A. Storing up treasure in Heaven means using some of our resources to further God’s work on Earth.  I believe the Bible asks us to set aside a minimum of 10% for this purpose.  People who do this find that God increases their resources to the point that their standard of living actually improves. This is a fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in Luke 8:38 that He’ll use the same measure in blessing us that we use in giving to Him.

Many go on to contribute even more, and when they do they discover that God responds in the same way toward them. They learn that God has a never ending supply of blessings.  This is why Paul could promise that we can be made rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion (2 Cor. 9:11)  With Him you really can have your cake and eat it too. It’s the best motivation for striving to get ahead you could imagine, and instead of being self-centered and temporary, it’s God centered and eternal.

A. Would the IRS be OK with you giving your tax payment to the Church?  Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Matt. 22:21)  And remember, the idea is not to look for loopholes to reduce your overall giving.  It’s to give as a demonstration of your gratitude for what you’ve been given. With the measure you use in giving it will be measured to you in blessing. (Luke 6:38)  How would you feel if the Lord started looking for loopholes too?

A. Personally, I believe 10% is the minimum standard.  This is the amount God has said rightfully belongs to Him.  Real blessing begins when we start giving more.  Jesus said the measure God uses in blessing us will be determined by the measure we use in giving to Him. (Luke 6:38)

But New Testament giving is not based on rules, it’s based on gratitude. That’s why there’s no number clearly established.  In 2 Cor. 9:6 Paul wrote that if we sow sparingly we’ll reap sparingly, but if we sow generously we’ll reap generously.  God, who knows the motives of our heart, knows if we’re being generous relative to our means and blesses us accordingly. (If you only tipped your server 10% in return for the service you received  during a pleasant dinner, you would not be considered generous.)

Then in 2 Cor. 9: 10-11 Paul described the benefits of generous giving.

Our supply and store of seed will be increased.  That means our income will increase and we’ll have more left over.

The harvest of our righteousness will be enlarged, which means we’ll be more pleasing to God.

We’ll be made rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion. Once we demonstrate our generosity, the Lord will funnel more resources to us.  Even as we give more away, there will be more left for us.

The person who spends time studying these promises will soon realize that tithing is the antidote for greed and the solution to all our financial problems.  It opens the door to one of the greatest blessings found anywhere in the Bible, perhaps second only to our salvation.

A. People who argue against tithing are missing the point.  Tithing is a matter of expressing our gratitude.  It pleases the Lord when we do this and He blesses us with more.  People who have experienced the blessing that comes from tithing are always looking for ways to give more, not less.  Some people use the phrase “give generously” to justify giving less than 10%.  If you left a tip of less than 10% in a restaurant you would be called stingy, not generous.

The bottom line is we’re free to give whatever we want.  But we should understand that the measure we use in giving to the Lord will be the measure He uses in blessing us. 2 Cor. 9:6 says that who ever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and in Luke 6:38 the Lord said that with the measure we use it will be measured to us.  So the choice is ours.

How do we determine appropriate places to give our tithe if we temporarily don’t have a church home or if we end up having to keep worshiping at home?  We also have dear elderly parents who are in as difficult a financial condition as we and we are trying to help them with everything we have.  Is it alright to use any of our actual tithe money for them for their necessities of life like groceries and utilities?  Or is that the wrong use of tithe money?  Is tithe money only to be used through an official church organization to keep order and efficiency, or can individual Christians decide, within reason, where their own tithes would best be used?

A. I don’t believe there’s anything in the Bible requiring us to give our tithe solely to recognized church organizations.  How we give is up to us.  I would caution you against using tithe money to meet obligations that could be viewed as your personal responsibility. In 1 Timothy 5:8 Paul seems to place assistance to family and relatives in that category.   If you have any question about the propriety of a gift it’s better to administer it through a recognized third party.  Even if you can’t afford the gas to drive to the church of your choice, you can send them your tithe and designate a portion of it as you see fit.

There are a few Christian charities that I mail checks to … organizations that are helping Christians in the middle east.  Since I am mailing a check (along with all of the personal data that is printed on a check ie name, address, etc) I am not giving “in secret” as the bible says.  Is this wrong?  It is only a “secret” from my family and friends.  Your advice would be welcomed.

A. The people you write checks to you don’t know you and have no way of telling your family and friends how generous you are.  If they’re like most ministries, they thank the Lord for your gift because they know that’s who motivated you to give it. Therefore you’re getting no public recognition for giving.  Your secret is safe.

You said, “When we give solely out of gratitude, not expecting anything in return, God is free to bless us.  But when we give with an expectation of receiving we’re actually  being greedy, not grateful, and the motive of our heart is wrong.”

It is precisely the evident greed and lavish life styles of some “ministers of God,” when I am often just “squeaking by,” that discourages me from tithing. (That, and my own greed, to be truthful.)

A. According to 1 Cor. 4:5 It’s the motive behind our actions that determines how the Lord views them.  If we send money to a ministry because we believed the minister when he or she said the Lord would send us 10 times as much back, it’s obvious our motive is not generosity, but greed.  James said, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3)

The fatal flaw in the so-called prosperity gospel is that it appeals to the wrong motives.

But this doesn’t apply just to money.  The same can also be said of things we do with an expectation of public recognition, or expressions of gratitude from the recipient, or even self satisfaction.  The only acceptable motive for our giving is gratitude to the Lord for what He’s given us.  That’s why He told us to do our good deeds in secret, and to be so careful in our giving that if possible our left hand wouldn’t know what our right hand was doing. He said we should do these things in such a way that only He can see them.  (Matt. 6:1-4)

A. Paying off debts should be  priority, because debt is a form of bondage.  Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower is a servant to the lender.  Also, carrying debt costs you more money than savings would earn, so in the long run you’ll come out ahead by paying off your debt as quickly as possible.

A. It sounds a little like semantics, but while protection from Satan is one of the benefits we receive for tithing, it’s not a reason to do it.  In other words it’s part of the effect of tithing, not part of the cause.  When we give solely out of gratitude, not expecting anything in return, God is free to bless us.  But when we give with an expectation of receiving we’re actually  being greedy, not grateful, and the motive of our heart is wrong.

Think of how you express your love for others.  You don’t do nice things for them because you expect something in return, you do it because you want to demonstrate your love for them.  Then if they respond with an act of kindness toward you, you know it’s sincere.  Everybody’s motives are pure.

Some doctrinal confusion from various pastors’ opinions also entered in to the mix and we have remained confused about it ever since.  We finally went bankrupt, lost our home and are living with relatives.  The ill health in both of us is still present, but stable and we are still earning.  We are elderly.

Here is our question.  We intend to resume tithing.  But is it acceptable to ask forgiveness for having robbed God for several years and start anew from here?  Or is it more proper to pay more than 10% in an attempt to repay our tithe debt to God as best we can?  Please understand that our motives aren’t intended to sound stingy.  We just don’t know whether we are putting ourselves under unnecessary bondage with trying to catch up a huge debt by paying many years of unpaid tithes.  Thank you for helping us discover the correct wisdom in this matter.

A. First let’s review the intent behind tithing.  Right from the beginning it was designed to be an expression of gratitude for God’s blessings.  Abraham was the first to pay a tithe.  He paid it to Melchizedek out of gratitude for Gods blessing in defeating Kedorlaomer and freeing Lot. (Genesis 14).  Later Jacob promised to pay a tithe on everything God blessed him with (Genesis 28:20-22)  In Deut. 12:4-7 God instructed the Israelites to bring their tithes and offerings to the place he would designate (Jerusalem) and use them for a giant celebration in gratitude for His blessings.  He expanded on this in Deut. 14:22-26.

So tithing has always been intended as an expression of gratitude. People who tithe only out of obedience do so for the wrong reason and miss the point.  Of all people in history we have the most to be thankful for, so if we can’t tithe solely out of gratitude we’re better off not doing it, because tithing out of obligation only builds resentment.  God does not need our money, but tithing is the way we say thanks for saving our lives.

That said,  I’ve never found a single verse that requires us to make up tithes we’ve failed to pay in the past.  God’s mercies are new every morning, (Lamentations 3:22-24) so confess your sin of ingratitude for the past, receive your forgiveness and move on in freedom.