5 Reasons To Consider Tithing

1. Ancient and Biblical Model. Tithing is our most ancient model for giving. It is an example for us. (Genesis 28:10-22, Genesis 14:20, Leviticus 27:30-32, Deuteronomy 14:22-23, Numbers 18:22-29, 2 Corinthians 8:12-15, Matthew 23:23, Matthew 5:23-24 are just a few of the many places in scripture to learn about tithing)

2. Trust in God. Tithing helps us to worship God more fully in our whole life. It cultivates our spiritual growth and trust in God.

3. Financial Wisdom. Tithing brings God’s presence into our financial planning. When we involve God in planning how we will use our money, we are exercising a healthy spiritual discipline and that helps us to combat the destructive influence of materialism and greed that can infect and destroy our lives.

4. Ministry Support. Tithing provides the means to keep a full time pastor at our church as well as supporting staff, office and a well maintained building.

5. Congregational Strength. Tithing strengthens the ministries, outreach and health of our congregation and helping to mold a Christian community of faith love and grace.

Tithing is the practice of pledging and offering 10% of your income. In the Old Testament, tithing was part of the Law and it was considered the minimum amount one would offer to God. In the New Testament, we have been freed from the requirement and obligation to follow this as Law. However, it has been a common practice in the Christian church for centuries to use tithing as a good, concrete example for giving to the church that we are not obligated to obey but given as an example we may choose to adopt.

If you are interested in tithing or in percentage giving, here is a chart that may be helpful. At first, it might sound overwhelming to think of giving what may seem like a huge amount of money especially if we’ve never considered tithing before. This chart breaks down the amounts into weekly portions and gives smaller and larger percentages to start from and grow into in the future.