I have found that a lot of people have opinions on this topic, so here it is… What is tithing, offering and first fruits about?
Now where do we start? I will be giving the foundational information regarding TITHES, OFFERINGS AND FIRST FRUITS.
Some crucial notes before I start:
Firstly, I know what the churches teach and expect of the members, and I do not know what the money goes for. IT DOES NOT MATTER… I will hopefully make this clear in the post.
Secondly, many people have opinions on the fact of biblical or not… I believe that if it is done in the correct way, it is a good AND A VERY BIBLICAL CONCEPT.
Lastly, is there something wrong if we do not give our tithes and offerings… I do not believe so… THIS IS A MATTER BETWEEN US AND GOD… However DO NOT USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO GIVE.
So here we go…
I will not say that anyone should/should not tithe, give offering or their first fruits. This is based on OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.
I am not looking at what churches teach and preach on this topic, I am going to LOOK AT WHAT GOD SAYS. I do not have all the answers, so in this case I am already learning more, since the Biblical perspective IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME.
Let’s start with the key questions we should ask about the any topic:
What:
So what are OFFERINGS:
According to Merriam-Webster:
a: the act of one who offers: something offered; especially: a sacrifice ceremonially offered as a part of worship: a contribution to the support of a church
2: something offered for sale or patronage <latest offerings of the leading novelists>
3: a course of instruction or study
According to wordcentral.com:
1: to present as an act of worship: SACRIFICE
2: to present (something) to be accepted or rejected <was offered the job> <offer $10 for the lamp> <offerfruit for sale>
3a: to present for consideration: SUGGEST <offer a suggestion> b: to declare one’s willingness <offeredto help>
4: to try to make or do : PUT UP <offered stubborn resistance>
5: to make available <the hut offered protection from the wind and rain>
6: to propose as payment <I’ll offer you $700 for that car>
In my opinion, offering is an act of giving something, this could be time, effort, money, gifts, etc, to where God wants us to give. This can be the church, a person who is in need, an orphanage, an old age home… If God leads us to it, this can be an offering. However offering has a heart connection, if there is no heart, there is no offering…
So what are TITHES:
According to WordReference:
1. Sometimes, tithes. the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy, or the same amount regarded as an obligation or tax for the support of the church, priesthood, or the like.
2.any tax, levy, or the like, especially of one-tenth.
3. a tenth part or any indefinitely small part of anything.
4. to give or pay a tithe or tenth of (produce, money, etc.).
5. to give or pay tithes on (crops, income, etc.).
6. to exact a tithe from (a person, community, parish, etc.).
7. to levy a tithe on (crops, income, etc.).
8. to give or pay a tithe.
Now the things that actually stood out is: the tenth part (10%) of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God.
Thus a tithe would be considered to be an offering which is equal to 10% of our earnings. This still remains a biblical concept, since I believe an offering is a biblical concept.
Lastly, what are FIRST FRUITS:
According to TheFreeDictionary
1. The first gathered fruits of a harvest, offered to God in gratitude.
2. The first results of an undertaking.
According to CompellingTruth.org:
The first fruit itself may vary:
– First paycheck of a new job or the first paycheck of the year
– Portion earned from the sale of something
– Portion of each subsequent paycheck
– Take a Sabbath the first day of the week, and/or have a quiet time in the morningThe reasons stated for giving a first fruits offering also vary:
– Show sacrificial faith that God will provide
– Give thanks that God did provide
– “Sow a seed” so that God will make the giver rich
– Ensure God will bless the giver’s plans for the new year
Why:
Lets look at some scripture. So this is only possible reasons for WHY WE GIVE. This should not in any way guilt you into starting to give. Finish the complete post and CONTINUE TO READ THE REST OF THE BLOG AFTER THIS TO GET THE COMPLETE PICTURE.
1. Giving is a way of honoring God, with WEALTH and FIRST FRUITS.
Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)
We can see that it is good for us to do this, when we honor God… So the result will be that our barns will be filled and our vats overflowing.
2. Giving is a result of love
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
So here we see that Jesus was moved by love… God showed His love TOWARD US by giving HIS ONLY SON to die on our behalf. So why can we not sacrifice a bit of money/ time/ etc to show we love Him…
3. Giving is more than just money
Looking intently at him, he (Cornelius) became afraid and said, “What is it, lord?” The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have come up as a memorial offering before God. (Acts 10:4)
Prayers and gifts are also offerings. Other offerings may include time spend serving at a church… Think of everything we have, including time, and let’s see where we can offer something… Ever thought work can be done as an offering of PRAISE to God. (Hebrews 13:15)
4. Giving is for the Lord’s House
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob You?” “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts. (Malachi 3:8-12)
WE GIVE TO BLESS, not to receive. When there is food in the Lord’s House, those who are in need, can receive. However, we are not to judge how the church use the money, if this is where God says we should give. Giving is between us and God. For instance, if God says we should give money to a homeless guy (who looks like he may use drugs and alcohol), we should give. Why? How the homeless guy uses the money is between HIM and GOD.
5. Giving can be an act of worship
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)
The wise men knew whom Jesus was. So they gave an offering as an act of worship. We should always be worshiping God. and then from this place of worship, we may also feel like we want to give gifts.
6. Everything belongs to God
(see 1 Corinthians 10:26, Psalm 24:1)
For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns to You in the congregation.Again, I will trust in Him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave Me.
Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the Devil— and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.
I have heard many say, “Why should I give, I worked for MY money”. But if everything is God’s, how can we even say this. God expects us to be good stewards (1 Peter 4:10 , Matthew 25:14-30). If we look at it from this angle, we actually find that it is not a burden to give. God gave us our ability & talent to do what we do on a daily basis. Giving something to put food in His house, should not be a burden.
How:
Lets look at this verse:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
4 things appear to be mentioned…
1. You have to DECIDE IN YOUR HEART how much you want to give:
We need to understand the importance of DECIDING IN OUR OWN HEARTS… We sometimes feel forced to give tithes, because someone spoke about tithes. But this is not the case. God wants to be in a relationship with you, thus our relationship with Him should dictate how much we give. BE REAL WITH GOD, if you can’t give 10%, don’t! The 10% was, in my opinion, an Old Testament guideline, when the law was kept to the letter. God does not want to enforce a law, HE WANTS US TO BRING SOMETHING TO THE RELATIONSHIP.
In everything we need to remember, we still need to honor God and OBEY HIM. If He says we should give 10%, then we submit… He can even ask for more if HE desires, and HE WILL NEVER LET US DOWN, when we step out and trust Him.
2. Do not give RELUCTANTLY:
‘Reluctant’ defined according to www.dictionary.com:
unwilling; disinclined:
struggling in opposition.
Reluctant implies some sort of mental struggle
So the Bible says that God does not want us to have an unwilling heart or a mental struggle when we give… Thus, if you have a mental struggle in giving (or struggling in opposition to giving), DON’T. If you are unwilling to give, DON’T. The heart is what matters…
3. Do not give UNDER COMPULSION:
This may offend some, however this is very important… Whenever we feel forced to give, DON’T… We are not to be guilt-tripped or pressured in anyway to give. I once met a man whom was in agony, because his church gave him envelopes for each month, which he could not afford… When we give, no one has to know how much we give.
4. Give with a CHEER.
When you decide to give, give from a place of cheer. The scripture also makes it perfectly clear that it is more blessed to give, than to receive.
In this God just reminded me of a scene in the Bible, fairly interesting scene, which is relevant in this situation:
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
This widow is like many of us… poor and having nothing to give. Yet, she gave. Jesus said she gave the most… a couple of cents…
How could Jesus say this and be true, since Jesus could not lie…
Let’s say we have 3 people having to donate a portion of money (this is purely an mathematical example):
So the first person has $100 000,00 (substitute the dollar with whatever currency you choose), and gave $100. So this person only gave 1/1000 (or 0.1%) of what is available…
The next person has $8 000 and this person also gives a $100. So this person only gave 1/80 (or 1.25%) of what is available…
Lastly we have someone, whom is like the widow. This person has $100 available and this person also gives a $100. Thus this person gave everything (100%) of what was available
God might ask you to give, even if you have little or nothing, as an act of faith toward Him.
Sort it out in your heart to be cheerful when you give and that there is no reluctance toward it, God will follow your heart and God will love you… The Bible nowhere says (according to my knowledge) that there is a price to be paid to get into heaven… so GIVE ONLY IF YOU FEEL YOU WANT TO AND HAVE SORTED IT OUT IN YOUR HEART TO GIVE.
Here is another verse we will look at:
For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. (2 Cor 8:12)
1. If there is WILLINGNESS…
This implies that if you are NOT willing, DO NOT GIVE.
2. The gift is acceptable TO what one has, not what one does not have…
So, if I understand, God is not expecting one to give out of that which they do not have, however only from what they do HAVE… THUS giving should not become a financial burden.
When we do some more research on giving, there is much you could find on the how. The guidelines exist, we just need to find it.
Who, When AND Where:
THESE POINTS ARE BETWEEN YOU AND GOD…
WHO:
WHO IS EVERYONE, YET EVERYONE HAS TO DEAL WITH IT. Ask God if you should tithe, offer or even give first fruits. As for me, I have had my time with God and I have decided that I will give my first fruits, and I have decided on 10%. To me tithes is more than the Old Testament command that I SHOULD tithe… To me it is an offering, out of the RELATIONSHIP WHICH I HAVE WITH GOD.
WHEN:
Paul says the following:
Now about the collection for the saints: You should do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he prospers, so that no collections will need to be made when I come. (1 Cor 16:1-2)
The saints at that point traveled everywhere and served… The idea was that people pre-plan giving. In the case of this scripture, it is most likely that weekly wages were given, thus the idea was given to plan giving accordingly.
I myself have a clear conscience in giving once a month, and this is as I mentioned a thing between me and God. If God asks more, I will give more. If God asks less, I will give less… Now God knows me and He might actually tell me for a season to give less… or even more.
For a very long time God gave me peace about not giving, I barely survived and if I tithed, in money, I would not have made it. So I didn’t have to tithe, however when I entered my new season, God made it clear… This season will be different, I needed to give a tithe OFFERING, MY FIRST FRUIT. This is when I started giving money.
WHERE should it go.
Now if you came this far, and you decided that you want to give your first fruits / offerings. Where should it go…
In the prior scripture, 1 Cor 16:1-2, Paul said to the saints.
You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts. (Mal 3:9-12)
Here God says to give it to the church. So there will be food in HIS house.
Lastly, If God actually says you should give to a person or an organisation, that is where you put it…
The last couple of months God led me… I give my offering to where GOD leads, not man, NOR THE CHURCH…
Last thought:
Giving is from a point of everything. If you feel led to give your time, this is good. Whatever you decide to give, this should always remain a matter between you and God. Serving at an orphanage is an offering of time.
Now be warned, NOT VERY TIME YOU GIVE IS AN OFFERING. Check the intent of your heart before offering anything. If you are going to serve with a depressed attitude, just do not serve at all. If you are going to give money with reluctance, rather don’t… God is a God who sees the heart of your actions. If your heart sucks, your actions also will suck, if your heart is to praise God, your actions will reflect it.
This whole post is from a relationship between us and God… If this is not from a place of relationship, what is the purpose…
So I urge you, find your reason you give your offering, however you give, and if there is no reason, I would rather say do not give… This is way better than to give from a place, where you build up hatred towards the church and God, because you have no purpose for giving.
Now if you feel that this is not something you want to do, it is fine. Most of these concepts are seen as Old Testament… However, if you feel that God is leading you toward this, then follow Him in it… And remember CHECK YOUR HEART.
Warning:
Wherever God shows us to give… Giving is between US and GOD. So does what the church spends the finances on matter? NO… We are not obedient to the church, BUT TO CHRIST…
More info:
http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/offerings
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/tithe/
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/firstfruits/
http://www.gotquestions.org/firstfruits-offering.html
http://www.compellingtruth.org/first-fruits.html
Give from a relationship with God and a command of God. NOT BECAUSE YOUR CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY…
If you do not know where to start, I have an idea…
Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name. (Hebrews 13:15)
If all you start with is to give God praises, this is a much greater start, than giving without any cause. And this is also the key… If you give anything from a place of praise, then the focus is not on you anymore, BUT ON GOD.
God bless. Whether or not you choose to give, I trust that you will be growing closer to God…