Last month I wrote a short article on “Grace Giving” and wanted to continue the thought this month by including some thoughts on the tithe. Anyone who has been involved in church for any length of time knows that the word tithe means 10%. Sadly, the tithe, which began before the law with Abraham, has been turned into law by man. This has produced much fear and is often used by ministers as a tool for manipulating their congregations.
I am often very amazed that even in churches that minister a strong grace and peace message, when it comes to giving there are often two extremes. One person, because of legalism, writes a check for $42.71 the exact 10% of their income and the other, because they think they understand grace, sees no reason to give at all because they are not obligated. So what’s the answer? Grace giving! A heart that gives in response to the love of God. “Grace Givers” will never make tithing the determining issue of their giving. Actually they will most likely exceed the 10% that most people either live under or try to avoid. 1 Corinthians 9:7 says that God gets great pleasure out of seeing people give cheerfully. The Amplified says He takes pleasure in the person whose heart is in their giving. Just as with every other aspect of our relationship with our Father it is all about the heart.
The reality is this: tithing/giving is not a debt we owe but a seed we sow. It’s not our paying the “godfather” to keep bad things away from us, it is a seed we sow that benefits both ourselves and others. If we view tithing/giving as a debt we will never pay off there will be no cheerfulness in our giving, as we cannot be cheerful about paying on a debt that never gets any smaller.
How should we teach giving?
1. As a response to the love that our Father has demonstrated to us.
2. As a seed planted in the earth. (2 Cor.9:6-10)
3. As a way to finance getting God’s love to the world.
4. As a way to influence or enlarge our hearts capacity to receive.
Grace to receive and the grace to give go together, you cannot have one without the other. When we give, our heart, not God’s, is influenced to receive.