Giving My Money to 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.'" (Malachi 3:8-10)

 "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)

"And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied." (Deuteronomy 26:11-13) 

"[Jesus] said to them, 'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'" (Matthew 22:21)

 To may Christians, and those on the outside looking in, the act of tithing, offering a portion of their finances to God, can seem strange and inconvenient. It becomes that much more inconvenient in times like this when recession hits, budgets are tight, and debts are mounting.

I have to admit, my husband and I have been downright terrible at tithing. Sometimes we simply forget, but other times we just selfishly feel like that money could go towards better (and more fun) things!

While there have been many arguments among Christians as to whether or not the typical 10% is from gross or net income, whether it can only go to the church or be donated anywhere, whether it has to be money or can it be volunteer time, etc, I think that most Christians would agree--God thinks tithing is important. In fact, it is the only thing God has ever specifically told his people to test him in. Usually God condemns being "tested", but in Malachai God specifically invites his people to test him in his promise to multiply a person's blessings through their generosity.

There is no question that God wants us to sacrifice a small portion of our wealth to Him on a regular basis. But why does He demand this? Why is it so important that He considers us to be robbing Him if we don't? I think that, firstly, tithing teaches us to be generous. It teaches us to give to others, rather than constantly looking out for #1. Humans are sinfully selfish by nature. Tithing on a regular basis helps us to take the focus off of ourselves and onto God and others.

Secondly, tithing is what allows God's work to continue. Without the tithes, donations, and the gifts of Christians, Churches everywhere would be forced to close their doors. Countless charities would find their coffers dried up. All in all, the world would be a darker place.

Thirdly, God wants us to keep the proper focus. It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we are where we are in life because we worked hard, were clever, and/or were lucky. The fact of the matter is, everything we have and own and enjoy is by God's generous provision. First, He gave us life. Second, He gifted us with skills and talents to help us succeed in life. Third, He allowed us the gift of free choice to choose how we handle everything He's given us. There is nothing in this life that we have gained solely by our own merit.

It is important, however, to remember that tithing and offering does not "buy" us favour with God. Jesus made this very clear in the above passage found in Luke 11:42. Some people believe that giving generously is enough. This is particularly true among those who have been financially blessed. Sometimes people feel that if they throw enough money at the church or at God that they will be Good Christians by "default"... and they don't really have to worry about the other commandments. Jesus made it clear that we are all bound to the same commandments. We should not let any area lack, nor should we be cherry picking which commandments are most convenient for us to follow.

In the end we should be giving joyously (not grudgingly) of what we have because we know that God has promised to multiply our generosity. If we choose to deprive God of our tithes, we are really just shooting ourselves in the foot. Because, in the end, we are really depriving ourselves of the blessings God wants to pour out on us through tithing.

As I said at the beginning of this post, my husband and I are awful at tithing, however we are choosing to test God, as He declared in Malachai, and trust that He will indeed bless us through our giving. Besides the somewhat selfish "what's in it for us" mentality, I know that everything I have is God's anyway... He could have asked for all of it back... or 90% or 50%... but He has only asked that I give back 10%... and I don't think that's so much to ask. I think it would be extremely selfish of me to refuse to give a mere 10% back... a gift that contributes to keeping a church's doors open, charity work funded, and many unseen miracles beyond that.

This Stumbler isn't going to let money trip her up any longer.