Honor the LORD with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9 NKJV
Tithing is a controversial topic in the church today, which is astonishing to me. This verse describes entirely the way we are supposed to honor God with what we have, not only with our tithe but with everything. Honor Him with your possessions, because they were all given to you by Him. Honor Him with your firstfruits, because there would be no harvest without His generosity towards you.
Covetous people proclaim that we don’t need to tithe because we’re no longer under the Law, but these people stop at the Mosaic Law and look no further. From the beginning we see Abel, who brought an offering of the firstborn of his flock, was honored for his offering while Cain was not. God rebukes Cain and says “If you do not do well (refusing My instruction), sin crouches at your door”. Up to this point, we never see the Lord giving instructions on this, yet God tells Cain, in a sense, “You knew the right thing and did otherwise”. Then we see the fact that Abraham, who was before the Law, gave a “tithe of all” to Melchizedek after the Lord granted him a great victory (Gen 14:20). We see Jacob, after encountering the Lord in the desert in his dreams, fell down in worship and vowed to give God a tenth of all that He gives to him (Gen. 28:22).
How can we continue to deny that the Lord desires us to give Him our tithe, and not only that, but to honor Him with everything that He gives us? It’s been truth since the beginning of creation! Will you covetous people continue to refuse to honor His commandment that is so clearly laid out in Scripture? You cannot serve God and your money. Someone who loves their money more than God will find every excuse to not give, but those who love God more than their money only need one reason to give: He is worthy.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6:24