Now that I stay home, I have more time to monitor our monthly household expenses and I like to find ways to cut costs. For example, I had the desire to find out whether we should pay off our car mortgage next year. Then at least we do not need to be concerned about the monthly car mortgage payment and we could save some money on the interest. God is really so good. He never fails to provide for us even as I stay home. You know, even as we still give tithes to God, we never find ourselves in a position of lack. We always have abundance, so much so that we still can pay off our car loan. It is really amazing!
Tithing activates the blessing of God in our finances. When we tithe, we are giving back to God what already belongs to Him. The bible says that the firstfruits belong to Him. When God tells us to tithe, He is not asking that we repay Him (for we could never repay this debt of love). He is not taking away our money but on the contrary, He is setting us up for a blessing. He is looking for an inroad to our lives to bless us financially. But first, He needs us to take that step of faith to 'part' with our money.
No wonder God said in Malachi 3:10 'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house (church) and try Me in this: If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessings there will not be room enough to receive it.' Wow! Do you see God's heart? His intention was to bless us all along. This was the only place in the bible that I know God challenges us to test Him in tithing. Not only that, when we tithe, God promises to rebuke the devil and command him to keep his hands off our finances! (Malachi 3:11)
I remember I used to struggle a lot in the area of tithing. I could obey God in many things but when it came to money, it was really a challenge to me. It was not as if I needed the 10% but I just found it hard to part with it. I thought God could do without my tithes since He is already so rich. Well, later when I finally realised how much He has given us (His only begotten Son), my heart was so full of gratitude for Him. In the first place, everything that I have came from God (including my income), yet He is only asking for the 10% of my income...so why should I withhold my tithe anymore?
Little did I know that when I tithe, God blessed me exceedingly more than what I can imagine. The ways of God are always different from the ways of the world. It is a much higher way, a supernatural way. Praise the Lord!
How about using some scripture to back up your comments.
ReplyDeleteNO ONE, absolutely NO ONE pays the Biblical tithe today.
Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18: The First Tithe - a tenth of crops and animals and commanded to take the tithe to the Levites.
Deuteronomy 14:22-27: The Second Tithe aka The Festival Tithe - a tenth of crops, plus add to that the firstborn animals, and take for the yearly feast.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29: The Third Tithe aka The Three-Year Tithe aka The Poor Tithe - a tenth of crops, kept at home, and invite the Levites, widows, orphans, stranger to eat.
Now, tell me. Which of the above three tithes commanded by God does anyone follow today?
The ONLY people in the Old Testament that were commanded to tithe were those who INHERITED THE PROMISED LAND WITH EVERYTHING ON IT. They got the land, house, animals, crops, etc. ALL FREE AND CLEAR. No mortgage payment or rent to pay. And THEY were commanded to tithe on the crops and animals and take it to the Levites who INHERITED the tithe INSTEAD OF the promised land with everything on it. No one else tithed. Wage earners did not tithe. Jesus didn’t tithe as a carpenter. Paul didn’t tithe as a tent maker. Peter didn’t tithe as a fisherman.
OLD TESTAMENT - THE FIRST OF THE FRUITS SHOULD GO TO GOD
Proverbs 3:9 (KJV) “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:”
NEW TESTAMENT - THE WORKER SHOULD BE FIRST TO RECEIVE A SHARE OF THE FRUIT
2 Timothy 2:6 (KJV) “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”
When was the last time you heard a pastor say that you should spend the FIRST part of your income on yourself and your family?
1 Timothy 5:8 (KJV) “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
The New Testament makes it clear that we are to use the FIRST of our income to take care of ourselves and our family. We are talking about needs, here, not just anything we want. Then we should give generously from what is left.
The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was equal percentage (a tenth). The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of equal percentage. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving ten percent.