Tithing – Rooted

Good morning! Reading today in Deuteronomy 14 about tithing. The purpose of tithing is very clear in the Old Testament (OT)…it taught the Israelites to fear the Lord and to put Him first in their lives.

In the OT it says we are to give God the first and best of what we earn – “You must set aside a tithe of your crops – one tenth of all crops you harvest each year.” Deut 14:22

Tithing today for many Christians (but not all) does follow the 10% giving of your earnings to God. Jesus taught us that what we do with our monies earned will show what we value most.

“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

Tithing is simple for my husband and I, the first part (10%) of our paychecks go to God, we do this by giving it to our church weekly. Our church is God’s house, our designated place of worship. Giving this money immediately to our church focuses our attention on Him!

We were not tither’s for the first 25 years of marriage, so know you can change! Our attitude was… this is our money and we are not giving it away. Money was an idol for us and we needed it for a sense of security and to have power…at that time money was more important than God. NO WAY were we giving money away – especially to a church.

Thank goodness for Jesus!! We were saved and the Holy Spirit entered us 5 years ago and our hearts started to soften toward faith & Jesus, we both started reading the Bible, going to Pursuit Church, and WE learned differently about giving and money.

Jesus taught us…

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve God and be enslaved to money.” Matthew 6:24

We need to remain teachable and willing to learn as Christians. We need to give. As we tithe each week it reminds us that all we have here on earth does belong to God and we are blessed to receive any part of it!

Tithing is not a rule WE need to follow, it is a heart change of giving. If you have a hard time giving money to your church, please check your heart and start praying!

My husband Todd and I do work hard, we have careers, make decent salaries and WE DO give 10% of it to the Lord. We know and believe that ALL we have is because of HIM!

Learn to worship God and not your money. Give the money to Him!

Create a healthy habit of tithing to your church each week! If you can’t give 10% give what you can, but start giving.

Tithing each week reminds Todd and I that God is at the top of our priority list and gives us perspective on everything else we have or do.

Give to the Lord and serve only God!