Tithing: Such A Controversial Topic Inside And Outside The Church!

Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

​Tithing  has always been a controversial topic inside and outside of the church. I remember when I was a young girl that a few prominent members of my childhood church left because they didn't agree that the preacher's sermon was about tithing. Mind you, the preacher was not saying that it was a mandatory thing. It was simply the message of his sermon. So I have grown up knowing what tithing was (the first ten percent of your wages is for God), yet I didn't fully "understand" its significance until a few years ago. Honestly, we never tithed. We gave an amount every once in a while and felt it was the same thing. But we were wrong.

I want to address some of the reasons why tithing is a controversial topic. Some people distrust the church or the pastor and feel that they are in it just for the money. They want to first look at the pastor's car or size of house before they decide to give the church any money. Other people don't agree with tithing because they don't know where the money is actually going to or what the church is doing with the money. Tithing is between you and God. Tithing has nothing to do with your pastor or your church. If you believe that your pastor is abusing his position with the tithe, then you are at the wrong church. If you believe that the church is not spending the tithe correctly, then you are at the wrong church. But again, tithing is between you and God. Every person of God that is not being a good steward with God's provision will answer to God. If any pastor or church is abusing God's money, they will answer to God. 

Another reason why tithing is controversial is because people do not like being told how to manage or spend their money. Everyone feels that it belongs to them since they worked hard for it. If you believe this, then you need to change your mindset or perspective. God Almighty created you. He designed you to have your skill and talents. He blessed you with your job and income. He blessed you with the ability to work. Everything belongs to God, including "your" money. He is simply allowing you to demonstrate your obedience to see if you would give your first 10 percent of your earnings back to Him. God doesn't need your money! But you need His blessing! When you don't pay your tithes, you are actually robbing God. Malachi 3:8 says, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings" (NKJV). You get to keep 90% of the goods God has given you, but 10% of it belongs to God, so you need to give it back to Him. 

But who came up with 10%? Well actually God did. In Leviticus 27:32, it says "And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD" (NKJV). That means that if you earned $100, then $10 belongs to God. That is your tithe amount.

We need to give our tithe to demonstrate our obedience to God. But in doing so, God also rewards us with blessing. But you need to make sure that you are tithing without holding a grudge. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, it says, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (NKJV).

From my personal experience, it wasn't until we started to fully tithe that everything in our life started to align. We claimed to put God in the center, but we weren't tithing. We weren't fully trusting God with our money. We couldn't afford it. Yet now that we are living on HALF of our income, we can still give our tithe, plus give to missions and other charities AND still meet our financial obligations! God somehow makes our money stretch. I can't explain it because when we earned more money we could just not afford to tithe, much less give to other stuff. Of course I am not saying that you should tithe because you will get blessings out of it. I am saying that you should tithe to demonstrate your obedience and trust in God. I challenge you to test the Lord! He will be faithful! Do it for 90 days and give it with joy, then see what happens!

---

Here are some more Scriptures on Giving

Old Testament

Genesis 14:20 -"And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into you hand." Then Abram gave Him a tenth of everything.

Deuteronomy 15:10 -"Give generously to Him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."

Deuteronomy 16:17 - "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you."

1 Chronicles 29:9 - "Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly."

Proverbs 3:27 - Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."

Proverbs 11:24-25 - "There s one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered."

Proverbs 21:26 - "...the righteous gives and does not hold back."

Proverbs 22:9 - "He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor."

​Proverbs 28:27 - "He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses."

Malachi 3:10 - "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My House, and test Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pout out for you a blessing until it overflows."

New Testament

Matthew 6:3-4 - "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

Matthew 23:23 - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."

Mark 12:41-44 - "And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."

Luke 3:11 - "And he would answer and say to them, 'The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise."

Luke 6:30 - "Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back."

Luke 6:38 - "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him wouldn't perish, but would have eternal life."

Acts 20:35 - "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Romans 12:8 - "...Or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 - "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace around to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed."

2 Corinthians 9:10 - "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;"

Philippians 4:15-17 - "And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you send a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account."

James 2:15-16 - "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"