Do You Have to Tithe?
Malachi 3:10 The LORD All-Powerful says, "Try this test. Bring one-tenth of your things to me. Put them in the treasury. Bring food to my house. Test me! If you do these things, I will surely bless you. Good things will come to you like rain falling from the sky. You will have more than enough of everything.
Here’s a question that I get asked a lot – an awful lot. Do I have to tithe? Many churches teach tithing and yet, so many people feel uncomfortable with the practice.
When I first visited the US, I discovered the practice of tipping. It’s not something that we do quite as much where I live, but there, you have to tip because that’s how people earn their living. It used to be 10 per cent, or a tithe of the bill … it’s more these days.
I wonder sometimes whether our attitude toward giving isn’t more one of a tip, than a tithe. Only a small percentage of God’s people even tithe. It seems that we have so many other things to spend our money on. And so, as we juggle a limited cash flow, God’s share seems to get squeezed.
But it’s not a zero-sum game, because God is a God who blesses. And when Israel had drifted away from Him, He offered them a way back – a way of sacrifice and of blessing.
Malachi 3:10 The LORD All-Powerful says, “Try this test. Bring one-tenth of your things to me. Put them in the treasury. Bring food to my house. Test me! If you do these things, I will surely bless you. Good things will come to you like rain falling from the sky. You will have more than enough of everything.
Are we obliged to tithe? No, because we’re no longer under the Old Testament law, but under the law of grace. So while it’s not a bad place to start, it’s not a rule we have to follow.
But giving to God is meant to be a sacrifice. It’s meant to take a good chunk of our discretionary expenditure – that’s the plan. And when we do that with a cheerful heart, man does God bless that. He just does.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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