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It All Belongs To Him, Anyway Aug 04 2012
"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7
Here is something preachers say a lot: Give until it hurts. You'll be happy to know that's not my message today, because it's nonsense. The Bible says to give until you're giddy. Are you kidding? Nope.
Lesson 1: It all belongs to God. Everything we have. It's His.
Lesson 2: The starting point (not the destination) in faithful giving is the tithe (10% of what we earn). The first 10% - not the last. If we don't do this, God's Word says we are a robber. What? Yes, we're robbing God, and robbers are simply low class thieves. Malachi 3:8 says, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me." But you ask, "How do we rob You?" "In tithes and offerings." We don't even need to pray about whether or not to tithe. That would be like praying about whether or not we ought to rob a bank. On certain actions, the Bible is clear about what to do.
Lesson 3: Giddy giving is Biblical. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, the word for "cheerful" actually means hilarious or giddy. Once we realize all we have is God's and show we believe through tithing, then the real adventure in giving begins. Seeking God's will about where to give and how much to give is a spiritual experience that enriches our relationship with Christ. When we do this in faith, we get giddy - so giddy, that we feel all good inside.
So, don't give till it hurts - give until you're giddy.
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2 Comments
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Yes, report it NevermindOur ultimate "possession" is ourselves. Until we acknowledge that we belong to Him, and that we are to give ourselves to Him, everything else we give is without merit. It's the whole point of redemption. He bought us at a great price and that gift is by His free grace. It is not something we can buy with any gift. He wants you.
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Yes, report it NevermindMalachi 3 has been grossly misinterpreted and terribly misapplied. A verse of scripture that should be used for building up is now being used to extort and guilt trip God’s children.
Delving straight into verse 8 of Malachi 3 without considering the preceding verses is definitely going to be fraught with errors as one has ignored its context. This book was written to the children of Israel living at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Some of the exiles had returned to build Jerusalem and then began to neglect the Law. They offered diseased animals up as sacrifice, divorced there Jewish wives in favour of younger gentile ones as well as withheld their tithes and offerings amongst other things. God addressed all of these short comings.
Thus the proper context of Malachi 3: 8 becomes clearer when one looks at the book from the beginning and it then becomes obvious that this rebuke was not aimed at the New Testament church. Nowhere in the bible do we ever see it taught that tithing is the starting point of generous giving. This is purely man-made. And again God referred to those who withheld both the tithes and offerings as robbers not just to those who withheld the tithes alone as is being preached by much of today’s church.
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
God never gave a tithe command to the New Testament believer and this is evident in the 2 Corinthians scriptural reference you provided. Instead it encourages the New Testament believer to give as he is able and this will be accepted as long as it has been given willingly and cheerfully. A 10% is clearly absent.
God bless.