I was so happy this past Sunday when I heard my pastor was teaching on stewardship because I was recently led to study on the biblical principles of giving and stewardship. I have had heaviness on my heart about this issue for some time. I have heard so much foolish and unbiblical talk on this subject by Christians who claim to love God and His people.
The fact that there are so many Christians who are not consistently giving financial support to their home churches, other ministries, and especially to other believers that they know need help is disturbing. Then there are those Christians who give only what they think is required, the tithe-10%, just to keep people and God off of their back. They don’t want to give any more because they feel that they have fulfilled their financial obligation to God and the church. I believe with all my heart the Holy Spirit is grieved with this religious attitude. I know Jesus was. (Matt. 23:23)
I know this is a touchy subject for some but it is an issue that God wants us to deal with. Money is mentioned over 800 times in the bible. That’s amazing! It is obvious to me and I pray that you see God takes this subject very seriously. How we manage money, our attitude about giving, and our financial giving shows our spiritual maturity as much as how much time we spend in prayer, reading/study the Word, and fellowship with other believers.
I plan to write more on the subject of money, giving, and stewardship but for now in an effort to keep this posting relatively short I just want to urge you to take time and search the Word of God on the subject of money for yourselves. God wants us to be educated on this subject because we have a responsibility to manage all God has given us wisely. We will one day give an account to Him of how we spent His money. It is His money. The earth belongs to God. Everything in the entire world is his! Everything we have has been given us by God. He has entrusted us with our spiritual gifts, family, and all of our earthly possessions. (Matt 25:19, 21, Corin. 3:13, Rom 14:12) We must become good stewards of what God has given us.
When we have a problem with tithing and giving we should honestly evaluate our commitment to God. We need to ask ourselves have we truly given ourselves completely to Him. We need to pray and ask God to give us a clear understanding on the subject of money and stewardship so that our perspective and attitude are aligned with His will for our life. Please study to show yourself approved so that you are not ashamed. Know what the Word of God says and means. (2 Timothy 2:15)
The fact that there are so many Christians who are not consistently giving financial support to their home churches, other ministries, and especially to other believers that they know need help is disturbing. Then there are those Christians who give only what they think is required, the tithe-10%, just to keep people and God off of their back. They don’t want to give any more because they feel that they have fulfilled their financial obligation to God and the church. I believe with all my heart the Holy Spirit is grieved with this religious attitude. I know Jesus was. (Matt. 23:23)
I know this is a touchy subject for some but it is an issue that God wants us to deal with. Money is mentioned over 800 times in the bible. That’s amazing! It is obvious to me and I pray that you see God takes this subject very seriously. How we manage money, our attitude about giving, and our financial giving shows our spiritual maturity as much as how much time we spend in prayer, reading/study the Word, and fellowship with other believers.
I plan to write more on the subject of money, giving, and stewardship but for now in an effort to keep this posting relatively short I just want to urge you to take time and search the Word of God on the subject of money for yourselves. God wants us to be educated on this subject because we have a responsibility to manage all God has given us wisely. We will one day give an account to Him of how we spent His money. It is His money. The earth belongs to God. Everything in the entire world is his! Everything we have has been given us by God. He has entrusted us with our spiritual gifts, family, and all of our earthly possessions. (Matt 25:19, 21, Corin. 3:13, Rom 14:12) We must become good stewards of what God has given us.
When we have a problem with tithing and giving we should honestly evaluate our commitment to God. We need to ask ourselves have we truly given ourselves completely to Him. We need to pray and ask God to give us a clear understanding on the subject of money and stewardship so that our perspective and attitude are aligned with His will for our life. Please study to show yourself approved so that you are not ashamed. Know what the Word of God says and means. (2 Timothy 2:15)
May the Lord give us a heart for Truth and Wisdom. May He fill us with a desire to read and meditate on His Word daily so that our way will be truly prosperous. In Jesus name.. Amen!
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4 comments:
I do not have a problem with giving but I have a huge problem with calling Christian giving "tithing."
Although money was common in Genesis and essential for worship it was never included in any of 16 texts which describe tithes as only food from inside Israel. Legitimate tithes could not come from non-Israelites or from those who did not earn a livelihood from God's land.
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus was addressing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and "matters of the law." He could not have commanded his Gentile disciples to tithe.
NT giving is freewill, sacrificial, generous, joyful, not by commandment or percentage and motivated by love for God and man. That means more than 10% from many. It also means no curse on those who cannot afford 10%.
www.tithing-russkelly.com
Thank you for your comment
But..why would you have a problem with tithing when it has always been since the creation of time?
We are to live on EVERY word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That mean's the New and the Old Testament. The New Testament is an expansion of the Old. Jesus did not do away with God’s law. He expanded on it.
Just like we pay our taxes we are to pay our tithes.
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:21). Our God has his dues. We are not to live on parts of the Word, but on the entire Word of God. We do not ignore the laws that were given.
We still apply the 10 commandaments..Jesus just broke down clearly how we can follow all of them..Love your God and love your neighbor. If we do these two we will follow the rest, with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Tithes were given since the beginning of time before the law. This principle of God was already established with Adam. How do I know..because He taught it to Cain & Abel. Also Abraham gave tithes to God’s High Priest, Melchizedek who is a prefigure of Christ.
Abraham is our spiritual father and we are supposed to follow in his footsteps. If Abraham was willing to give his 10% to God’s High Priest then how much more should we give our 10% to our High Priest?
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus was addressing the Pharisees heart condition and chastising them about how they were careful to tithe and follow that part of the law but they did not follow the other important aspects of the law-justice, mercy, and faith. If you read the entire passage Jesus actually says to them “YOU SHOULD TITHE, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
As far as the tithe just being live stock or produce that’s not true because Abraham presented the High Priest Melchizedek with 10% of the spoil from his battle. The woman at the well in Mark 12:41-44 gave her last mite, or coin. If she can give her last coin trusting God why can’t we? Where is our faith and faithfulness?
I apply the principles of tithing that our God has given us in His Word and I have seen and I am seeing Him fulfill His promises that He gave in Malachi 3. When we learn that all of our increase comes from Him and we truly trust Him as our Provider we will not be scared to give our 10% and even our last coin.
The more we give the more He will give us. The very lest we should give is our 10% because we know that He said 10%. How can we now come along and say, “No I think I’ll give 5% and let’s call it even.” I'm just going to omit that part of the bible and I'll give whatever I feel like giving.
Or perhaps some of us say lets see what I have left over, if there is anything left God can have it. God doesn’t want our leftovers and He sure doesn’t deserve them. Which brings to mind Cain and his partial offering to God. He did not bring God what he was supposed to. We need to be careful not to follow in his footsteps and make sure we bring God what is required.
We must not be lead by the flesh and our own prideful and foolish minds. We must be lead by God's Spirit who leads us into Truth. The Truth is the ENTIRE word of God. ALL of the Word is God breathe and is usefully to teach us how to live as Christians.
I look at tithing as a way to show obedience to God and thank him for all he's entrusted to me. Everything I have belongs to Him, yet so 10% is very minimal when I think that way. The tithe is just the starting point and I give that joyfully but also add offering to it as well. No way can we out give God.
Your right..I agree with everything you said..
Thanks for your comment..
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