I have discovered that a lot of believers look at tithe and generosity as two opposites. I find that strange. I believe it is a Christian virtue to be a generous giver and freely help people in their needs. I also believe that the tithe belongs to Christ and that I steal from him if I do not pay the tithe. Only after I have paid the tithe I can become a generous giver!

Giving God’s way

To give is a
spiritual gift and ministry

We have
seen how God gives because he is full of love. As God’s children we shall be
like our Father. His love is poured out in our hearts. We have received his
heart for others. Therefore, it is natural for a Christian to give of what
belongs to him. It is part of our nature to share with others, quite simply
because we have God’s life in us, we have been born again.  

When Paul
writes about gifts and ministries, the gift of giving is on his list
(Rom.12:6-8). Many people have this gift of giving and some have developed it
to an important ministry in God’s kingdom. When Jesus was on earth there were
some women with a ministry of giving who financed Jesus and the disciples. (See
Luke 8:1-3)

These women were helping to support them
out of their own means.   (Luke 8:3)

It is an
important gift and ministry to bring funds into God’s kingdom. Among the first
Christians there were many who served the apostles with their money and their
property. They ‘put it at the apostles’ feet’ – they put it at the apostles’
disposal.

It seems
that part of Barnabas’ ministry was to release money for the expansion
of the kingdom through selling property 
(see Acts 4:34-37; 11:22-30).He seems to have been a real estate agent
releasing funds into the kingdom of God. In our time also God is raising up
people who have as their main task or ministry to raise money for Christian
work. It is important to understand that this is a spiritual gift, it has to do
with anointing, – an equipping from God which enables one to earn money for the
Body of Christ.

Give regularly!

God is very
organised in his giving and we should be, too. God gives us sunshine and warmth
every day – completely regularly at fixed times! He gives us the different
seasons with the same regularity. Try thinking the thought that God would
neglect to give us daylight or would change the seasons around!
What chaos it would be and what catastrophes it could lead to!  

All
Christian work has regular expenses and needs regular income. We must,
therefore develop good habits in giving and not just give as and when we feel
like it and in all directions.

Christians
who do not take responsibility through good habits of giving create unnecessary
chaos and problems among God’s people. The apostle taught people in the
churches about regular giving:

On the first day of every week, each one of
you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income. (1 Cor.16:2)

Give in accordance to your
income and assets!

Jesus was
very clear in his teaching about giving, that it is not the amount we give
which is important, but how much we have left! We all remember his teaching
when he was sitting by the temple treasury and watched the people putting their
money in it. Many rich people gave a lot, but it was a poor woman who put in
two small coins whom he praised:

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has
put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their
wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live
on.” (Mark 12: 43-44)

The first
Christians put Jesus’ teaching into practice when they gave money to help those
who were experiencing a famine:

The disciples, each according to his
ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.
(Acts 11:29)

Be generous when you give!

God gives
willingly and generously. He loves
to show his profuse riches towards
people. God gives, among other reasons, to help us to give:

God is able to make all grace abound to
you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will
abound in every good work. (2 Cor.9:8)

Christian
people will have something of God’s generosity when they give. They will be
like the believers in Macedonia
who, despite their poverty and their great trials, were so generous that they
gave beyond their ability:

Out of the most severe trial, their
overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I
testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their
ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege
of sharing in this service to the saints. (2 Cor.8:2-4)

God’s word
says that generosity increases one’s happiness and enjoyment of life.   Jesus also said that there is great joy in
giving.

A generous man will prosper; He who
refreshes others will himself be refreshed. (Prov.11:25)

Exercise:

Do you give regularly?
How?

Relate an incident when you helped someone
with your money.

Continue to memorise and
add this verse:

And God is able to provide you with every
blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work. (2.Cor. 9:8)

 

Giving God’s way

Give with joy!

God finds
great joy in giving; there are no long faces when he gives. Jesus, with joy,
gave himself because he loved people and because he was looking forward to an
even greater joy which was awaiting him. Jesus said that it is an even greater
joy to give than to receive. He knew the joy of giving. Generous people are
happy people! When you discover the joy of giving and blessing others, you
can't stop!

An adage
puts it like this: ‘The greatest pleasure one can have is to make others
glad.’   There is a Christian truth which
is expressed in this simple sentence. It says something about the motive behind
the action. It expresses a wish to be something for other people and a joy in
others’ happiness.  

The right
way to give is to give happily and not because we are compelled, or
reluctantly.   The one who is happy to
give, gives more than just a gift, he also gives good feelings which make the
gift a double blessing. To give properly is to give from the heart and to give
something of oneself that makes the gift valuable.

Each man should give what he has decided in
his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver. (2 Cor.9:7)

Give in secret!

Jesus spoke
out strongly against the Pharisees’ way of giving. Hypocrites made it known to
everyone how noble they were and how much they gave. Jesus says that they have
already got their reward. They have had people’s praises. Jesus’ disciples are
not looking to receive honour from people but have an honest desire to be like
their master – he who went about doing good and helping people in their need.

“So when you give to the needy, do not
announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the
streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their
reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your
Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matt.6:2-4)

Jesus
teaches his disciples that giving and helping others must be such a natural
part of our character and personality that our left hand does not know what our
right hand is doing. Then it has become so natural to give that you do
not notice it! You do not make a fuss about it, you just give.  

Jesus says
that on the great day when we shall all give account, many will be surprised about
the results. Some will be rewarded because they have given help to one who
needed it, but they do not know that they have done a good deed. Others will be
sent away for not having helped because they have not seen the need. They did
not know they had been negligent.

In this
story Jesus wants to emphasise that, when giving has become such a natural part
of a person’s character and nature that they do it automatically, almost
without thinking about it, then they are like their Father in heaven and will
enter into his joy.

Exercise:

Have you discovered the
joy of giving? How?

Why is it unnecessary to
boast about our giving?

Continue to memorise and
add this verse:

And God is able to provide you with every
blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work. (2.Cor. 9:8)

 

Giving God’s way

Putting God
first

Materialism
is the modern world’s number one idol! Envy and greed are disgusting
expressions of this idolatry. The Bible clearly tells us not to worship any
other God than the one true and living God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. To
help us to give God his rightful place in our lives the word of God
teaches us to pay one tenth of our income, our crop etc.

 

Give God what belongs to
God – the tithe!

Jesus was
once asked if it was right to pay taxes to the Roman occupying-forces. Some
religious leaders wanted to trap him in words in order to use his answer to incite
the nationalists against him or to accuse him of rebellion against the Romans.
Jesus, who understood what they were trying to do, gave them this excellent
answer:

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to
God what is God’s.”   (Matt.22:21)

When the
Jews heard this answer, they understood at once what he meant by giving God
what is God’s. In the Law of Moses they had had clear teaching about the first
fruits and the tithe which belonged to God. This was done to teach the people
to put God first in their lives.

Put God first!

Jesus
taught the disciples that they could not serve two masters. Our loyalty will be
where our heart is, we will follow that to which we have given our first love.
Where our treasure is there will our heart be. Where we give our money, how we
use our money, will show where our heart is. He who joyfully gives of
his means to God’s kingdom shows that God comes first.

In the Old
Testament we find teaching about bringing the first fruits to God so that he
should take first place in everyday life:

You are to give over to the Lord the first
offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to
the Lord.   (Exod.13:12)

This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the
first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.   (Exod.13:15)

“When you enter the land I am going to give
you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain
you harvest.” (Lev.23:10)

“Bring the best of the first fruits of the
soil to the house of the Lord your God.” (Exod.23:19)

“You must present as the Lord’s portion the
best and holiest part of everything given to you.” (Num.18:29)

“By presenting the best part of it you will
not be guilty in this matter;” (Num.18:32)

All these
rules have as their aim to train God’s people to put God first in all
things:

Know then in your heart that as a man
disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands
of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him. (Deut.8:5-6)

Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and
oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD
your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD
your God always. (Deut.14:23)

It is
important to notice that the people were taught to put God first by
giving the best to God as a first fruit – before they took anything for
themselves. God deserves this first place for it is he who gives us life. When
we receive our income or harvest the fruit of our labours we should always give
God his rightful share first. Of course, we give God the best we have
when we give, or offer, anything to him.

Jesus
taught his disciples not to worry about food or clothes or other necessary
material things. He said that if God had first place in our lives he
would take care of us and give us all we needed.

But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt.6:33)

Exercise:

Have you started to pay
the tithe of everything? If not start now!

Continue to memorise and
add this verse:

And God is able to provide you with every
blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work. (2.Cor. 9:8)

 

 

Giving God’s way

The tithe belongs
to God.

A tithe is
ten percent of income, of a crop or of the profits an investment gives.   Throughout the Bible we see that those who
fear God give tithes of everything to the Lord. The first person who is
mentioned in the Bible as giving tithes is Abraham:  

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was
priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God
Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who
delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of
everything. (Gen. 14:18-20)

It is
important to notice that the tithe was given to Melchizedek who was God’s
representative and a picture of Christ (Heb.7:1-17). It is also important that
it was Abraham, who is the father of all believers, who gave a tithe of
everything. We are called to imitate his faith. Abraham gave a tithe as a
response to the blessing with which Melchizedek blessed him. In Jesus Christ we
have received a share in this blessing (Gal.3:14) and our response is to give
him our tithes.

Jacob, who
understood that it is God who blesses the work of our hands and allows us to gain
riches and prosperity, said,

“…of all that you give me I will give you a
tenth.” (Gen.28:22)

Moses gave
the people of Israel
many rules about tithing. Here are two simple examples from his teaching:

A tithe of everything from the land,
whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is
holy to the Lord. (Lev.27:30)

I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their
inheritance in return for the work they do while serving in the Tent of
Meeting. (Num.18:21)

When the
people of Israel
experienced renewal and revival they began to give tithes again. King Hezekiah,
who feared God, is one of those who helped them to get this organised:

He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the
portion due to the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to
the Law of the Lord. As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously
gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the
fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. (2
Chron.31:4-5)

We find the
same thing take place under the restoration led by Nehemiah among the Jews who
returned from captivity (Neh.10:37-39).Even today when God brings refreshing
and restoration to his people, the practice of tithing is revived once again.

In Jesus’
time tithing was common practice among the Jews. Jesus emphasised in his
teaching that it was right to give tithes, but he condemned the hypocrisy of
the Pharisees and their legalism in connection with tithing:

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God
a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect
justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without
leaving the former undone.” (Luke 11:42)

In Hebrews
7:1-17 we also have a passage which talks about tithing. Two priesthoods are
compared here – that of Levi and that of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was greater
than Levi, because when Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek (who is a picture of
Christ,) Levi was also, in effect, giving tithes as he was Abraham’s
descendant. Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek. He represents a new and better
priesthood than that of the Levites.   So
today we pay our tenth to Christ, who is our high priest.

Where do we pay our tithe
today?

Based on
the teaching of the Bible we can say that we should pay our tithes to
those who represent God’s authority over us and are our spiritual covering –
those who are our leaders in the church (Deut.26:12; Num.18:21; 25-28;
Neh.10:37-39; 12:44;
13:5). The Bible says that we should bring the whole tenth into the “storehouse”
– the House of God (Mal.3:10) – where it was kept for the priests. It was used
to provide for those who taught the people from God’s word and guided them. Today’s
tithe should also be used to support those who preach God’s word and lead
the church (see Gal.6:6; 1.Cor.9:3-14: 1.Tim.5:17).

It is
important to understand that we are not free to send our tithes anywhere and
everywhere to support all kinds of good projects. God has said very clearly in
his word that the whole tithe must be brought to the church where we
receive our teaching in God’s word and our spiritual covering, protection and
supervision. Once the whole tenth is brought to God’s house we are free to give
to as many good projects as we might wish.

Do not steal from God!

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But
you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse –
the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me. 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 you will not have room enough for it.”
(Mal.3:8-10)

The tenth
belongs to the Lord. When we do not pay our tithes regularly we are, in fact,
stealing from God and then there is no blessing on our economy. When we pay our
tithes God has promised to bless us in all we do.  

Notice also
the expressions “the whole tithe” and “a tenth of everything”. It is possible
to pay a partial tithe, to pay a tenth of part of your income but not of all of
it. The question is however, on what basis do we reckon out our tenth? Who
comes first, the Inland Revenue or God? The amount of your tithe is a good
indication of this. We can never give too much and God is no man’s debtor.

“Test me in
this,” says God. “Bring the whole tithe to God’s house, the church, and
blessing will follow!”

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the
firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov.3:9-10)

Tithing is
fairly straightforward for wage earners and producers of crops. It can however,
be more complicated for the self-employed or those who are very wealthy to
define their income.

If we
understand that all we own and all that we live on is a loan for which we are
stewards, we will be generous when we give our tithes. From the one who has
much, much will be expected and from him who has little, little will
be expected accordingly.

Exercise:

What blessing have you
experienced in your life because of tithing?

Is it really possible to
steal from God? How? What are the consequences?

Are we free to pay the
tithe to any Christian ministry or organisation?

Where are we supposed to
pay the tithe?

Continue to memorise and
add this verse:

of all that you give me I will surely give you
a tenth. (Gen. 28:22)

 

Giving God’s way

The law of sowing
and reaping

Jesus used
many examples from daily life to teach his disciples spiritual truths. One of
these principles of life is the law about sowing and reaping. He used it when
he taught the disciples about giving. Paul said:

A man reaps what he sows.   (Gal.6:7)

To give is
to sow. At some point we shall reap the fruits of what we have sown or given.
If we want to live in the good circle of blessing upon blessing, we must give
generously and give with joy.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (2
Cor:9.6)

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he
who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. (Prov.11:24-25)

 

Exercise:

Recount some experiences you have made
concerning sowing and reaping.

How does the law of sowing
and reaping work in the field of economics?

Describe something from
your own experience!

 

Continue to memorise and
add this verse:

of all that you give me I will surely give you
a tenth. (Gen. 28:22)