Opening Prayer
God,
We pray that we can receive the truth from Your Word. Let our view of money be a reflection of our heart. Kill any form of shame or obligation we may feel, let all that we do be out of joyful response and thanksgiving onto You. Bring forth Your abundance and blessing to those You love, and let us offer every part of ourselves in submission to You.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen
Introduction
So, maybe you’ve decided to handle your money matters like the grown up you are.
You set aside your income to savings, spending, and investing. Maybe you’ve read my blog post about budgeting or you don’t even budget, I mean the world's burning to hell anyways...so might as well spend $10 on delivery and service fees for DoorDash for your $7 Chipotle and call it a day.
….this you? Jk! Unless...
Budgeting or not, there is a very real biblical principle about what God wants you to do with your income.
What’s a Tithe?
Leviticus 27:30 (TLB) says, “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord’s, and is holy.” And Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.”
Tldr; 10% of your income is given to your local church
Information sourced from: Tithes and Offerings: Your Questions Answered
Will I go to hell if I don’t tithe?
Sorry, clickbait! No, you won’t go to hell.
It is not a sin to not tithe (from what I’ve personally looked into).
Cue, exiting out of this blog post…“I’ll come back when you post about stocks again, Grace.”
Okay, before I let my attempts to joke ruin this post completely, I think I could list a million reasons why you should tithe, but I’ll just get to it:
You should tithe if you want to benefit yourself.
Grace, wth(eck)...shouldn’t you say we should tithe because we love God and obeying him is how we love Him? Shouldn’t we tithe because we are so thankful to what God has done for us? Shouldn’t we tithe because we are reminded of our complete dependence on God for our needs?
Yeah!
I mean, well, yeah, those are some of the many reasons we should tithe, and those are the reasons I try to tithe, but you’ve heard those arguments. You can read a million articles talking about the biblical principles of tithing, and I’ll talk about the more biblical grounds later on.
However, I offer you this perspective because in the end what I realize about myself and human nature is that we do things that are ‘good’ for us.
‘Good’ looks like doing drugs for some people when they feel depressed.
‘Good’ looks like going back to our ex who hurt us way too many times.
‘Good’ looks like sleeping in on Sunday instead of going to church.
What I’m trying to say is that the moment we were born into a broken world as sinful humans, we were always enslaved to our own desires, comfort, and happiness. As redeemed children of God, now we have the choice to be freed or go back into the slavery of sin and fleshly desires.
The moment you believed in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God has unlocked the shackles and opened the door. You are free to leave and live your real life just as much as you are free to stay exactly where you were with the same chains, always able to leave and break free, but too comfortable to get out or too afraid of what life outside of a jail cell looks like.
Regardless, you are no longer chained, imprisoned, or enslaved by any other forces than yourself now.
Live as a Slave or Live as Saved
No amount of times you go to church, read the Bible, attend or lead small groups, memorize worship songs, or pray will determine your salvation. You could give nothing for tithe your entire life, and Jesus will still never leave your side or forsake you for the rest of eternity.
All you need to be saved is to believe that Jesus is the son of God who came onto earth, fully God and fully man, never sinning yet dying on a cross for our sins. He rose from the grave after 3 days, and continues to live and whoever believes in Him will be able to do the same.
However, now that you have the full rights to live as a child of God does not mean that you will always want to take part in it. You can believe all those things, and you can still choose to live as a slave instead.
Some criticism against Christianity can look like: “God gives you so many rules, He’s so restrictive, and He gives you no freedom. How can you live like that?”
Good parents have rules for their children because they love them.
Did you know that a parent that doesn’t give their children any rules, boundaries, or care for their child is an abusive and neglectful parent? Is it freedom for a parent to give a child a lighter, a knife, no locks on their doors, and do as they please? Even this world knows that is evil, yet God is criticized for having boundaries for our protection and for our best.
What happens when you let yourself run your life and do whatever you want to do? Pure chaos and destruction. Do you know how I know that? This world is an example of what it looks like when everyone is running their own lives. Murder, rape, abuse, lying, stealing, jealousy, sexual immorality, confusion, hatred, war, disease, and natural diasters are a few of the things we get to experience as a result of living outside of God’s rules.
Rules are not bad. Rules are loving.
When you live in accordance with God's rules for your life in mind, you are living as His child. You are taking up your rights to be freed and to walk in that freedom.
Children of God
As believers, we will all come from different backgrounds. We look different, talk differently, speak different languages, and come from different walks of life.
How we identify with our family comes from the internal stance we have about who we believe in, what we believe in, and how we believe in it.
When you go to church, read the Bible, pray, watch sermons, attend small groups, talk about Jesus, and go on missions, what you are saying to yourself, the world, and God is: this is who I belong to.
If you see a college student who goes to classes at NYU, goes to school clubs and events at NYU, knows NYU students, learns from NYU professors, wears NYU merch, and pays their tuition to NYU. You would say, well this student belongs to NYU. That is the most logical and natural assumption.
If this student is actually part of NYU, but all they do is go to classes in Parsons, go to all the Parsons events, knows no one at NYU, buys Parsons products, and pays their tuition money to Parsons...you would be confused. You know what I would say to that person, out of genuine confusion, why don’t you go to Parsons then? If you liked NYU, you would look like an NYU student, you would have pride about being part of NYU, but either you are ashamed of being part of that school or you actually hate it there.
This analogy isn’t perfect, but it gets my point across.
This isn’t a place to feel judged, but I just want to bring into question: who do you belong to? Do you look like you belong to God? Not just others, but to yourself. If you feel ashamed of yourself, don’t, that’s not the point of this blog or the purpose of Jesus.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16–17, NIV).
I just want you to open your eyes, and to ask for forgiveness, seek repentance, and change because I don’t want you to live enslaved especially if you are given true freedom already.
Uhm, how is this related to tithing?
Tithing is how we get to use our finances to signify that we are children of God, that we are living out our freedom, and that we belong to God because we follow His rules.
It is for your benefit to give because you are now given the opportunity and blessing to exercise your faith and freedom in Jesus.
That’s right: I’m saying that the ability to tithe 10% of your income is a special, exclusive privilege God gives to His children.
What??? This is a scam--
Tithing cannot be done by a nonbeliever because it can only be done through the belief of Jesus, trusting in God’s provision, and submitting to the Bible’s teachings about what God gives His children the opportunity to do.
Just like prayer is a direct conversation we can have with God like a father gives to his child. Just like the Bible is a book for God’s children to follow, listen, and enjoy. Just like church is a weekly family reunion where you can hang out with your other adopted brothers and sisters, listen to what your dad has to say, celebrate what he did for you, and learn how to be more like his child.
When we tithe, we are GIVEN the opportunity to allow the church to be the church (a place of giving). We are blessed because the fruit of the Spirit, generosity, is active and present in our lives through giving. We are breaking free of our enslavement to money, worldly power, and our anxiety or selfishness. We are given the opportunity to trust God to provide for our needs and take part in God’s mission and work in us and in the world. We will be given the heart to give without the burden of worrying. We are able to look more like Christ and less like this world.
These are special privileges that come through the act of tithing in faith.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” — Galatians 5:22-23
God wants you to tithe so that you can receive all the benefits to tithing. God wants you to benefit you by allowing Him to bless you with all these wonderful things that happen when you trust Him.
Tithing is never about your bank account. It is always about faith, hope, and love which we know “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)
God wants you to store up eternal treasure for yourself.
Tithing benefits you immensely. More than 10% of your income would give you, and in that spirit, God can easily give you money, things, and trinkets. God cares for what actually matters, and He wants you to know who He is and who you are more than anything else.
Tithing HELPS YOU recognize who you are in Christ and how you view God.
God Doesn’t Need Your Money
Read: What does the Bible say about Christian tithing?
You don’t need to feel guilty every time the offering basket comes around. Give because you are cheerful in your heart and responding to God’s generosity towards you. Give because you are surrendering your finances in faith. Give because you get the chance to be like Jesus.
Also, don’t neglect what God says about other things just because you tithe like honoring your parents, caring for the needy, speaking truth in love, etc. This also isn’t an opportunity to look down on others who don’t tithe or judge them for coming in with the newest Apple product every season - that’s not your place, you don’t know them, and you should not see yourself as better for tithing. You can explain the benefits of tithing. You can pray with them or over their finances and their dependency to be ultimately in God. In the end, if you tithe, that is your choice but not everyone else’s obligation.
Q: Don’t have a home church yet?
A: Give to whatever church service you attended on Sunday.
Q: Per paycheck or annually?
A: Up to you! I prefer per paycheck as a constant reminder.
Q: Before or after taxes?
A: Up to you!
Q: Does it have to be 10%?
A: I ask that you personally seek out God in figuring out how much tithe should go to the church through prayer, the Word, and godly wisdom.
Next Steps
If you have decided not to tithe, that’s completely up to you!
God is rich in understanding your heart and your situation, He isn’t counting anything against you. He sees you, knows you, and will still provide for you like He’s always done.
If you have decided to tithe, decide prayerfully logistics like is it annual tithing or per paycheck tithing?
Also, tithing is not a way to bribe God into doing things for you. Giving 10% of your paycheck will not earn you greater blessings or greater favor. God is not obligated to ‘pay you back’ financially. Do it joyfully and cheerfully because you love God, you love His church, and you are seeking His glory in your life. You are benefiting your own life as you give more and more of yourself for Jesus.
Closing Prayer
God,
I pray that whoever has ears to hear would receive this message, and whoever is not ready or not currently interested would press Your truth into their hearts. I ask that You would help us all to be mindful of You in our finances, would You be the Lord of our spendings, our budgets, our investments, tithes, and givings. We offer to you the control and submit ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit for discernment in grey areas.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen
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