Christian Discipleship Course 28.

Question and answer: “Why do I need to give MY money to God?”

Who said it’s your money? When we become a Christian, we give our whole lives to Jesus, including our money. The Bible shows that you should give back at least 10% of your money to God, and this is called a ‘tithe’. The money usually goes to the church that you attend and helps pay the Minister’s/Evangelist’s wage. As they give to us spiritually, we give back practically 1 Corinthians 9:11. The money is also used to maintain the church building, and some should go to missionaries.

Fact: The word 'tithe' in Hebrew means 'one tenth'.

Matthew 6:21 ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’

We live in a materialistic world Luke 12:15. Our tithe proves that we love God more than money. If we do not give a tithe, it proves that our commitment to God is very shallow. The Bible says that it is ‘hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God’ Luke 18:24. It is hard if we love money more than God. Usually you should give your tithe when you get paid, be it weekly or monthly 1 Corinthians 16:1-3.

Wisdom: Investments in God’s eternal Kingdom never fail.

An offering is anything that you give to God’s work out of love for Him, or by His guidance, which is given as well as your tithe. In fact an offering may not just be money, but could be food, an object, or in fact pretty much anything. Your tithe is a measure of your obedience; an offering is a measure of your generosity or sacrifice.

There is a warning and a promise in Malachi 3:6-11, where God tells us to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and then we will see huge blessings on our life. God even challenges us to prove Him! He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes and open the windows of heaven over us!

But God also warns that we are cursed if we do not bring our tithes and offerings to Him and He even calls these people thieves, because they have robbed God.

We should also make sure that we are sowing our financial seeds on good ground. If you gave a farmer seed and he threw it on concrete, would you expect a harvest? Likewise, we should make sure our financial seed goes to good ground where Christian leaders are producing fruit for God’s glory. Our financial seeds can also go to Christian leaders, missionaries and ministries all over the world, because God gave the tithe to His Levites (those who work for Him) Numbers 18:26. The Kingdom of God is bigger than a local church, which sometimes neglects the world for a smaller, personal vision, (Matthew 28:19-20).

Think: Have you been stealing from God? Are you giving your tithe?

More Info: Genesis 14:17-20, Genesis 28:20-22, Exodus 35:5,21,22,29, Leviticus 27:30-33, 2 Chronicles 35:1-19, Proverbs 3:9,10, 11:24,25, 19:17, 22:9, Matthew 6:1-4, 10:8, 19:16-26. Luke 21:1-4, Galatians 6:7, Philippians 4:19, 1 Timothy 6:7, Hebrews 7:2.