Malachi 3:10 - "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it"
...we don't agree with how money is being spent in our home church, lately
...we feel we are already giving a lot more than those around us
...etc. Of course, God calls us to be wise with our money. We should not give our money to ministry foolishly. But the Bible is clear about the importance of each of us building a habit of tithing (Gen 14:19–20, Gen 28:20–22, Lev 27:30–34, Num 18:21, Num 18:26, Deut 12:5–6, Deut 14:22, Deut 14:28–29, 2 Chron 31:4–5, Neh 10:35–37, Prov 3:9–10, Amos 4:4–5, Mal. 3:8–9, Matt. 6:1–4). And it has nothing to do with God needing our money! Basic logic tells us that the tithe is not for God's benefit, but rather for our benefit! You see, God gives us the tithe for two main reasons: First, from a practical standpoint, the tithe supports the efforts of those dedicating their lives to the spiritual growth of His people. We see this clearly in the early foundations of God's chosen people. The Levite tribe of Israel was made up of the priests for Israel. The Levites were responsible for ministering to God's people. In exchange for their priestly duties, they were paid out of the tithe to which the other 11 tribes contributed (Num 18:21). This allowed them to dedicate their lives in service of ministry to God's people without the distractions that would inevitably come were they to have "day-jobs." The ability to fully dedicate their lives to ministering to their fellow Israelites undoubtedly supported deeper spiritual growth in their community. The same is true in our day and age. We are also surely beneficiaries of the men and women who work full time in ministry. Consider the pastor who spends 4 years of college studying apologetics. Because of his dedication, that pastor is able to provide tools to defend the religious beliefs for those of us who studied accounting or biology in college. Second, the tithe helps to defend ourselves from heart idolatry. Quite simply, we are continuously tempted to spend money on the things of this world. We may look to spend money on new cars, upscale vacations, comfortable houses, and fancy clothes to feel important. We might even be obsessed with saving money or growing our portfolio to feel secure. Of course, saving and spending money are not bad in and of themselves. The problem is the motivation behind our actions. You see, we are designed by God to find significance, fulfillment, and security in our relationship with Him. Anything else is heart idolatry. God understands just how vulnerable we are to idolatry. That's why tithing provides a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate commitment to our spiritual growth. Tithing continually professes that our relationship with God is a priority over anything money could ever offer. Regardless, finding the motivation to tithe is difficult! And that's why this verse from the short book of Malachi is such a helpful memory verse. Malachi 3:10 quotes the Lord Himself asking us to test Him by committing ourselves to tithing. Specifically, the Lord appeals to our desire for more by promising exactly that. His challenge to us is that He wants us to demonstrate our trust in Him first. He wants to know we have faith in Him. We are called to tithe in order that we receive abundant blessings.
