Tithes!!

Giving tithe has been a very basic custom in many of the churches today.
But many do not really know why do that do it for.
They just follow what they are told to do.
For me, when i give my standard tithes, i always will wonder where the money will go and will be afraid that it will not land up in good hands so i don't really dare to give much.
For others, they give it very unwillingly.
Ask yourself, do you give because the person next to you give?
Do you give reluctantly?
Do you give without praying about it?
Do you give because you are forced to give because of things like pride and face?
Do you give God just tips of your money?
when it comes to money issue, everyone gets sensitve over it because it is a neccessity.
Thats why, when they are asked to give, many would rather not give and terms tithes as a bad thing.
This blog post is going to talk about "the beatitude of giving", basically, what is giving tithes all about.
oh! btw, many of the points here is by Benny Ho, this is one of His sessions from the seminar.


Many always say, "money is the root of all evil"
True?
The Bible says in 1st timothy 6:10, "For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil..."
The money issue is equally as important in the eyes of God.
Why?
A Bible scholar estimated 5280 verses on the subject of money.
16 out of 38 parables refer to money and possession.
When the Bible talks about giving in terms of money, it always speaks of tithes and offerings.


Do you know the story about the israelites making the gold calf and worshipping it instead of God when God already brought them out of egypt, split the red sea..etc.
The same gold that is used to make the gold calf causing God bringing a curse on the people, is used to build the tabanacle, bringing the presence of God in.
This signifies and brings both a blessing and a curse.


"tithes"-"tenth", "10%"
Tithing is rooting theologically in the sovereignty of God in our lives.


Progression of tithing....
Before the Law which means before God give Abraham and 10 commandments and everything else, tithe is volunteery.
It is stated in Genesis 14:17-20, the last part states, "Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

It is the first time tithe is mentioned and this took place 430 years before the law was given.
The "him" here refers to Melchizedek (he is both a priest and a king) representing Christ because Christ is the only guy besides this king that is both king and priest.
Thats why "the priesthood of Christ" is called the "priesthood of Melchizedek"
Here is a prophetic picture of Jesus.
Other similarities is that Melchizedek started by giving Abram Bread and Wine and Abraham in return gave Melchizedek a tithe.

During the Law, tithe was made compulsory.
It became compulsory and people do it as an act of obedience.
In Malachi 3:8, tells us that the consequence of disobedience in the Old Testament is that you come under a curse.
In the book of Haggai, it talks about coming under a financed curse.
We end up with holes in our pockets and we come under a famine of finance.


After the Law, tithe was given willingly.
tithing is mentioned 10 times specifically in the NT. 3 times in the gospels by Jesus Christ Himself and each time He did not remove it. Instead, He took tithing to a new dimension under grace.
Today, we give 10% out of obedience and gratitude but we can give the other 90% out of love.
There is this story that he told..very funny de!
Here goes...
There was this China man that has 10 gold coins and he saw a beggar on the way..the beggar looks super pathetic and out of compassion, the china man gave him 9 of his coins.
Instead of feeling a sense of gratitude, the beggar followed him to an alley and robbed his last coin out of him.
when i heard it, i was like huh!
But i realised it is just like us, God provide us with so so much and we still want to hold back the 10% of what he gave us!

The purpose of tithing is in 1st timothy 5:17, 18.
It is to upkeep the lives of the church and its workers
Under the law/Old testament, the people are commanded by Law to pay..
Under the Grace/New testament, the people are compelled by love to Give.
It is proven in 1Corinthians 13:3, "if I gave all i possess to the poor but have not love, i gain nothing..."

God looks at the 1)The principle of Proporation (1corinthians 16:2)
God does not look at the quantity of money, God looks at how much of the total amount of money that you have that you are willing to sacrifice for Him.
It is not the portion but the proportion that matters.
2corinthians 8:2-who ever said that the poor cannot be generous?

2)The principle of Priority.
The simple reason for this is that if you do not put th as priority, you will end up giving God the leftovers.
If we don't cultivate to give when we have little, it will be very difficult to give when we have much.
It is just like if it is to hard to give God $10 out of the $100 that you have, when you earn $1000000, it will be even harder for you to give God $100000.
1Corinthians 16:2, Malachi 3:10.
There is a story about a $50 note and $2 note.
They were all old notes and ready to be recycled and they were having convo, the $2 ask $50 "so where have you been? The $50 dollar note say, "i have been to hotels, restaurants and to this hotel and to that hotel..etc."
The $50 dollar note ask $2 note, the $2 say, "oh! i have been from churches to churches to churches..etc."

3)The principle of Purpose
2corinthians 9:7- we are giving as an act of worship and this should be intentional, not just giving God tips. Pray about it and set the money aside for God.

4)The principle of privacy
matthew 6:1-4-the principle behind this is that when we give, we tend to forget about it and not rmb and exalt yourself or think how generous you were.

5)The principle Privilege
It is not a mindset as to, "I don't have to give, it is that i Get to give."
It is not supposed to be a sacrifice but a joy.
2Corinthians 9:7
2 corinthians 8:4
The whole notion behind this is that IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE IT WILLINGLY THEN DON'T GIVE.
There is this story, "The mother gave her little girl $1 and $0.50 and told her daughter, to test her. She said,"you can choose to give God $1 or $0.50 as offering then the other you keep."
After the service, she said the girl which she gave. The girl say, "I gave the $0.50". The mother sounded slightly disappointed.
The mother ask why?
The girl said," Cause i feel more cheerful if i give $0.50 than $1.
There is nothing wrong with it!
God asks us to be a cheerful giver.

6)The principle of Profit
2corinthians 9:6, luke 6:38, Proverbs 11:25 and Acts 20:35.
Somebody once said, "money is like cow dung, if you keep it and stack it up, it stinks, but if you spread it around it makes things grow!"

God loves to see his children enjoy themselves, have a party.
It is ok to go shopping and buy a car and enjoy life.
But money shouldn't be used to upkeep one's lifestyle according to the income of that person.
Don't fall into the thinking that "If I have a greater income, i must max it up."-becomes a hindrance to God's kingdom.
It is ok to have a million dollars but live a lifestyle of $100 thousand.

God loves you all!