So let's get started?
I began tithing when I first became Christian around 4 years ago. Then, for some reason only God and I know, I stopped doing it after a year. I look back to those times with regret because I know I wasn't able to give back to God what belongs to him. I wasn't fully blessed because I was stealing.
Wait a minute. Stealing? Well, yes, but let's get to that later. I don't remember when exactly I started tithing again, but I profusely thank God for allowing me to regularly tithe now. Now, I know I'm not stealing from His Kingdom anymore. And you know what? It feels great.
1. Tithing is a necessity.
If you belong to God, you need to offer. It's as simple as that. The Israelites in the Bible were God's people, and they were required to offer for a myriad of reasons. Was this a burden to them? The answer is not stated in the Bible, but I tend to believe that they would feel honored to have such intimate contact with the Lord.
Also, like what I mentioned above, not tithing virtually means stealing from God. You see, ten percent (10%) of all we earn automatically belongs to God. I'm not making this one up; this is Biblical. Why? Because everything we are able to do is because of God, that's why. We wouldn't land a job if not for God-given skills. We wouldn't manage a business if not for God-given skills. We wouldn't be able to do anything well without His sustenance. That's why a portion of what we earn is His.
Malachi 3:8
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.
Think about this: you wouldn't want to steal from Davao Light (or Meralco), would you? We regularly pay our bills each month because, hey, electricity allows us to work. And yet electricity sometimes fail us. On the other hand, God never fails and is always perfect, so why do we steal from him?
2. Our tithes keep the missionaries, the church-workers, the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, the abandoned old and the abandoned young alive.
A common response I hear when the topic is tithing is this: If God is Almighty, why does He need my money?
If you're wondering where the tithes go, they go to the church. Just like how the Israelites' tithes go to the Levites (their priests), ours also go to the church-workers who don't have jobs like us because they work full-time for God.
Numbers 18:21Next, they go to charity, just like how the Israelites' tithes also go to "the fatherless, the widowed, and the so-jouner."
“I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 23:22God wants to bless the workers of the Kingdom and the less fortunate, but money can't fall from the sky. God chooses to bless people through other people who are regularly giving. Basically, what we tithe keeps these people alive.
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.'"
3. Tithing is the only thing we can test God on.
Out of all commandments we need to follow, tithing is the only one we can test God on. What does it mean? It simply means you can expect God to match what we give him.
For example, loving others is a God-given commandment. However, you can't say "I love my neighbors, Lord. Please bless me by..." That would be unacceptable because all forms of love should be unconditional (by God's standard, which is sometimes difficult!).
However, quite amazingly, God challenges us to test Him on tithing. We can actually tell God to bless you in some areas of our lives when we tithe. God even promises to not only match what we tithe but also surpass it. This means He promises that He would replace our tithes with blessings that are not just equal to what we give but surpass it.
Malachi 3:10Why would you let an opportunity like this pass?
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
4. Tithes open the doors for us to receive God's abundant blessing.
In continuation, God promises abounding blessings to people who tithe. I used to think this only pertains to financial blessings. However, I discovered there are a lot of blessings worth more than money.
When I tithe, admittedly, I don't pray that God matches or surpasses what I give. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but I feel God already knows the best way to bless me. However, I do pray for good health (praise God for the good health of me and everyone I love!), good relationships, reconciliations, sustenance, and guidance.
Coming to think of it, all of these also bless me financially. For example, not getting sick means not having additional expenses. Having good relationships put me in a great mood to work harder. Reconciliations widen my network (which, I know, will be handy someday!), sustenance and guidance help me through a hard day of work by relying on God.
What about you? What are you praying to receive?
5. Giving tithes creates in us a healthier and godlier perspective about money.
When we earn money, it is so easy to become greedy. I have been there, and many of you have been there, too. It is so easy especially when we think 100% of what we earn is ours (a misconception). I believe God commands us to give back 10% of what we earn to prevent us from developing this mindset of greed, self-centeredness, and false entitlement.
On the other hand, it becomes hard to be greedy when we regularly give, especially when we know why we tithe. It is hard to be self-centered when we immediately absorb the mindset that not everything we have belongs to us.
In addition, it is hard to be greedy when every time your income increases, the amount of tithes you need to give also increases. Hehe. Yes, I feel a slight pang whenever I tithe (that's just me being human), but with God's grace, the joy overpowers it. Remember, God loves a cheerful giver!
2 Corinthians 9:76. Tithing cements our personal relationship with God.
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.
To put it very simply, tithing is an exercise of faith. For most of us whose worlds cannot run without money, it is very hard to let go of a portion of our income.
This is especially true when we think of what we could have bought with the money we give. I say that's a trap and you shouldn't foster that thought. Let's go back to the Davao Light analogy. You would not miss paying a bill even if that is equivalent to a meal at a nice restaurant, would you?
However, even if we pay our electricity on time, the companies never promise to provide us with more electricity. That just doesn't happen here on earth.
But God is different. He doesn't have the standards of us humans. He promises that we wouldn't lack or be in need despite of the money we choose to let go. We actually realize that the saying, "the more we give, the more we receive," holds truth.
Tithing to something we cannot see is an exercise of faith. Just like physical exercise, tithing stretches our faith muscles. And you know what happens when we exercise, right? We get stronger and better in time. And trust me, beautiful things happen when our faith gets stronger and better.
With great faith, we can receive more blessings. But more importantly, we become closer to God. We develop a personal relationship with Jesus, and at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters.
How does it happen? I mentioned above that I used to tithe because I know it opens the storehouse of blessings for me - and that's true. But in time, I found out that not all of these blessings are financial in nature (but benefit my financial life anyway), I began to trust in God's wisdom to give me what I need ans not just what I want.
Soon after that, I started tithing not because of what I would receive but because I know doing so pleases God. I've become eager to obey Him and please Him - and this extends to many aspects of my life apart from tithing. Truly, because of my tithing, God cements His personal relationship with me.
Isn't that great?
(Please excuse my grammatical errors if any. I wrote this post at 4 in the morning.)
PS: Don't forget to join my giveaway here.
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