Because we are made in God’s image, and God himself is cheerful giving, we share his life of blessing by giving ourselves generously away.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure!”
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Tithing
God and his mission are our life’s priority. As committed Christians we are to prioritize God in every aspect of our lives.
If God is first in my time and in my money and in my relationships, then he's really first. If I say God is number one in my life but I don't put him first in my time or my money or my relationships, then he's really not number one.
Tithing teaches me to trust God in many ways. In the Scriptures we see that the purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.
Giving God our first fruits generously - to the tithe and beyond - is one of many ways we make this reality
Why Tithing Matters
Have you ever wondered why tithing is so important to God? I mean God's the creator of the universe. He doesn't need my money. The truth is tithing is not for God's benefit: Tithing is for my benefit. It's for your benefit.
Tithing teaches me to trust God in many ways. In the Scriptures we see that the purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives. You see, if God is first in my time and in my money and in my relationships, then he's really first. But if I say God is number one in my life but I don't put him first in my time or my money or my relationships, then he's really not number one.
Tithing is actually a statement of three things: it is a statement of gratitude (God, I wouldn't have anything without you); it's a statement of priority (God, I want to prove that you're first in my life so I'm giving you the first part of my money on the first day of every week); and third it's a statement of faith (God, I believe you'll keep your promise that if I put you first you'll take care of all my needs).
Tithing is a statement about my past, my present, and my future: It says I'm grateful for all that you've given to me in the past so I'm giving some of it back to you; it says you're number one in my life right now - it's a statement of priority - and so I put you first in my life right now; and it's also a statement of faith into the future saying God I believe that as I give back to you a portion that you've given to me does it all belongs to God that you're going to take care of my needs in the future.
Proportional giving – to the tithe and beyond – is about your personal spiritual growth. Living the giving life is all about our sharing in God’s own life of total self gift.
Whether you call them spiritual disciplines or devotional practices, the Church throughout her history has cultivated simple habits for growth in her members.
Committing to a simple plan of life will help you grow. Learning the habit of Bible study will help you grow. Learning the habit of fellowship will help you grow. Fasting is a habit that can help you grow spiritually, and so is solitude, and so is service. There are many many spiritual habits.
One of the spiritual habits most people misunderstand is the habit of tithing.
Tithing is one of the habits that's important for our spiritual growth. If Jesus is Lord of my life, he has to be Lord of my time, he has to be Lord of my relationships, and he has to be the real Lord of my money. If Jesus isn't Lord of my money then he's not really my Lord at all.
Now let me clear up a common misunderstanding about tithing. Some people think tithing just means giving a few bucks or whatever loose change or what I've got in my pocket at the moment. No, that's not tithing. The word tithe is not a gift that you designate for a specific product, a project like when you give to the United Way. It's not a tithe when you give to help your sister out. That's an offering or that's charity.
The tithe is an act of worship.
It is ten percent of my money that I give back to God for the purpose of an act of worship to God. It's undesignated. Now the word tithe literally means ten percent. So if I give two percent of my income, that's not a tithe. If I give eight percent, that's not a tithe. A tithe is ten percent.
Now, why did God say ten percent? I don't know. When I get to heaven I'll ask him. He could have said give 30 percent and keep 70 - he could have said give 90 and keep ten - but in Malachi 3:10, God says this and this is one of the most important promises in the Bible.
(By the way, did you know there are more promises in the Bible about giving than anything else? Why? Because God is a giver and God is generous. God wants us to learn to be generous, and I can't be like God until I learn to be generous.
Every time I give generously I become more like Jesus. Every time I give I break the grip of materialism in my life, and every time I give my heart grows bigger.
In Malachi chapter 3 verse 10 we have this wonderful promise it says this: bring my whole tithe to the storehouse. And what is the storehouse? It's where you worship. It's the temple. He says bring to my storehouse a full tenth of what you earn. And then God says this: test me in this, says the Lord, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out all the blessings you need. Did you know this is the only place in the entire Bible where God says, “I dare you”? This is the only place in the entire Bible where God says, “you can test me to see if God exists.” He says test me in tithing.
God wants to bless your life. In fact, he already has, because everything you have is a gift from God. You say, “Wait a minute! I work hard for my money.” Sure you do, but who gave you the ability to work hard? Who gave you your mind? Who gave you your hands? Who gave you your life? Who gave you the breath you have? Who gave you the opportunities?
Deuteronomy 8:18 says it's God who gives you the ability to produce wealth and the power to become rich. It all starts with God and it all comes from God. So God says, “here's what I want you to do: Go ahead and put me to the test, I dare you. Here's what I want you to do: bring me your tithe (That means 10%. If I make 10 bucks one dollar comes back to God. If I make 100 bucks, 10 bucks goes back to God.) and I will pour out a blessing on your life.
But you know what the rest of that verse says? It says if I refuse to tithe it says I'm robbing God, I'm using God's money to pay my bills.
You know, in my own life I had to learn this early on, and I've been tithing since I was a young man. In fact almost every year I raised my tithe. But I've been tithing for a while, because I said if I'm going be in debt to anybody, it's not going to be God. God gets paid first. I may not pay other bills, but God gets paid first, because he's first in my life.
Now, the Bible also encourages us to give beyond the tithe, but we don't do that out of guilt and we don't do it out of pressure. We do it as an expression of worship. In fact let me just say this: if you ever feel pressured to give, don't. God doesn't need your money. What he wants is your heart, and if you don't give cheerfully, you don't give willingly, you don't give voluntarily, you don't give joyfully, then you’re missing the point. Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart will be.
We’re told to honor God with the first part of your money (the tithe) on the first day of every week (Sunday). We give God the first part of our money on the first day of every week to say, “God you're really number one of my life.” We bring the tithe as an act of worship to the house of worship.
Now if you’re like me, you don’t always remember to bring your tithe to church. I would encourage you to give automatically. Tons of us at OLMC give online, and now it's easier to do because you can set it up automatically right here on our website. All you need to do is just click on the link that says give and follow the simple instructions to set it up.
If you're not faithfully tithing on a regular basis you don't know what you're missing. You are missing some of the blessings that God has and his plan for your life. So don't put it off any longer. Learn this habit just like you learned to habit of prayer, Sunday worship, and service. Learn this habit. Take God at His Word, and take this important step in your spiritual growth.
Giving Calculator
Calculate your weekly, yearly, or monthly giving below. Our proportional-giving calculator helps you to prayerfully and intentionally grow towards - and beyond - the tithe.
“Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift].”
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To give to specific initiatives and campaigns, please click here.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel manages automated giving with DonorBox, an industry leader that harnesses the security, reliability, and convenience of PayPal, Apple Pay, and Stripe.
We also accept contributions the old-fashioned way. Please contact us with any questions.