Money and Tithing - The Lord's Way

Money is a blessing from the Lord. Money is not God. Money is a tool, similar to an axe, a wrench, a hammer, etc., that should be used to achieve our targets and goals, and also to help others. The Bible says:

"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts" - Haggai 2:8

When the Lord blesses us with money, it never comes with sorrow, but it will make a person rich. But when we try to make money by unethical means, which is not a blessing from the Lord, it always comes with sorrow, and such kind of money doesn't stay with a person for very long. Use money, but love the Lord. People today have this in reverse, where they use God and love money. When people keep their eyes on their money instead of keeping their eyes on the Lord, their faith gets affected. Instead of faith being on the Lord, people put their faith on money. When a person earns money all by themselves, with their own efforts, they are responsible for it, and the life of such people are sorrowful, miserable and full of evil. But when the Lord blesses a person with money, the Lord is responsible, and the life of such people are full of joy, peace, happiness, and they rest in the Lord knowing fully well that He is responsible.

Money is the by-product of our time and talents.

Time + Talents = Money

When we waste money, we are wasting the efforts of our time and talents. We need to be careful as to where we invest our time and talents. If you want to know where you are spending most of your money, check where your heart is. Jesus says:

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" - Matthew 6:21

Tithing is a divine contribution. It is giving 10% of your income to the Lord by giving it to your local churches which you are part of. When we tithe, we are offering the fruits of our time and talents to the Lord. Tithing is not prosperity Gospel. The Lord is the one who blesses us financially. Do not spend your time and talents only to make money. Time and talents need to be used to have healthy relationships, to build up good faith in the Lord, to build up good health, to cultivate good disciplines and habits in life, to acquire wisdom, to help others, etc. The Lord blesses us with money so that we would be blessed, and also we would be a blessing to others around us.

Whenever the Lord notices us, putting the money that He blessed us with to good use, He blesses us with more money.

The first time tithing was mentioned in the Bible is in the book of Genesis 14:20, after Abraham won the battle with the four kings, and when Melchizedek, the king of Salem greeted Abraham with bread and wine. The Bible says in Genesis 14:18 that Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God. Basically, Melchizedek greeted Abraham with Communion (bread and wine). Melchizedek was the preincarnation of Jesus. Even before the law was given, Abraham tithed. Abraham was under Grace. When the king of Sodom told Abraham to give up his people, but take the wealth, Abraham replied to the king of Sodom that he will not even take a shoelace from him. For if he obeys the king of Sodom, then the king will go around bragging that he made Abraham rich. The king of Sodom was a type of satan (antichrist), and Abraham knew he is going to be rich, but he chose to give the glory to the Lord by tithing. This was the first time the word "rich" was mentioned in the Bible. In other words, tithing and riches go hand in hand.

In the New Testament, Melchizedek is mentioned once again in Hebrews 7. The name Melchizedek means "King of righteousness". Our Lord Jesus is compared to Melchizedek and Hebrews 7:8 says that under Melchizedek priesthood we tithe to proclaim that our Lord Jesus is alive today. Christ was not from the tribe of Levi, hence He is not under the Levitical priesthood based on the law. But rather, Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, hence belonging to the Melchizedek priesthood based on Grace.

Why did Abraham tithe with 1/10th of the spoils from the battle? He did so by a divine revelation. When we read Genesis 24:10 where Abraham sent his servant to look for a bride for his son Issac, the Bible says:

"And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand..." - Genesis 24:10

Notice the above verse says "for all the goods of his master were in his hand". But he only took a tenth of his masters camels, how can he have all his goods?

This pattern is also seen when Joseph sends wagons to his father Jacob:

"And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way" - Genesis 45:23

Notice that the above verse says "with the good things of Egypt" even though Joseph sent only a tenth of the goods.

The book of Leviticus consists of the law of Moses. Out of the several laws, the Lord highlighted ten of the laws. Apostle James explains, that out of the ten commandments, even if we break one it is equal to breaking all (James 2:10).

Apostle Paul explains this in the book of Romans saying:

"For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches" - Romans 11:16

In other words, when we offer our first fruits, which is the 10% of our income to the Lord, the rest 90% is blessed or sanctified. This is because, when we tithe, we proclaim that our Lord Jesus is alive today. Nothing pleases God the Father more than when His people proclaim about His Son, Jesus Christ.

Some basic principles to spend money wisely:

Use cash or debit card, instead of credit card. A survey shows that people who use cash or debit card spend their money more carefully to only buy things which they need. Whereas people who use credit cards, end up spending money to buy things which they don't need and have an inclination to be careless.

Do not spend money you don't have, to buy things you don't need, in order to impress people you don't like. Instead, invest your money which the Lord has blessed you with, for a bright future for you family, for you personal growth, and to help others around you. When you invest your money in the Lord by tithing at your local church which you are part of, you are giving the sum total of your time and talents to the Lord.

Remember, the Lord's plan for you is riches and not poverty. The Lord wants us to be rich like Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon, Esther, Ruth, etc. We need to allow the Lord to lead us on how to use our money.

It is a sin for us to test the Lord in vain. But the Lord Himself gives us His permission to test Him when it comes to tithing:

"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" - Malachi 3:10

The words "prove me" in the King James version of the Bible is the word "test". The first place in the Bible where "windows of heaven" is mentioned was during Noah's flood in Genesis 7:11. As a believer in Christ, we need to proclaim the death of our Lord Jesus by receiving Communion, and proclaim His resurrection, that He is alive today by Tithing to our local churches to which we belong. Under Grace, we tithe in response to our Lord Jesus imputing His own righteousness over us, by His one time and eternal sacrifice on the cross. The Bible says that Lord loves a cheerful giver.

"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" - 2 Corinthians 9:7