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DEFINITION
The tithe is 10% of our total income given to God faithfully.
SCRIPTURE READING
Malachi 3:6-8, “6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.”
MAIN POINTS
- GOD NEVER CHANGES: God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Though God’s requirements from the Old to the New Covenant may be applied differently to His people, however, His character remains the same, v. 6.
- THE TITHE REMAINS IN PLACE FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT: Unlike the dietary laws and the sacrificial laws of Old Testament, which are clearly fulfilled in the teachings of Christ, the principle of tithing remains intact for today’s believers, v. 7.
- IF WE STOP TITHING WE MUST REPENT FOR ROBBING GOD AND RETURN TO BEING FAITHFUL: God clearly defines not tithing as robbing from Him, therefore, we are to be faithful in always giving back to Him 10% of our income, v. 8.
SUMMARY
Return to tithing if you have stopped and make it a faithful practice.
APPLICATION
- Repent and return to tithing if you have not been faithful in this command.
- Remain consistent in your tithing out of your love and obedience to God.
CONFESSION
The tithe was “implied” with Cain and Abel; “revealed” to Abraham, “established” in the Law of Moses, and is still “relevant” for today. It comes with a “blessing and curse,” it must be “qualitative,” a “priority,” and a “faithful” practice in our lives. The tithe “advances” the Kingdom of God, tests our “maturity,” breaks the attitude of greed through “obedience,” is “mandated” for all, and brings us into “partnership” with God and His Church.