Why is important to give tithes? To acknowledge that your money belongs to God and to show that you know that God is in charge. Giving offerings shows our love for God and for others. Offerings show us what kind of harvest we will have. Offerings plant seed into our lives. In the Old Testament, giving was part of worship.
Even when you work and you get paid for your work, that money still belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 4:7
7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
A lot of people acknowledge God with their head but not with their hands. If you really love God with all your heart, you will love for every opportunity to give. Everything that we have belongs to God – our gifts and talents, money and possessions.
Psalm 50:12
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
God doesn’t need anything from us because He has everything. He commands us to bring offerings to teach us that we are just managers of what He gives us. We are not the owners; we are the caretakers. If you give your talents and gifts back to God, He can use them mightily and cause them to grow and increase.
Genesis 1:28
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God is speaking this message to us today not just to Adam and Eve. He wants us to multiply, to have dominion over the earth.
Matthew 6:24
24 “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.
Our gifts from God cannot be our master. God is our master. We cannot have two masters. Some people focus on their gifts more than God. But we must first God first. He must be our only master.
Many people give offerings to themselves. How? When they save money for their future, it’s like they are giving an offering to themselves. Jesus spoke to those who save their money for themselves.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Offerings are the fruit of our sacrificing lifestyles. When you give offerings, you follow the lifestyle of Jesus. Offerings are a sacrifice. You don’t give offerings out of your excess but out of your need. Your offerings are the seeds of your harvest.
When we give we need to remember how Jesus gave His life to us. Jesus gave Himself to us as a sacrifice. He died for us.
The most important thing in our lives is money because money provides food and clothing and shelter. When we give our money to God, it is a sacrifice. We give of ourselves to God. We give what’s important to us. As you give, you destroy the idol of money in your heart. You show God that He is the most important thing in your life.
God bless you,
Pastor Sun East