Listen/Download Audio of Tithing
Remember that “one gives away, and still he grows the richer; another keeps what he should give, and is the poorer” (Moffatt).
A man is rich in spirit who has faith enough to share his substance with others, but when a man has faith enough to share his substance with God he taps the source of all riches.
The man who tithes shares his substance with God. Tithing is based upon spiritual law, the law of giving and receiving. Jesus stated it in this way: “Freely ye received, freely give.” By practicing tithing you will learn how to exchange gifts with God. When you tithe you form a partnership with God. He will show you how to manage your affairs wisely according to His law.
Every good possession that you cherish has been supplied by God. God’s good substance is everywhere present, but when we concentrate our attention upon the narrow limits of our personal desires, we fail to see that God’s great bounty is constantly ready and waiting for us to accept and use it. We look at the few things that we claim as our own property, forgetting that these do not really belong to us but are just loaned to us by our loving Father to use and share. We could have more to use and to share if we would exercise our faith and thankfulness.
By tithing we remind ourselves that God is the source of all prosperity. When we give God one tenth of all we receive we acknowledge that our good has come to us. When we return one tenth of our income to God we open a larger channel between us and God’s bounty. When we have faith that God is active in our business affairs they are blessed and prospered. When God comes first in all that we do our financial affairs become orderly and pleasant.
“I will pay all my living expenses first, and then if there is anything left I will give God His tenth out of it.” When we reason thus we lack faith in God’s love and we generally use up most of our income so that there is little left for God. But when we have faith enough to take God’s share out of our income first and give it to His work before we spend anything for ourselves, our spiritual substance at hand is quickened and increased sufficiently to cover all our need. The remaining nine tenths, after we have given God His one tenth, will go further for us than the ten tenths could have done without God’s help. The nine tenths will bring us more joy, substance, and satisfaction than we could have purchased with the ten tenths.
We shall find eventually that we cannot attain true prosperity by striving only for material substance. True prosperity must include spiritual values to make it worth while. All God’s riches were created first in Spirit. These spiritual creations are the essence of true riches.
When by faith we recognize that God’s Spirit is the underlying reality, making possible the things that we call riches, we quicken these things so that they have an added, intangible value that they cannot carry when considered as just physical things. God gives them an added good-will value. Money that has been blessed will accomplish more good things for its possessor than money that does not have the added spiritual power given it by a blessing. The value of our money increases and our prosperity grows when we let God help us with our financial affairs by practicing tithing.
Many people testify to the beneficial results that come to them when they practice tithing in a spirit of thankfulness to God for His loving generosity.
When before we have received we give thanks for a material thing that we desire we are giving thanks for something that God has already given us in Spirit but that we have not been able to receive because of our limited faith in His substance. God has given each one of us in spirit and in truth all that we can possibly use and enjoy, but before we can lay hold of it we must quicken our spiritual ability to use it righteously and generously.
Prosperity for us may not mean the acquisition of a million dollars. A million dollars would not mean prosperity to us unless we were able to use it in a way that would make us happier and better able to render a greater service both to God and to man.
Prosperity means an increase in our ability to enjoy the true riches of the kingdom as well as material riches. When we find the joy of the inner kingdom all the other things we need in the outer world will be provided for us.
As our ability increases to co-operate with God by sharing more of our substance with Him we receive more and more to use and share. We must make room in our consciousness as well as in our affairs for a larger measure of substance by serving God in a larger way. We must think of our money and of our substance as being a part of God’s spiritual substance and not as just material possessions. When we take God into our financial affairs as a partner He helps us keep them in order, and He also increases our good as our understanding and right use of substance increases. When we make the right use of God’s substance it means that we are complying with God’s law of righteousness (“right-use-ness”).
God gives the increase, and by tithing we open ourselves to a better understanding and use of His substance.
Anyone can prove the efficacy of the principle of tithing by giving one tenth of his income faithfully to some church or some movement that is furthering God’s work on earth.
SUGGESTIONS FOR DAILY MEDITATION
SUNDAY: All the things that I possess are from God. I am therefore using them for His glory so that I may render Him a rich increase for their use.
MONDAY: Because I have received freely I can well afford to give freely.
TUESDAY: I am rich in faith. I know that God is my prosperity.
WEDNESDAY: All my affairs are always in perfect order, because I put God first in all that I do.
THURSDAY: Since God is my senior partner, I shall fear no lack.
FRIDAY: My pocketbook bulges with God’s good substance.
SATURDAY: Every penny that I spend goes forth rich with power to bless all who touch it.
