Staff Writer – Carol Cato
When it comes to tithing how many people actually give the 10% that is required.
What is tithing and what is its significance?
A ‘tithe’ simply means ‘a tenth.’ The tithe is that tenth of our income that we give to God, which enables Him to move on our behalf in the area of blessings.
Tithing is a divine act prevalent in many religions and faiths, even in the earliest known historical civilisations, ten percent of the annual produce of the land was pledged to the Gods in their temples, then redistributed to the populace. “a tenth of everything from the land, whether grain or fruit, as well as every tenth animal from the herd and flock” Leviticus 27:30, 32.
The Bible records numerous accounts of man tithing to God. It teaches us that God is the creator and owner of everything that exists; we are simply stewards of what has been entrusted to us. The principle of tithing is: ‘He gives unto us, we give back to Him one-tenth of all that He has blessed us with.’
But yet many Christians refuse to submit to the biblical exhortations about making offerings to the Lord. Tithing or giving back is intended to be a joy and a blessing, a way of honouring God. Sadly, that is sometimes not the case in the church today.
Many Christians struggle with the issue of tithing. Some churches preach tithing as a means of supporting the church’s mission; some pay the church one tenth of their income after taxes and bills are paid, while some pay before. Other churches demand tithing on unemployment benefit, inheritance, gifts, tax refunds, social security and even gambling winnings.
We ask the question why tithe?
How many times, have you listened to the often used quote 1 Corinthians 16:2‘On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.’ You know it’s tithing time, but you think about the unpaid bills you still have.
We may think to ourselves,‘it’s ok for the Pastor, he is not going through what I’m going through.’We all dread the beginning of the month when we sit down to pay our bills. But we should not treat the setting aside of God’s money as paying one of the bills.We must remember that’s not the Pastor who hears our thoughts, it’s the Great, I AM, Yahweh.
Sometimes we misunderstand what the Pastor is trying to say, tithing is about having faith to sow a seed, we will reap whatever we sow and it may not necessarily be in money. The money that we sow is going towards Yahweh Kingdom. We contribute to the development and will reap the benefit of the Kingdom.
God says, if we are faithful in tithes and offerings, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out abundant blessings. This doesn’t always mean He will pay off our debts. God is interested in changing us,rather than just making problems disappear.
What good would it do if He made all our debt disappear without us learning the
Photo courtesy themissionaryfamily.com
discipline of handling our finances properly? If our debts were created by over-spending, then we would just end up in the same place again.
However, as we tithe faithfully our affairs become established in divine order, our visible supply will increase. We will be able to avoid debt and to learn to live as befits a child of God. Tithing helps to establish order in mind and affairs; and when order exists, debt is vanquished.
Also, tithing is God’s method of supporting His ministry. It is a continual reminder that God is your source. Tithing helps combat selfishness, greed, and materialism.
Why we don’t tithe?
To our shame, recent surveys reveal only a small percentage of Christians tithe. There are all kinds of excuses given for not contributing ten percent of our income to God, including non-belief, fear, greed or lack of right teaching.
The answer is often found in teaching, although some Christians use the fact that tithing is not taught in the epistles as an excuse not to do so. But, is the virgin birth of Jesus taught in the epistles? No, but we still believe in the virgin birth! How many times does God have to tell us something for us to believe it?
There isn’t much direct teaching about tithing in the New Testament. This may be because the Lord wants a love relationship with us, not just a legal obligation from us. However, that surely does not mean we should do less in a love relationship than Christians did under the laws of the Old Testament. The money and time you give to Jesus are the best indicators of how much you love Him.
Only by our generous contributions, individually and as a congregation, will the Kingdom flourish and grow from strength to strength.
Matthew 19:21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
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