Tithe and Bribe

One of the many things I know I should do but somehow fail to do several times is tithing. I know how it works (or I think I do). I know I ought to do it. But somehow, I can’t.

There are a lot of things that I can identify that would very much qualify as alibis or as I would call them: self-justified reasons, for not tithing. But I am not going to write about them here. I’m going to write about tithing and the awkward feelings that surround it.

I may well be speaking for myself here. I may be the only one going through this. But it’s our own personal experiences that teach us life lessons. And this is one of those experiences.

Have you ever tried giving more than ten percent of your income because you have so much to thank for? I have and it feels so good.

How about giving more, hoping to somehow negate something that you have done wrong? Or maybe you don’t admit it, not even to yourself, but at the back of your mind the idea clings on like stain on fabric – that you have brought tithing down to a derogatory status of a bribe?

This is crazy. I know. Tithing is not, and should never be, for all intent and purposes, a bribe. Tithing is returning to God what is rightfully His. Tithing is part of the natural order of the universe. It is us humans, and all our weaknesses and inadequacies, that stain the essence of the tithe.

I am sure many of us have heard about employers holding their own employees hostage with their (employees) salaries as the weapon of choice. These employers threaten not to release the salaries or wages of their workers if they (employees) do not let them (employers) have their ways of doing things. And I’m pretty sure also that upon hearing this kind of stories, we would, as if in chorus, scream “That’s not fair!”

Indeed, it is not fair. It is not fair to those who have worked so hard not to receive the fruits of their labor – something that rightfully belongs to them. It’s stealing from them.

It is also not fair to God if we don’t give Him what’s His. It’s stealing from Him.

Moreover, it is equally not fair to Him if we give our tithe and expect a little extra favor from Him because we have something in us that needs serious corrections.

Malachi 3:10 says “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me on this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it…”

We should give our tithe because it’s the right thing to do – so “that there may be food in God’s house,” and not because we are after the blessing God promised. It’s just like we don’t steal or kill because it’s the right thing to do and not because we don’t want the consequences of doing it.

So whenever tithing becomes more like bribing, change the things you have the power over – yourself and your unrighteousness. Ask God to take away that guilt. And when it is gone, giving will feel so much better.

I have yet to do this myself. Help me God...