Bringing Scripture to Life

The third important promise we learned this past Sunday from chapter 9 about Make Your Giving Count, is that Giving Glorifies God. Our tithing and giving to the work of God is an important form of worship, and a very important step in practically living out, and strengthening our faith in the Lord, and bringing God glory through our lives. And yet statistics demonstrate that most Christians in America do not include God's work in their budgets. They include everything else - their houses, cars, clothing, food and entertainment allowance - but not God Himself.  Studies show that the average Christian gives only about two percent of his or her income to the Lord. I once heard someone say, “Too many Christians are asking the wrong question when it comes to tithing. They ask, ‘How much of my money should I give to God?’ Instead, they should be asking, ‘How much of God’s money should I keep for myself?’” If the Lord should return by the end of this sentence, would your current meth...

When discussing tithing from the pulpit, I like what Dr. Joe McKeever says, “The worst time to preach on money is when you need some, pastor. The second worst time is when the church needs some. The best time to preach on money is all the other times.” I know that this should not be a dogmatic approach, nor does it accurately reveal my heart about the subject, but there is some wisdom in being very discerning about our approach to this subject, as money has the ability to produce much evil in the hearts of others, especially when pastors talk about it from the pulpit (cf. 1 Tim. 6:10). However, as far as tithing is concerned, I believe tithing is an important form of worship, and a very important step in practically living out, and strengthening our faith in the Lord. In fact, Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:21), which seems to imply that giving of our time and resources draws us closer to God, and is a practical indicator tha...