Why do people tithe to the church? The reasons are
many. As I considered my own motivation, I
discovered at least 10 reasons to tithe and why I
give ten percent of my income to the church. A
study of these reasons will help us to understand
the great blessing of tithing and the biblical
responsibility to tithe.
1. To Honor the Creator.
“Render… unto God the things that are
God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
Acquisitiveness is one of the basic drives of
mankind. Children grasp their toys and cry, “Mine!”
Someone has noted three attitudes in the parable of
the good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite had
the attitude, “What’s mine is mine and I’m going to
keep it!” The thieves had the attitude “What’s yours
is mine, and I’m going to get it!” The Samaritan had
the attitude, ‘What’s mine is yours, and you can
have it.” There is another attitude that should
permeate our thinking, even above the
commendable attitude of the Samaritan. That is,
“Everything we have belongs to God, and we are
stewards of His goods'”
God owns the entire world and its substance. “The
earth is the LORD”S, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm
24:1). “Behold, all souls are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4).
“The silver is mine, and the gold is
mine” (Haggai2:. It is God who gives people the
power to obtain wealth (Psalm 75:6-7; Ecclesiastes
5:19). We are not to glory in what God has given
us, but to glory in Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
Why should I be grudge God ten percent when
everything actually belongs to Him? If it were not for
Him, there would be no land, no seed, no strength,
no income, and no life. How generous He is to tell
us, “”he tithe… is the LORD’S”! (Leviticus 27:30).
2. To Acknowledge My Heritage.
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians
3:29).
Abraham was the first tithe payer of record(Genesis
14:20). Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, paid tithes
(Genesis 28:22). Scripture says that Levi,
Abraham’s descendant and the father of the tribe
from which the priesthood came, paid tithes in
Abraham (Hebrews 7:9). My heritage of paying a
tithe precedes the law of Moses. As a child of
Abraham and an heir of the promise of Abraham. I
acknowledge my family relationship by paying
tithes.
Jesus said to the Jews, “If ye were Abraham’s
children, ye would do the works of Abraham” (John
8:39). It would be strange to claim to be a child of
Abraham and yet to neglect one of Abraham’s most
fundamental and noteworthy acts. I pay my tithes as
a spiritual descendant of Abraham, the father of the
faithful.
3. To Fulfill the Covenant.
“For if that which is done away was glorious, much
more that which remaineth is glorious” (II
Corinthians 3:11).
In every comparison of the law of Moses and the
new covenant that came by Jesus Christ, the new
covenant stands supreme. The characteristic word
in the Book of Hebrews is better, and everything is
better about the new covenant. If the law demanded
tithes, then how much more should we who are
under the “perfect law of liberty” give our tithes
willingly. (See James 1:25). If the law is written in
the fleshly tables of our hearts and we follow God’s
commands not from outward rules but because of
our new nature, then how quickly and how easily we
should give the tenth that belongs to the Lord” (See
II Corinthians 3:3-6).
Some people say, “Oh, we do not pay tithes,
because tithing was under the law.” If that is a
sufficient reason for not paying tithes, then we
could also mistreat our parents, for the law said,
Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12).
In actuality, we honor our father and mother and we
give our tithes because the principles of the law are
written in our hearts by the Spirit of God. We give
willingly and liberally because the Spirit motivates
us to give what God has said is His.
4. To Show My Love.
“Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of
Solomon 8:7).
Love is the strongest motivation in the world. I have
seen bumper stickers that say, “If you love Jesus,
honk you horn!” Anyone can honk his horn. But
David said, “Neither will I offer…unto the LORD my
God of that which doth cost me nothing” (II Samuel
24:24). Someone should print a sticker that says, “If
you love Jesus, pay your tithes!”
For someone who genuinely loves the Lord, the tithe
is only the beginning of his giving. He gives not only
his tithe, but also offerings (plural), not grudgingly
and not of necessity, but cheerfully with love.
5. To Fulfill an Obligation.
“Ye pay tithe…:these ought ye to have done, and not
to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).
Jesus did not criticize the Pharisees for paying
tithes. He commended them. He said it was
something they “ought” to have done. The word
ought expresses an obligation or duty. It is one of
the strongest words in the English language. To pay
tithes is something every Christian ought to do.
The word ought has three meanings: (a) obligation
or duty; as in, “He ought to pay his debts”, (b)
desirability; as in, “You ought to eat more slowly”,
(c) expectancy or probability; as in, “I ought to be
through by Monday.” Each one of these meanings
puts an obligation upon the Christian. It is desirable
for him to pay his tithes, he is expected to pay his
tithes, and he has a duty to pay his tithes.
6. To Escape Condemnation.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me… in
tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:.
How sad it is that people who are honest in
business and who pay their debts to the bank, the
store, and the government will not pay God what
belongs to Him! Sometimes people quibble about
whether they are “paying” or “giving” tithes, but
both terms seem appropriate. The tithe is the Lord’s
and He expects us to pay it to Him; at the same
time, He does not receive it until we give it to Him.
He does not give us the authority to use His tithes
for other purposes, but we have the power to spend
it as long as it is in our hands. Nevertheless, a
person is condemned if he spends God’s money.
7. To Spread the Gospel.
“So hath the Lord ordained that they which preach
the gospel should live of the gospel” (I Corinthians
9:14).
God has ordained for people to be saved by the
preaching of the gospel (I Corinthians 1:21). “How
shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans
10:14).
Tithing is God’s way of supporting the ministry. In
the Old Testament, the Levites and the priest were
God’s minister to the nation of Israel, and they were
supported by tithes. In the New Testament, God has
called people to minister the gospel. These
ministers can be more effective if they do not have
to provide for their livelihood by working on a
secular job but can devote themselves full time to
the work of God. They need time to give themselves
to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
It is not wrong for a man to labor with his hands,
nor should a minister feel too good to engage in
honest labor. Yet God’s plan is for those who
preach the gospel to live of the gospel. When God
inspired Moses to write that the people should not
put a muzzle on the box that labored, God was not
as concerned with the ox as He was with the
principle that a laborer should receive his livelihood
from his work. The application of this principle is
that the minister of the gospel should earn his living
from his ministry. (See I Corinthians 9:9-14).
Some ministers have endured financial hardships
and deprivation in order to proclaim the gospel in
needy areas. If the tithing income insures that the
minister can live in a good house, drive a good car,
and buy sufficient clothes for his family, why should
I begrudge providing these things to a man who
would preach the gospel even if he had to work on a
secular job to do it? It is a disgrace to a church if
the pastor has to take a secular job to supply his
family’s needs when there should be sufficient
tithing income available to allow him to do God’s
work on a full-time basis. My tithing ca help to
spread the gospel.
8. To Avoid a Curse.
“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed
me” (Malachi 3:9).
Someone has said, “You can’t outgive God, and you
can’t outsqueeze Him either.”
Some people put their money into “a big with
holes” (Haggai 1:6). They do not give God His tithe,
bit they eventually spend the money for automobile
repairs, medical bills, and a thousand other things
that they might have avoided if they had been
faithful to God in their giving.
God said that the whole nation of Israel was cursed
because they had not given God His due. God asked
Israel to dedicate the gold of Jericho to Him, but
Achan took a wedge of gold and hid it in a tent. It
became a curse to him and his whole family.
I do not want God to curse my blessings. I want to
give Him His tithe.
9. To Enjoy God’s Blessing.
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse… and
prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it ” (Malachi 3:10). (See also
Luke 6:38).
God blesses the people who pay tithes. They do not
always have the most money or the best clothes,
but they are blessed.
However, I am wary of those who promise, “If you
give God a dollar, He will give you back four.” The
expectation of a return should not be our motivation
for giving. And His richest blessings are not
necessarily monetary.
But I do want God to notice me and remember me.
He noticed that the window put money into the
treasury at the Temple. He noticed what Cornelius
was giving. He noticed what Israel was not giving.
He knows what we give and He notices when we
give.
God has asked us to prove Him and see if He will
not give us His blessings. I have trusted Him, tested
Him, and tried Him, and I have concluded that it is
better to give God what belongs to Him.
10. To Be Consistent.
“Be thou an example of the believers” (I Timothy
4:12).
For most of my ministry. I have lived on tithing
income. How could I receive tithes and not pay
tithes? I could not do so and be consistent. The
Levites, who received tithes, also paid tithes on
what they received (Nehemiah 10:38). Preachers
who receive tithes should be most faithful to pay
them.
Paying tithes will not save a person-everyone must
be born again to be saved. But paying tithes will
reap a blessing. Genuine Christian not only pay
tithes, but they willingly pay tithes.

source: www.titheandofferingscriptures.com/resources/10-reasons-to-tithe.htm

All the 'reasons' listed above does not take away the fact that tithing as preached in churches today is a fraud as it bears no semblance to the biblical one and there is no where in scriptures christians are mandated to tithe.

I have read all the reasons but im still not convinced.

My simple question to all tithe collectors and tithe givers is WHAT HAPPENED EATING YOUR TITHE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD as stated in Deuteronomy 12:17.

When this is answered, I will come back and tell you why I'm not convinced by your post.

@globalvillager I hope you went through the passage you gave (Deut 12:17). Take note of verse 18 talking about the Levites.
who are the Levites and what are the differences between the Levites and the priests?
The passage to which reference is made is the story of
the good Samaritan. In short, all priests are Levites,
being selected from the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites
are priests.
Those Levites who were not priests were assigned duties
connected with the tabernacle (Numbers 3-4). They
assisted the priests (Numbers 1:50; 3:6, 8; 16:9; 1
Chronincles 9:22, 26f; 23:2-4, 28; Ezra 3:8-9.), tyhey
prepared the cereal offerings (1 Chronincles 23:28-32),
and they cared for the courts and the chambers of the
sanctuary. Later, the Levites were involved in interpreting
the law and thus functioned as teachers (Nehemiah 8:7,
9; 2 Chronicles 17:7-7; 35:3). The Levites were explicitly
permitted to go near the sacred furniture, and this special
privilege distinguished them from ordinary Israelites
(Num. 8:19; 16:9-10.; 18:22-23). By virtue of this
responsibility they were charged with the work of the tent
of meeting (tabernacle) that included its dismantling,
transportation, and reassembly at a new site (Numbers
1:48-54; 4:3-15; 18:6). This was a requirement of all
Levites between the ages of twenty-five and fifty
(Leviticus 8:24-26). The Levites were able to approach
the sacred furniture only when it was covered (Numbers
18:3). The Levites were inducted into their role through a
series of ceremonies that included shaving of the body,
sacrifice, the laying on of hands, and a solemn
presentation to God (Numbers 8:5-13). They were
supported by a tithe of the people (Leviticus 27:32-33;
Numbers 18:21, 24), but a tenth of the tithe was to be
given to the priests (Numbers 18:26-28).
The anointing of Aaron and his sons with the same oil as
the tabernacle furniture implies that the priesthood
shared the holiness of the tabernacle (Exodus 30:22-29;
40:9-11; Leviticus 8:10-11; Numbers 7:1). The function
of the priests was primarily concerned with offering
sacrifices on the altar. This included the sprinkling of
blood and burning portions of sacrifices (Leviticus 1). The
priests also blessed the people in the name of God
(Deuteronomy 10:8; 21:5). Such responsibilities were an
important part of the covenantal relationship between
God and Israel. The priests were responsible for carrying
the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:8; 31:9, 25).
While the differences discussed here are not the only
differences, they are sufficient to show the distinctions
between the Levites and the priests. Today there is no
Levitical priesthood nor Levites to assist them did they
exist. When Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 the
Jews lost the capacity to determine their tribal lineage.
Judaism as a religion of God came to an end. Today both
Jew and Gentile are one in Christ -- there is no longer
any distinction between the two. (Galatians 3:28) In the
New Testament Christians constitute spiritual Israel and
are the spiritual descendants of Abraham. (Rom. 9:7-8;
Gal. 3:7- In Hebrews, there is a lengthy discussion of
the “better high priest” that we enjoy as Christians. This,
of course, necessitated a change in both the law and the
priesthood. The Law of Moses established and supported
the Levitcal priesthood. Since Christ was not of the tribe
of Levi, He could not have been a priest if that law were
still in effect. (Hebrews 7:12-13). Moreover, under the
New Covenant all Christians are priests. (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

segiwest:
@globalvillager I hope you went through the passage you gave (Deut 12:17). Take note of verse 18 talking about the Levites.
who are the Levites and what are the differences between the Levites and the priests?
The passage to which reference is made is the story of
the good Samaritan. In short, all priests are Levites,
being selected from the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites
are priests.
Those Levites who were not priests were assigned duties
connected with the tabernacle (Numbers 3-4). They
assisted the priests (Numbers 1:50; 3:6, 8; 16:9; 1
Chronincles 9:22, 26f; 23:2-4, 28; Ezra 3:8-9.), tyhey
prepared the cereal offerings (1 Chronincles 23:28-32),
and they cared for the courts and the chambers of the
sanctuary. Later, the Levites were involved in interpreting
the law and thus functioned as teachers (Nehemiah 8:7,
9; 2 Chronicles 17:7-7; 35:3). The Levites were explicitly
permitted to go near the sacred furniture, and this special
privilege distinguished them from ordinary Israelites
(Num. 8:19; 16:9-10.; 18:22-23). By virtue of this
responsibility they were charged with the work of the tent
of meeting (tabernacle) that included its dismantling,
transportation, and reassembly at a new site (Numbers
1:48-54; 4:3-15; 18:6). This was a requirement of all
Levites between the ages of twenty-five and fifty
(Leviticus 8:24-26). The Levites were able to approach
the sacred furniture only when it was covered (Numbers
18:3). The Levites were inducted into their role through a
series of ceremonies that included shaving of the body,
sacrifice, the laying on of hands, and a solemn
presentation to God (Numbers 8:5-13). They were
supported by a tithe of the people (Leviticus 27:32-33;
Numbers 18:21, 24), but a tenth of the tithe was to be
given to the priests (Numbers 18:26-28).
The anointing of Aaron and his sons with the same oil as
the tabernacle furniture implies that the priesthood
shared the holiness of the tabernacle (Exodus 30:22-29;
40:9-11; Leviticus 8:10-11; Numbers 7:1). The function
of the priests was primarily concerned with offering
sacrifices on the altar. This included the sprinkling of
blood and burning portions of sacrifices (Leviticus 1). The
priests also blessed the people in the name of God
(Deuteronomy 10:8; 21:5). Such responsibilities were an
important part of the covenantal relationship between
God and Israel. The priests were responsible for carrying
the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:8; 31:9, 25).
While the differences discussed here are not the only
differences, they are sufficient to show the distinctions
between the Levites and the priests. Today there is no
Levitical priesthood nor Levites to assist them did they
exist. When Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 the
Jews lost the capacity to determine their tribal lineage.
Judaism as a religion of God came to an end. Today both
Jew and Gentile are one in Christ -- there is no longer
any distinction between the two. (Galatians 3:28) In the
New Testament Christians constitute spiritual Israel and
are the spiritual descendants of Abraham. (Rom. 9:7-8;
Gal. 3:7- In Hebrews, there is a lengthy discussion of
the “better high priest” that we enjoy as Christians. This,
of course, necessitated a change in both the law and the
priesthood. The Law of Moses established and supported
the Levitcal priesthood. Since Christ was not of the tribe
of Levi, He could not have been a priest if that law were
still in effect. (Hebrews 7:12-13). Moreover, under the
New Covenant all Christians are priests. (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

heap of crap.

shiinihost:


heap of crap.

Arrogant expression of ignorance