WHY I WILL PERSONALLY CONTINUE TO GIVE BOTH TITHES AND OFFERINGS TO THE LORD
This week I have come across debates and discussions on social media for and against tithing in the new testament because of the announcement made by a popular televangelist, Creflo Dollar saying he was wrong about Christians giving tithes in the new testament.
So am going to share why personally, I will continue to give tithes to the Lord after studying God’s word on this, and I will also share my personal testimony on tithing.
1.One of the most important reasons I will keep doing it is because Jesus said tithing should not be left undone.Many people get mistaken to think Jesus condemned tithing,but He actually affirmed it.
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.Those you ought to have done,WITHOUT LEAVING THE OTHERS UNDONE.”
In other words,the problem Jesus had about the tithing of the Pharisees is that it was all an act of hypocrisy,to look right before the people who saw them bring tithe of the smallest things,yet they had hearts of stone that were disobedient to God and were not concerned about justice,mercy or even real faith in God.
Their giving of tithe was not about God, but just to elevate themselves in people’s eyes.Jesus didn’t say they shouldn’t have tithed,He said they should have been concerned about justice,mercy,faith but also not have left tithing undone.Inshort,Jesus wanted their service for God to be complete,not partial,and all done in faith and because of love for God,not for people’s praise.
Their hearts were not right with God and instead of seeking God to change their hearts,they were just concerned in putting up acts of hypocrisy to appear right before men,yet they had neglected to do things that were important to God;persuing mercy,justice and faith.And Jesus did not say if they persuedmercy,justice and faith then they should stop giving God their tithe,He actually said they should not have left tithing undone either.But oit should have been done in purity of heart,out of love for God,not mere hypocrisy while living in sin and using tithe as a religious act to cover up.
2.People who advocate against giving God our tithes justify it by saying the new testament only talks about freewill giving.However,the verse I quoted above is from the new testament.Another verse quoted against tithing is 2 Corinthians 9:7,”So let each man give as he purposes in his heart,not grudgingly or of necessity;for God loves a cheerful giver.”People quote this verse to say that it’s okay if we don’t give tithe as long as we are able to give anything we decide in our hearts to the Lord because God wants us to give whatever we decide.
However,when you study this scripture,you will realize this was not about tithing nor was it a replacement for the tithing.The church had earlier promised to contribute money to help some Christians from Macedonia and Paul was reminding them to contribute in advance so that the gift may be ready on time.(2Corinthians 91-5).Paul was reminding them that even as they fulfill their promise to give to the saints,it should be done cheerfully,willingly,out of their hearts,not by compulsion because a gift given grudgingly and out of compulsion is not acceptable to the Lord.Just like in the first verse I read when Jesus was talking about tithe,He said justice,mercy and faith should never be left out.So the church in Corinth were showing love and mercy by giving freely to those in need.But the emphasis was that this should be done from the heart.Anything we give to the Lord,wether it’s tithe or offering it should be done because we want to,out oflove for God.Once we feel compelled and forced,our giving will not be acceptableto the Lord.It should be done in faith and out of love for God.Just like any other service for the Lord must be done willingly. Even if its evangelism or even helping to clean the church,if we are only doing it because we are forced,we are wasting our time.God wants us to serve Him willingly.
So quoting that scripture in reference to tithe is out of context when it is clearly talking about an incident the church in Corinth had freely offered to give a gift to the Macedonians and Paul was admonishing them that even though they had promised,no one should feel forced.They should fulfill their promise to give with a free heart whatever they could.That is different from tithe.For tithe,Jesus clearly said it should not have been left undone.
God is against people who tithe as a religious act yet their heart is not after God.They live in sin and cannot love God and their neighbor,yet they pay tithes to cover uo their sins.That is not acceptable to the Lord.Tithing should be done willingly,not grudgily just like anything else we do for the Lord.And it should not just be a religious act but it should be done out of love for God,while living in obedience to God.
Another important reason Creflo Dollar’s announcement will not affect my tithing is that He is a false teacher on many other things,which I will not go in detail about right now as the article will be too long.So just because he is going back on his teaching about tithe now doesn’t mean he is now automatically teaching the truth now.He is still teaching many false doctrines so personally I prefer to go and study the word of God for myself and do what the word of God tells me,instead of just doing what Creflo Dollar teaches.My study of God’s word on this in the new testament is partially what I have shared above.Jesus said tithing should not have been left undone,along with mercy,justice and faith.So I will continue to do all of that like Jesus said.
Another reason people condemn tithing is because they say in the old testament it wasn’t money but grain and crops.They gave that because that was their livelihood.I give money because that is what I live on.If another person only has grains and things like that and they want to give God that,there is nothing wrong.It can still be used for God’s work.
MY SHORT TESTIMONY ON TITHING
In 2017 there was a time when I became inconsistent to give back my tithes to the Lord just because I would always think about all the problems I had and thought I would just give my tithes later.So I stopped tithing for a while.
During that period,I left the house around 8 and my husband came back home within about 45 minutes.But he found that our house had been broken into within that short time I was away!A thief broke into our house and gotour laptop and was in the process of getting more things but he heard my husband unlock the door on the other side and he left the house through the other door!We were devastated and also felt unsafe.We prayed to the Lord about the incident.
A few days later,I received a call from a certain lady whom I knew.She’s someone I knew had a prophetic gift.She told me God had shown her a message to give me and she was a bit hesitant because no one loves to deliver bad news.I had told her about the theft but she did not know I had stopped giving my tithes to the Lord for some time.She shared with me a vision God had shown her that my family had started experiencing a lot of thefts and then she heard God telling her that the reason is because we were stealing from the Lord by withholding the tithe.
She was so shocked when I told her that was true because she did not know this.
By not giving our tithes,we were living in disobedience and therefore we had left an open door for satan and he was as always desperate to use it because our disobedience was taking us from God’s covering.Not that God could not protect us but God does allow the enemy to some extent sometimes if it will chasten His children.His interest was to correct us because He loves us.He wanted us to live in obedience to Him.
Finally,this is a controversial topic right now but this is why I will personally continue being obedient to what Jesus said that we should not have left tithing undone.It is my personal decision after studying scripture and am sharing this so that I do not have to keep answering the same question in email.Everyone has personal responsibility to study God’s word personally and ask for understanding.No one should serve God out of compulsion in any way,it must always be out of love.We can ask God to help us serve Him in love.Shalom.
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