True Prosperity (4)

Tithing and Sowing

"Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency and with the firstfruits of all your income; so shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine" (Proverbs 3:9-10, The Amplified Bible).

Ken and I never had any financial growth until we became faithful in tithing. At first it looked impossible to give that 10 percent. But when we did, the 90 percent we had left went further than the 100 percent we had before.

Tithing is a covenant transaction that gets God involved in what you are doing. The first 10 percent of your income—the tithe—belongs to God. The Bible calls it firstfruits. It's devoted to God, and it goes to support ministries that feed you spiritually.

Tithing is how you honor God with your money. It makes a way for God to bless you supernaturally.

Notice Malachi 3:8-10 says we are to bring all the tithes to God. It also says by doing so God will open the windows of heaven and bless you "That there shall not be room to receive it!" You don't want to keep anything that belongs to God. Leviticus 27:30 declares, "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord."

Real tithing is done with the heart and with the mouth, in faith. God's people were commanded to bring their firstfruits: "And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house…" (Deuteronomy 26:10-11). They were to recount how God had delivered them out of bondage. And they were to worship Him and rejoice for all the good He had given them.

Whatever we do must be in obedience and in faith for God to be pleased with it.

Everything we do toward God must come from our heart. Otherwise it doesn't count. Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." (John 6:63). We are to give with a willing heart, as an honor to God, and worship Him with our tithes. Then He is in partnership with us.

After we tithe, we are to sow according to what the Lord lays on our heart, and we are to do it with the right attitude. The Hebrew word for offering comes from a root word that means to "draw nigh." We draw nigh to God with our offering. II Corinthians 9:6 says: "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."

The Scripture plainly says you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). If you desire to be a receiver, you have to be a giver. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).

Tithing is supernatural—don't miss out on the benefits. God has an interest in your finances—He desires to increase you and bless you because He loves you. [Continue at True Prosperity (5)]