TITHING IS NOT A MUST OR DUTY BUT A DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE.

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi

Gen 14:20 KJV “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

  Abraham had just defeated the entire armed forces of a whole nation- Sodom and her foreign allies ;an extraordinary feat  achieved through the help of 318 house helps. It was nothing short of a miracle confirmed by the visit of Melchizedeck  the high priest of the most high God –an anti-type of Jesus Christ. He declared Abraham blessed after which in response to the prayers Abraham gave him tithes  - a custom in ancient Mesopotamia where a tenth portion of one’s goods at harvest was given to God through a priest as a demonstration of one’s love and acknowledgment of His ownership of the earth. This culture is still being practiced in certain parts of the world . It is the essence of libation by most African cultures.

           It is worthy of note , that the blessing was declared upon Abraham before he gave the tithe , meaning the blessing was not because he gave the tithe therefore , it will be erroneous to say Abraham will be cursed if he did not give tithes . That would mean his victory over the enemy was by reason of the tithe he had given earlier; but no mention of that was made in the chronology of Abraham’s walk with God .

     It was by grace that he was saved , not by his works or else he would have had a reason to boast.  It is by the same principles that the born again Christian is blessed regardless of the demands of the laws of Moses who made tithing mandatory. Rom 4:16 TLB says “So God's blessings are given to us by faith, as a free gift; we are certain to get them whether or not we follow Jewish customs if we have faith like Abraham's, for Abraham is the father of us all when it comes to these matters of faith.”  Under the New Testament with are blessed by the same principles of faith without the observance of Jewish culture. 

If the giving of 10% is a must as taught by most modern teachers of the law of Moses ,  it means when a pastor or church member is given a car gift he or she should rip it into pieces and divide it into ten equal parts by weight and monetary value and one portion given as offering, the same applies to clothes and refreshments in a party. One can imagine the chaos this will cause. That is why salvation cannot be guaranteed by the observance of the laws of Moses (Gal 2:16). God will not curse a born again Christian for not giving 10% of his or her income (Gal3:13-14). All acts of giving under the New Testament are a demonstration of faith working by love. God is not be pleased by anything but faith and only receives gifts from anyone who wants to give .Ex 25:2-3 says LB"Tell the people of Israel to bring me their sacred offerings. Accept the contributions from all whose hearts are moved to offer them’(also see 1 cor 16:1-3,2Cor.8:1-15).

     Giving an offering because you expect God to give you something in return is not love nor faith but trading and is an error with devastating consequences.It destroys godly character. God is not covetous , He already has all He needs , however, He seeks for ways for us to demonstrate our love for Him, to prove to ourselves. Families should develop a giving culture to show their love for God. Our generosity should be born out of love and faith and not a mere duty. Giving enlarges God’s family-the church and promotes love in a family. As you receive Jesus Christ as lord and savior and read this now , receive grace for an extraordinary financial overflow in Jesus name.

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