All about tithing: when you rob God
Christians’ Wealth Creation
Itai Chipunza WE continue with understanding the principles of money in the Bible. In the last edition we mentioned seeking God and making him the centre of your life. Today we will look into tithing and seed planting. Some Christians and non-Christians alike do not understand this. Some call it an old Biblical principle that does not apply today, others call it a way churches are robbing people. What they don’t know is that by not tithing, they are the ones robbing God. A great preacher and good friend of mine called Witness said a very interesting thing one time. He said a thief and a robber are two very different people. He said a thief takes while you are not aware, yet a robber is the one that holds you at ransom using a weapon.
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’’’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me.
The Bible clearly states that when you do not tithe, you rob God of what is rightfully his. So in simple terms, you take a gun, point it at the Almighty and tell him he is not getting a single cent from you. In response to this robbery, the Lord says you are cursed. This does not mean God sends the curse, no, the curse is already there. It is already on earth as expressed in genesis 3 verse 17.
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.’’
The curse was sent during the time of Adam and Eve. When you do not tithe, you simply activate this curse over your life. So when you don’t tithe, you not only activate a curse over your life. You activate a curse over your offspring and over everything around you. But in all this understand that tithing is not a request from God. It is not an optional thing, it is an instruction. In as much as an earthy father can pronounce a curse over your life if you continue to disobey his instructions. Imagine the magnitude of the curse from our heavenly father. This is not the curse you want over you. How to tithe and the blessing of tithe Malachi 3 vs 10 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you and pour down a blessing until there is no more need.” Proverbs 11 verse 24 “One gives freely, yet grows richer; another withholds what he should give and only suffers want.”
I have heard people say all sorts of things about tithing. What normally comes to mind is that the saying “ignorance is bliss” is wrong, it should read “ignorance is a curse”. Tithing is a very simple principle that should become to you like washing your hands before sitting down to eat. When you tithe, calculate your total income before you spend on taxes and other things and you give God his share. The amount God wants from this is ten percent. Very simple deal. One may say I have been tithing and I see no change in my life. Check if you have been tithing correctly. Ten percent of the total income. Have you been tithing to a church of God or to a cult. The sad truth is that some people attend cults every Sunday yet they think it is a church. Have you prayed for your tithe, if you have done all these thing, then God will surely bless you just as he promised you.
Most of our countries have a revenue body that collects tax. They collect it from your bank account before they give you your money. And they do not even guarantee that the money will be used for what they claim to collect it for. This money is paid to the nation because you are making money from the nation’s resources and its people. But God is different, he gives you the whole amount and trusts you to take his ten percent to his house. It may vary from church to church, but the way you tithe is simple. You take the money to your local church. A place that you worship at every Sunday. You do not tithe to a different church from which you attend. In the Old Testament, the priest the Levites used to collect tithes. It is not wrong to send a free will offering to a church anywhere in the world, but tithing is done at your local church.
When you tithe, you play your part in making sure there is food in the house of the Lord. By food we mean, actual food to eat for people that are taken care of by the house. The church has budgets to meet. It must plan conferences, church planting, utility bills and in some cases rentals all require money to ensure they are taken care of. In some cases pastors need to be paid by the church because they need to earn a living, and continue serving the church and God. Food in the house of God also means that there is spiritual food in the house. This means that if a church is a tithing church revelation knowledge and spiritual gifts hang very low within the house of God. You can easily access the blessing of the Lord in a tithing church. This is because the Lord has promised to open the flood gates of Heaven over tithers. Pastors are more diverse, impartations are of greater quality and the singers produce better quality songs and all sorts of greatness that comes from God. A simple way to tell if a church is a tithing church or not is by the spiritual food available in the house.