God and My Money (Part 5 – Don’t Take What Belongs to God)
During this series, we encourage you to get your priorities in order.
Simply put…
- Put God first
Jesus said, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
- Save part of your income before you spend it to build up savings and a wealth portfolio
“The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.” (Proverbs 21:20)
- Budget and plan well
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)
- Live within your means by managing your expenses. Cover your essentials first before you spend on the nice-to-haves.
“The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.” (Proverbs 10:16)
The God and My Money series is designed to help you structure your money in the correct order, while…
- Honoring God,
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)
- Being a blessing,
“Give freely and gain even more; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)
- Living a contented life, while
“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
- Building towards a fruitful financial future.
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” (Proverbs 14:23)
Over the past few weeks, we looked at the purpose of the tithe.
WHAT IS A TITHE?
The Hebrew word that’s translated as ‘tithe’ literally means ‘a tenth’. The tithe is GIVING 10% OF YOUR INCOME TO GOD.
WHAT IS TITHING?
Tithing is the practice of returning the first 10% of our income to God.
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.” (Leviticus 27:30)
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE TITHE?
“The purpose of the tithe is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.” (Deuteronomy 14:23)
The way we handle our money is a good picture of where we are really putting God first in our lives.
It shows your priorities. We should be putting God first in every area of our lives, and this includes PUTTING GOD FIRST WITH YOUR MONEY!
Today, I want to speak to you about: Don’t take what belongs to God.
When it comes to giving to God, you may have the notion that you “throw your money into the air. Whatever stays up is God’s and whatever comes down is yours to keep.” Now, just in case you didn’t get that. That is a joke!
My Mom.
I must tell you a quick story about my mom: I remember her telling me about her youth. Her father (my grandfather) would give his daughter (my mother) money to put in the offering when they went to church.
Can you believe it! My Mom would take the money her dad gave her for the offering, sneak out of church, go to the café on the other side of the road from her church with her friends, and use God’s money to buy sweets.
Can you believe this?
She would come back into the church, smile through the rest of the boring sermon, and have sticky hands after eating her sweets with God’s money!
I can assure you that my mother is not like this any longer, well, as far as I know!
On a serious note, my mother loves God and faithfully serves Him. God is definitely first in her life now.
Ok, enough of the stories. Let us get serious!
Are you stealing?
In Malachi 3:8, God asks, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.”
God was basically saying, “You are taking what belongs to me in tithes and offerings.”
And then in verse 9 God says, “You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me.”
Tithing can be controversial for some…
- Some argue that the tithe is only relevant to the Old Testament
- Others say that the tithe was under the law, and we’re not under the law anymore.
- Others will point out that the tithe was around before the law.
- Others will say that the tithe is Old Testament; the tithe isn’t a New Testament principle.
- Others say that the New Testament does not use the word tithe.
- Some will say that one must tithe on their gross income, while others will say that one only needs to the on their net income.
There are many views on tithing. All I know is that God wants you to put Him first in every area of your life, including your finances. I am not here to start a debate. My advice is not to get legalistic. Pray about your giving and tithing. Ask God to show you how much you should give. (If you want to discuss this, you can chat with your Pastor)
All I know is that the Old Testament tells us to Tithe.
But under the New Testament, God’s word tells us to give our all to God, not just 10%, but our all, our everything, our whole life. We are to put God 1st. Give him your all! Make your life and your money available to the Kingdom of God for His service.
One day, Jesus was approached by a group of religious men who were trying to trap him and get him into trouble with the authorities.
We are told, “Later, the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?” (Mark 12:13-14)
Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin, and I’ll tell you.” When they handed it to him, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it? Caesar’s,” they replied.” (Mark 12:15-16)
Jesus concluded, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” (Mark 12:17)
I want to encourage you not to withhold what belongs to God. Don’t steal. Be a cheerful giver.
When you give to God, you are saying Lord, I put you first, and I am trusting you.
