It seems that Facebook always gives me material to blog about in regards to religious principles, sayings, or biblical truth. A few days ago, I read a post where a young lady had diligently and faithfully paid her tithes to her church. Upon falling on hard times, she reached out to her church family for help. Her church family looked at her "financial giving record" and denied helping her and told her to reach out to a secular entity. I recount that story because it is stories like this, the misunderstood wealth of many internationally known pastors, and misinterpretations of the Bible that make people turn their noses up to the idea and thought of tithing.
~ Before I go any further, yes I tithe at my church. Do I condemn individuals that don't... NOPE! I'm just giving the knowledge so individuals can make their own informed decision.~
So first, let's look at what the scriptures say about tithing. First, there are 20 different scriptures in the Bible concerning tithing. The first scripture shows itself in the very first book of the Bible (IMAGINE THAT?!) Genesis 14:19 -20 states:
Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
Proverbs 3:9-10 says:
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
One of the main scriptures that I can honestly say I have heard from roughly 3rd grade to this very day is Malachi 3:9:
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
*Personal Note* - I can only speak on how tithing has blessed me. One day, I decided to "test" God as Malachi stated. (Yes, TEST!) I can honestly say that God has proven Himself in my life time after time. Although I can confidently say that my pastor does not misappropriate funds given to the church, in my spiritual development, after I have done my part in sowing my tithes, I don't worry about what the pastor is doing with them. Once it has left my hands, what is done with it is then is between the pastor and God. (I had this thought for other churches I have sown tithes or offerings into as well. Now don't get me wrong, I WILL NOT SOW INTO WHAT IS NOT CONSIDERED GOOD GROUND. If I KNOW that the church is corrupt or misappropriates funds, I will not sow there however, I WILL SOW INTO A CHURCH THAT OPERATES IN BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES...)
Back to the subject matter at hand, the Bible gives several scriptures that tells its believers that tithing is something that we do in our relationship with God. Does God need our money? Of course not. To make it simple, not only does God want us to show him that He can trust us with what he blesses us with, that money/ possessions won't become our "god," and that we won't allow our money and possessions to define us but also to help the place where we worship to pay the bills, help those in need, and fund outreach programs (even Goodwill needs money to run its operations right?) So, if this is the case, why is it so hard for us as believers to give to our church but we have no qualms about shelling out money on nonsensical items? Ponder this until next week when I look at all of the reasons that people WON'T tithe and debunk many of the myths, misconceptions, and fears that may be keeping us from the blessings that we have been looking for!
NBG
