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Tithes and Offerings
What is Tithing ?
Tithing is obeying God’s word and honouring God with the
first fruits of all our increase.
When we tithe ten percent (10%) of our
income, we are in essence expressing our
gratitude to God, and at the same time,
recognizing Him as the Giver, the
Provider, and the Owner of all we have.
Tithing was instituted in the Old
Testament, before the Law, and was
reaffirmed by Jesus in Matthew 23 : 23
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the other
undone”.
and by Paul in 1 Cor. 16 : 2
“Upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered him, that there be no
gatherings when I come”.
Purpose of tithing
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Tithing is the Commandment of God
Deut. 14:22 - Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that
the field bringeth forth year by year.
Therefore when we tithe we are obeying
the word of God.
Malachi 3:8-10
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed
me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings.
[9] Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye
have robbed me, even this whole nation.
[10] Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith,
saith 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.
When we refuse to tithe we are actually
robbing God. This is how God views
tithe.
He views tithe as his share.
a. God will not bless our income if we
do not give Him His share (Ma.3:9-10).
Remember, God owns it all and He blesses
us.
b. When we do not give unto the Lord, we
are robbing Him and our income will be
cursed.
When we tithe we honour
the God
Proverbs
3:9-10 - Honour the Lord with thy
substance, and with the
firstfruits of
all thine increase: [10] So shall thy
barns be filled with
plenty, and thy
presses shall burst out with new wine.
When we honor God with our substance, He
will do the same for us. He
will honor
us by fulfilling Pro 3:10
Tithing should be done in the right way.
The correct way of tithing is described
in 2 Cor. 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in
his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
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When we give our tithes and
offerings, we should do it gladly with
an open and glad heart.
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Our offerings and tithes are our seed
faith. Every time we give cheerfully, we
are planting seeds. We are to put our
money where it is needed most. -
We are to make our giving a ministry
a form of worship.
Benefits of Tithing or Giving to God
Giving to God causes certain things to
happen in His Kingdom.
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He opens the windows of heaven.
God pours out His special blessing upon
us and our household when we
put tithes
and offerings in a proper perspective.
Our work will be
blessed and our
business will prosper.
-
He rebukes the devourer for us.
This causes the fruit of our labor to
increase (Ma.3:10-11). Giving and
receiving is a Divine Law of God. It
never fails. It will always work,
whether we are a Christian or not. It is
like sowing natural seeds, we
harvest
what we sow.
-
When we give love, we will get love
in return.
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We sow seed (money), and reap the
same.
Every Christian, no matter how small his
income, should always be a giver. The
only spiritual way to increase our
income is by increasing our giving. This
is a paradox of the Kingdom of God.
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