Why Give?
 
Giving our tithes and offerings reflects a grateful heart that wants to give back to God a portion of what He has given us; in reality, what is already His. This is our opportunity to show God that He is first in our lives. The Bible says, The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives (Deuteronomy 14:23). Tithing is a reminder that God is the supplier of everything we have. 
 
 

Giving is a Reflection of the Heart

What’s the most important thing to you? We see the way our culture encourages us to store up treasures on earth and exalts materialism to the point where debt has become acceptable. We can probably even recognize that truth by looking at our own checkbooks. As Christ-followers, however, we are called to free ourselves from the bondage of debt so that our resources are available for His purposes.

 

Matthew 6:20-21 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 
 

Giving is a Reflection of Priorities

Long before tithing was a practice of the Israelite people, Cain and Abel, the 2nd generation of the human race, brought an offering to the Lord. Abel brought the “firstborn of his flock,” while Cain brought “some of the fruits of the soil.” The Lord blessed Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s. God wants to be first in our lives.

 

Deuteronomy 26:1-2 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name”

Giving is a Privilege

The 1st Century church modeled for us what it means to give generously and joyfully so that more and more people could find their way back to God.
 

2 Corinthians 8:2-4 “that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.”

Giving is a Blessing

God uses the tithe as an investment where everyone involved gets a return. If we are blessed beyond our needs, it is not for the purpose of living more lavishly but to bless others. The church and the kingdom are blessed, and yet God’s nature is to also bless the giver.

 

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 pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

 
Each one must do just as he has purposed
in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7