In this month of thankfulness and giving, the Lord put it on my heart to share this excerpt from a letter to the Ministry regarding tithing. (The term tithe means 10 percent):
“I am writing to get your guidance on paying my tithes. I have not been paying them, because I have more bills than I have money to pay them. Some people say that I should pay my tithes anyway, and that God will make a way for everything else. I am not sure what to do.
“Do I pay the full 10% each week, or just what I think I can give to the Lord? I am in a new position at work, and we can get bonuses and commissions each month. I just keep waiting that God will make it so that we do, and I can pay my tithes. Please pray that God will open the windows of Heaven, and I can be a blessing to others.”
My Response:
God wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon you so that you can be blessed to be a blessing. But He will not violate His Word, and His Word says that robbing Him of His tithes brings a financial curse. Your quote from Malachi 3:10 (open the windows of heaven) must be taken in context: The thing that will break the curse and open the windows of blessing is obedience to His Word in giving what belongs to Him.
If you are waiting to get your bills paid before you start paying tithes, you will never get them paid. If you are hoping to get bonuses or commissions to pay God all your tithes, you will never get them, because you are robbing God:
“For I am the lord, I change not; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, says the lord of hosts. But you said, Wherein have we robbed you?
“In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, says the lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal.3:6-11).
There are two primary reasons Christians are in debt and financial bondage:
1. Failure to give God what belongs to Him—the tithes.
2. A lack of self-control in spending. Temperance is a fruit of the Spirit and pertains to money as well as Christian behavior (Gal.5:22). You can’t spend more than you make and not get into debt—even if you pay tithes. Common sense knows you can’t spend more than you earn.
Giving is a spiritual principle as well as a fiscal one. Jesus summed it up in eight words: “Give, and it shall be given unto you…” The blessings start after you have first given to God. “…Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you give, it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
When it comes to tithing, the measure is 10% of all your increase—the gross of your earnings: “Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase” (Pro.3:9). You do not give God what you think you can give, or what is left over (if there is anything left over), but with the first 10% of all your increase. Then the promise of God is: “So shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine” (vs.10). These are agricultural terms that declare: You ill e lessed bundantly!
Put God to the Test
The only time in Scripture that God said, “Prove Me”—test Me—put My Word to the test is Malachi 3:10-11: “Bring all the tithes into my house…. and prove me now herewith…. and see if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.”
The Israelites had robbed God of His tithes, and the whole nation was “cursed with a curse,” and that was poverty. Their income was being “devoured,” and when you don’t pay tithes, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, it will not be enough, because you are in disobedience, and God cannot bless your finances.
The prophet Haggai said, “Consider your ways: You looked for much, and it came to little, and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? says the lord. Because of my house that is wasted, and you run every man to his own house” (Hag.1:7-9).
God had cut off their blessings, because they had taken care of their own houses and failed to take care of the House of God. If everyone paid tithes when they felt they could, God’s work would be out of business. God said: “You earn wages to put it in a bag with holes in it.” This is why you can never catch up on your debt when you don’t pay tithes. Because the principle is “Give, and it shall be given to you.” The worldly system says, “Keep for yourself,” but in God’s kingdom this actually leads to poverty:
“There is he that scatters” (gives out) “and yet increases…” This is totally opposite to human logic. “And there is he that withholds more than is right, but it tends to poverty. The liberal soul (generous) shall be made fat (prosper), and he that waters, shall be watered also himself” (Pro.11:24-25).
Don’t Borrow Your Tithes
The divine principle states that you must give first—then you shall see the rewards. The first thing you should do when you get your paycheck is to give God the tithes. Don’t borrow your tithes to pay bills and figure you will pay your tithes later. You probably know by now, you never get around to paying them, because you are only getting further behind without God’s blessing: “You shall not delay to offer the firstfruits of your ripe fruits” (Ex.22:29).
Giving God His portion first guarantees a rich harvest. God said, “When you have made an end of paying all the tithes” (your tithes are paid up), “come before the Lord your God and say, I have brought away the hallowed (holy) things out of my house, and also have given them…. according to all your holy commandments which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.
“I have not eaten thereof in my mourning; neither have I taken away any ought thereof (not even one cent) for unclean use… but I have hearkened unto the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation from heaven, and bless…” (Ref. Deut. 26:12-15).
In other words, you did not eat your tithes in the time of hardship. You did not borrow or spend your tithes for other things, because the tithes is hallowed. It belongs to God, and to use it for anything else is considered to be for unclean use. When you pay tithes, you are giving to God what is already His. Then you can come boldly and ask, and expect God’s blessing!
If you wait for the right conditions to pay your tithes, you will never will. Giving is an act of obedience, and in time of financial need, it is an act of faith: “He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap” (Ecc.11:4). Waiting for favorable conditions to sow will never happen—The enemy will see to it, and until you sow, you can’t reap.
Wasn’t Tithing “A Law Thing”?
There are always those who object to paying tithes—claiming that it was “under the law,” and we are not under the law. This often reveals a covetous heart. Those who truly love and trust God are not only willing to pay the tithe, but seek to grow in their giving, and give God more than the tithe on a consistent basis.
The first mention of giving to God was Abel, who was counted righteous: “And Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto his offering” (Gen.4:4). He brought the first and the fattest—the best!
Tithing was first mentioned about Abraham over 500 years before the law—who paid tithes to Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, on the spoils he gained when he defeated the five kings who had taken the city of Sodom and captured his nephew Lot (Gen.14:18-20).
Jacob, his grandson, was over 400 years before the law, and he pledged God the tithe: “…Of all you shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto you” (Gen.28:22). When he returned 20 years later, he was rich, because God blessed him in spite of the attempts of his father-in-law and cousins to defraud him. Laban wanted to keep Jacob around, because he not only saw Jacob was blessed, but he too was blessed by having Jacob in his family and employment. He said, “I pray you, if I have found favor in your eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the lord has blessed me for your sake” (Gen.30:27).
Paul said that we are Abraham’s kids by faith! We love to quote the verses that speak of all the blessings of Abraham that are ours: Galatians 3:13-14 says that we have been “redeemed from the curse of the law…. that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through faith in Jesus Christ…” Paul laid out the details in Romans 4, where he called him “the father of us all—both Jew and Gentile” (vs.16). We are admonished to “walk in the steps of that faith that Abraham had,” which was before the law! (vs.12).
“For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed (that’s us), through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (vs.13). This is confirmed in Galatians 3:29: “And if you be Christ’s then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The blessing side of this one truth is incredible in its potential of God’s riches to us—and it has nothing to do with the law—but everything to do with faith. Abraham did not pay tithes because of a law that said he had to—but because of the law of faith that he wanted to!
The Law of Reciprocity
There is a level of giving above tithing that the Lord desires us to come to. This is where the bountiful grace of giving rebounds in God’s bountiful blessings. It is the Law of Reciprocity, which is a cycle of giving and receiving where the giver has learned the joy of giving and the blessing of receiving in abundance. Paul exhorted, “Let each give bountifully, with a willing mind, as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver!” (2Cor. 9:6-7).
This triggers a cycle of giving grace that enables us to always abound in giving—and in every good work: “And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2Cor.9:8). Notice the repetition of all and abound—This is where God wants to take us—to a level above the tithe—which already belongs to Him. We can begin the cycle by paying tithes and giving above the 10%. We can do it, because God gives us all sufficiency.
Put God First
“How can I pay my tithes when I am always short?” you may be asking. You have to start the process! Don’t let another paycheck go by without paying your tithes first. When you count out your money, look at one of the bills: On the backside at the top it says, “In God We Trust.” Remember, you are not trusting in your own self, or your job, or your family, or the government, but in your Heavenly Father, and He promised, “Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt.6:33). (Read Matthew 6:19-34).
The Scripture most employed by Christians in connection with financial blessings is Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is indeed a gracious promise and one God is well able and desirous to keep, but it does not stand alone. That is, it cannot be taken out of context as so many do.
When we read the entire letter to the saints at Philippi, we see they were the most generous and faithful supporters of Paul’s ministry, giving when no other church did (vs.15). Moreover, they were poorer than other churches; yet gave out of their need, not their excess (2Cor.8:1-2,11:9). Their giving was as “a fragrance of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (vs.18). It was because of their faithful giving that they could expect God to supply all their needs.
This divine principle is repeated over and over in both Old and New Testaments: You reap what you sow, because God will be no man’s debtor: “Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food (supply your need), and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness” (2Cor.9:10). The guarantee is, our seed will multiply, providing bread for us, while increasing the fruits we can give to God.
There is no better investment plan than to give to God. He guarantees a return that no earthly bank or stock market can match, regardless of the economic conditions. The God of the Universe has given us the opportunity to partner with Him. He has assured us on “Heaven’s glorious riches” that He will meet His obligations.
He has also cautioned that if we withhold the tithe that belongs to Him, this same principle will work negatively to our harm. Malachi stated that not only would God pour out His blessings, but will “rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground” (Mal.3:11). If God does not rebuke the devourer, then the blessings are destroyed. So it is with those who keep back their tithes and offerings to their own hurt.
If in “God We Trust,” then let us give Him what belongs to Him, the tithe, and watch our trust fund grow from His eternal riches in glory!
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