“Honor 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.” Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV
All through the Bible you will find references about what we are to give to God, today’s verse is one example. The first 10th of our crops, we’re to give back to God. Why the first 10th? Because that is the best of what we have to offer. Tithing is giving 10% of our income to God; the practice comes from Malachi 3:10 (NIV). I have had many debates about tithing. Tithing is the practice of giving 10% of your income to the church. My stance on tithing, the tithe is not about money, it’s about faith. The question I ask myself when I tithe: do I trust God that He can do more with the 90% than I can do with the 100%? In other words, will God provide for me? Do I trust Him? Tithing isn’t about money, it’s about faith.
Tithing isn’t about money, it’s about faith.
I first started tithing when I was on unemployment, up to my eyeballs in debt, at rock bottom. My unemployment check at the time was $250/week. When I gave $25, it was a huge step of faith for me. I was trusting God with my future. I was doing everything I could do to find a job, pay off my debt and get my life back on track. I needed His help to provide the job. I needed the job to pay off my debt. I needed God’s help getting my life back on track. He did provide the job. A job making more money than I had ever made before in my life. A job that allowed me to pay off the debt.
The irony was, I had a much harder time tithing on the larger amount of money. But I had too. God had grown my faith so much with $25, I could only imagine what He would do with more. I had to keep my focus on Him. I had to remember who had really done the work, it wasn’t me.
Giving our first fruits to God isn’t so we can have less. We don’t do it because God needs more. We give our first fruits, because it reminds us Who provided them for us. We give our best because we want God’s best. We give the first 10th so we stay focused on God. When we keep our eyes on Him, He takes care of the rest.
Question of the Day:
What stops you from trusting God?
Further Reading: Genesis 26:17-27:46 NIV, Matthew 9:1-17 NIV, Psalm 10:16-18 NIV, Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV
