I watched a video sermon on tithing from Life Church. It was titled “Tithing the Tithe”. One of the statements that the preacher made on the video was, “Why do so many people give and not see results, not see return, not see the covenant promises of God? It’s either the wrong motive or the wrong method. It’s not because the word of God is not true.”
If you are the one tithing, and not seeing the blessings, how many times have you heard a pastor say that you do not have the blessings because your heart must not be right? it’s so frustrating to hear that, as someone trying as best as he can to give with a good heart. I know. I’ve been there. What if I told you that you are not receiving a blessing from giving because you are under the curse for tithing?
5 Reasons Why Tithes are a Curse
- Obeying the law has a curse upon it (Galatians 3:10)
- You are fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4-6)
- God doesn’t say anything about loving a dedicated giver (2 Corinthians 9:7)
- Tithing makes you a slave (Galatians 5:1)
- Tithing makes you weak (Romans 8:3)
Ok. you get it, Israel was punished and cursed for disobeying the law, but doesn’t the bible say that we are free from the curse of the law? Yes, it does. Galatians 3:14 states, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us”. Of course, this sounds like great news, and it is, but this actually comes with bad news for some out there.
If you read four verses earlier in Galatians 3:10 it states, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.“
For those of you who are continuing to practice the works of the law, including tithing, you are actually placing yourself back under the curse. Ouch! So, you practice tithing to protect yourself from the curse, but in actuality, you actually are bringing it upon yourself.
5 Reasons Why No Tithes are a Blessing
- You are under grace (Romans 6:14)
- God said He would supply all our needs without mentioning the tithe (Philippians 4:19)
- Our gifts are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18)
- God Loves a Cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
- The Spirit gives life (Romans 8:5-10)
If you don’t practice tithing, you are free from the curse, free from the law, and free from tithing. So many feel led to give to someone outside their church but are terrified to do so because of the fear of the curse. It’s not that they don’t like their church or disagree, but in their heart, they have the desire to fill a more urgent need. When people pass up the opportunity to give from their hearts, they invite doubt or event guilt in their hearts, which robs them of their blessing
You can take away the punishment for not tithing and you can make it appear as graceful as possible; but underneath the sheep costume, tithing is still the Big. Bad. Law.
Let’s read a passage in Galatians 3:10
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
Tithing is part of the Old law. So, if you are trying to obey tithing by giving 10% of your increase, then I would suggest that you either obey the whole law or do not follow the law of tithing. Before I go any further, I did not say “do not give sacrificially”. I said, do not follow the law of tithing.
Obeying the law of tithing puts a curse on your life. Could that be the reason why you are not receiving the blessing? I’m not into the prosperity gospel thing at all, but I do believe God blesses his people for obedience. Some of that blessing can be external in financial rewards, and some of that blessing can be internal peace and satisfaction. I like to say that people reap what they sow. If you reap generosity you’ll sow generosity. It doesn’t always mean that if you reap $100 bucks, you’ll sow $200.
It’s up to you to decide in your heart the truth about tithing. God did not intend for his church to be under the giving requirements of the law. He gave us his Spirit to tutor us and help us down the road of sacrificial giving. Don’t be fooled by those that say “tithing is under the grace age so now we should give it by grace instead of the compulsion of the law”. Run far away as you can from that line of thinking. As you can see, the early church is still not the only one that struggled with mingling the old law with the new. We are still trying to do it today and they are putting others and themselves under the curse.