Why Should I Pay Tithes?

You may wonder at times, “Why should I pay tithes? Isn’t this my money anyway?” Well, that’s a good question. And one that I’m not sure many people think about.

First I will ask you this question…Are you a thief? Yes, I’m asking you if you ever walk into a store, see something that you like, and walk out of the store without paying for it? I should hope not.

But in the spiritual world, this happens so much more than people think. Someone will see that cute little blouse they like and buy it but walk right out of the church house without giving their 10% to the Lord.

Let’s see what God says about paying tithes. When we are finished, I hope to show you that even though He asks of us, He returns it all the more.

Tithes From Earnings

Leviticus 27:30-31, 32 “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.”

Numbers 18:28 “Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord’s heave offering to Aaron the priest.”

Malachi 3:10 “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.”

In these scriptures, we find where the Lord tells us to give a tenth of our earnings. These are not suggestions, these are statements of what the Lord wants us to do with our first fruits. We find in Leviticus where it is holy, and a tenth is God’s.

We find in Numbers where the Lord tells Moses where the tithes should go (to the priest). We find in Malachi where the Lord tells us to bring the tithes into the storehouse so there will be food in His house.

The Lord Challenges Us

Malachi 3:10 says “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 host, 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.” God said to prove Him.

The Contemporary English Version states it like this: “I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing.”

I would like to also refer you to the scriptures, Deuteronomy 28:1, 8 “And it shall come to pass, if though shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: (8) The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

This is where it gets good and exciting. In the previous scriptures, the Lord is commanding us on what to do with a tenth of our earnings. He then goes on and says to prove, or test, Him to see if He would not pour out His blessings.

Then we find that if we observe His commandments that He will command blessings on all that our hand touches. So in Him asking of us ten percent of our tithes, He, in turn, blesses all that we have to give.

The Blessings Begin to Flow

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Proverbs 11:24 “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

These scriptures give a prime example of how God wants to reward us for giving. We shouldn’t give just because we have to and that’s what the Bible says, but give cheerfully unto the Lord because we want to do all that we can to further His Kingdom.

We would be wise to understand and remember that God owns it all and He is good to bless us with the things that He does. He owns the cattle of a thousand hills!

In Proverbs 11, it talks about being generous and yet still increasing and also withholding and being in poverty. That does sound as if it should be the other way around.

How could it be possible to give of your money and you increase all the more? How could it be possible to save all of your money but remain poor? Now, the Lord does ask that we be good stewards of His money and to spend wisely.

In this scripture, it is not referring to giving to something without a purpose. We are taught to save and spend wisely, and I am a firm believer in that.

But what the scripture is telling us is that when we give unselfishly to the Kingdom of God, no matter what your monetary status, He will increase it. If we hold onto money as if it were our only hope, there will be nothing to gain and therefore it will dwindle to become nothing.

Click Here To Download The 10 Scriptures For Financial Freedom Printable

Give To The Poor

Proverbs 11:25 “The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”

Generosity will be rewarded, if you give a cup of water, you will receive a cup of water in return. If you give to the poor, you are lending to God and He will repay you. The call to be generous is not just to the rich, it is to everyone.

The Bible says that the generous will prosper! Ask God to lead you to a person who is in need, and then pour yourself out to them. There is no greater blessing than helping a soul in need.

Bible Verses About Financial Blessings

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” When we give to others, not only will it be given back…but it will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into our lap.

Once again, an example of how Jesus instructs us to give but continues on to say that it will be given back even more than you gave in the first place.

This reminds me of a jar of sand. When you have your jar of sand and you pour it out to be used for the glory of God. In turn, not only will you receive the amount of sand that you poured, but it will be packed and shaken in a manner to be able to fit more sand into the jar.

But He isn’t finished. When the jar is packed and shaken and completely full, you will then have sand spilling over the top of the jar into your lap.

2 Corinthians 8:9,12 (CEV) “You know our Lord Jesus Christ treated us with undeserved grace by giving up all his riches, so you could become rich. It doesn’t matter how much you have. What matters is how much you are willing to give from what you have.” I once read a quote that says: Any fear of giving to God’s Kingdom is flawed. It would be like a farmer who feared losing his bucket of seeds, so he failed to plant his own field and thus forfeited the JOY of overflowing his barns with the harvest.

Why Should I Pay Tithes?

One day while watching a Christian based program, a lady began to tell her story of how she did not pay tithes. She told of how she and her husband were barely able to make ends meet and she began praying and seeking God for an answer as to how they should solve this issue.

Not too many services later at church, her pastor preached on tithes. This was not a coincidence. She had prayed and asked, and the Lord had given her an answer.

Her pastor challenged the ones in the congregation that did not tithe, to give tithes for every paycheck in the following six months. He told them that if they did not see an increase or a change in their financial situation that he would refund the entire 6 months of tithes back.

I know about paying tithes and offering and I know what it can do. But I thought, what faith this pastor had in the Word of God that he preached about that he would offer to refund the entire six months. Wow!

Even though they felt they could not spare a single dime, the lady and her husband did the challenge and God brought them out of poverty. Yes, it is difficult sometimes to pay tithes when you are at bare minimum, but God will see the sacrifice and honor your giving.

If you bring in an income and do not pay tithes, then I challenge you to start doing so. I would love to hear of testimonies of how God turned families and lives and financial situations around through giving of tithes.

Just remember that it is holy and is God’s in the first place and not ours to keep. But why would you want to keep something when you know it will be returned?

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