perhaps one of the problems with growing up in an affluent society is that we can easily take prosperity for granted.
Many of us have never experienced what previous generations experienced.
Our grandparents and great-grandparents knew what it meant to struggle for three meals a day.
They knew what scarcity meant.
They knew what it meant to live without the comforts that we now consider normal.
But today, a child can grow up thinking that air-conditioning, smartphones, overseas holidays, restaurants and comfortable homes are simply part of life.
We can forget that these things are blessings.
And when blessings become normal, gratitude can disappear.
We may begin to believe that we deserve what we have.
But Scripture reminds us:
“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
— Deuteronomy 8:17–18
God gives us the ability to create wealth.
That changes everything.
What about those outside Singapore?
We may not see extreme poverty every day.
We may not see children dying because they have no access to clean drinking water.
We may not see families going to bed hungry.
But if we travel beyond our comfortable environment and look at some of the poorer communities in Asia and Africa, we will encounter realities that are difficult for us to imagine.
Children still die from preventable diseases.
Families still struggle to obtain clean water.
Children still go hungry.
Some families survive on amounts of money that we might spend casually on a meal, entertainment or shopping.
And Jesus tells us very clearly:
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”
— Mark 12:31
Our neighbour is not merely the person living next door.
Our neighbour is the person God puts in front of us who has a need we can help meet.
Jesus even told His followers:
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
— Matthew 25:40
When we give to help someone in need, we are not merely transferring money.
We are expressing our love for Christ.
Blessed to be a blessing
God never intended His blessings to stop with us.
He blessed Abraham so that Abraham could become a blessing:
“I will bless you... and you will be a blessing.”
— Genesis 12:2
That principle still speaks powerfully to us today.
Why has God blessed some of us with more?
Perhaps it is not simply so that we can have a bigger house.
Perhaps it is not simply so that we can drive a better car.
Perhaps it is not simply so that we can accumulate more investments and leave a larger inheritance.
Perhaps God has entrusted more to us because He wants more to flow through us.
Paul says:
“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.”
— 2 Corinthians 9:11
Notice the purpose:
“So that you can be generous.”
God blesses us, and we become a channel of blessing.
The real test of wealth
Maybe the true measure of our wealth is not how much we have accumulated.
Maybe it is how much we can give away without feeling that our lives have become poorer.
If God has given me $1 million and I keep everything for myself, am I truly a good steward?
If God has given me $10 million and I use it entirely to upgrade my lifestyle, am I fulfilling His purpose?
But if God gives me resources and I am able to say:
“Lord, this belongs to You. Show me how You want me to use it,”
then perhaps I am beginning to understand Biblical stewardship.
The question is not:
“How much do I need to be comfortable?”
The deeper question is:
“How much has God entrusted to me so that I can bless others?”
Singapore is rich. Let us be rich toward God.
Singapore is a remarkable nation.
We should be thankful.
We should thank God for our homes, our jobs, our businesses, our investments, our healthcare, our education, our safety and the many opportunities we enjoy.
But perhaps our next prayer should be:
“Lord, make us not only a prosperous people, but a generous people.”
Let Singapore not merely be known as one of the richest countries in the world.
Let Christians in Singapore be known as people who are rich toward God.
Rich in generosity.
Rich in compassion.
Rich in good works.
Rich in helping the poor.
Rich in supporting the Gospel.
Rich in building God's Kingdom.
Rich in blessing others.
Because at the end of our lives, we cannot take our houses, cars, businesses, investments and bank accounts with us.
But what we have done for Christ and for others has eternal significance.
As Jesus said:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
— Matthew 6:19–20
We have been blessed.
Now, what will we do with the blessing?
Perhaps the greatest question for an affluent Singaporean Christian is not:
“How much wealth can I accumulate?”
but:
“How much of what God has entrusted to me can I faithfully return to Him and use to bless others?”
Let us not merely be rich in Singapore.
Let us be rich toward God.
Blessings,
David Poh
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