Wibitz C. Stewart

10
Ten Reasons Why People Do Not Tithe
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1. LACK OF FAITH IN GOD

Lack of faith in God oftentimes can be seen as fear of not having enough in the future. God said in Malachi that if we pay our tithes and give our offerings, God will open the windows in heaven to bless us back. That is God saying it-not an insurance agent! Most of us believe what the calamity insurance agent told us than what God told us. What's the proof? We pay our insurance faithfully. We do not want to miss a payment because something might happen. If we don't pay, we don't get the coverage. Well, God is saying to us in a similar manner: "Pay your calamity insurance premium, which is 10% of all our income. If you do, I'll take care of everything in your life. You will be fully covered for future layoffs, ailments, natural calamities...everything!" If we really take God at His Word, all of us Christians will be paying our tithes the minute we know we should.

2. DISOBEDIENT HEART

Paying our tithes is not a suggestion, but a direct command from God. Just like paying our taxes is a law, not a suggestion. When we don't pay our taxes, we suffer certain bad consequences. Similarly, if we do not pay our tithes, which belong to the Lord anyway, we also suffer consequences. Since tithes rightfully belong to God, if we withold them, it's like stealing it from Him. That's why God calls non-tithers ROBBERS! A non-tither is disobeying God. If you are a non-tither, check your obedience level with God. If you can obey this command, the rest of the commands are easier to follow.

3. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR IGNORANCE

Some people do not have any idea they are supposed to tithe. This is the result of some pastors who are scared to preach tithing to their congregation in fear they might get offended and leave. Even nowadays, most pastors are still very uncomfortable talking about tithing in their sermons. They do not want to be misunderstood. Some pastors do not realize that they are disobeying God by not telling their congregation about it. As a result, the churches are not blessed to the maximum. Tithes are like seeds to the sowers. If you are not tithing, you are not planting. If you are not planting anything, why are you expecting a harvest from God? A good farmer does not eat his seeds. He'll set them aside for planting season to produce much more. People who are ignorant about this continue to eat their seeds and often wonder why there is always a lack in the house. If you are one of those ignorant people about tithing and you are reading this book right now, start to obey God in the area of tithing. Watch God produce a big harvest in your life. The benefits of tithing cover all areas of our lives, not just finanacially. Pastors, do not be hesitant to talk about tithing in your churches. You are like a teacher on farming. It would not be a good idea not to teach your students how to plant seeds when it is included in your manual. That would be injustice to the author of the manual. The Bible is the Christian's manual authored by God. Therefore, it is an injustice to God (a sin) if you as pastors will not teach it. Make a choice! Are you going to obey and please God? Or are you going to just follow how you feel despite of disobeying your master who has called you to do the job?

4. LACK OF GRATITUDE TO GOD

Let's look at it this way. You have committed a crime punishable by death if you could not pay; Someone who cares about you so much knew about it-begged the judge to take your place, so you could go free. That man saved your very life. If that man would ask you to do something, wouldn't you want to do it out of gratitude for saving your life? My friend, God did more than that for you and me. Not only did He give His very life, He also provides us the ability to live and the ability to produce wealth. God does not really want your money and mine. He owns the universe! However, He wants our obedience. Our obedience glorifies Him, which is also the main reason He created us. One barometer of our obedience is in the area of finances. It is easy to obey God when it does not involve money on our part.

5. LACK OF LOVE FOR GOD

In John 14:15 God says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." One of God's commandments to us is to pay our tithes. Take for instance a guy who is madly in love with a woman. He will do anything that woman would tell him to do because he loves her. To that man it is a joy to do it. If you are not tithing at all, it is very simple. You just don't love God enough to obey Him in this area. When you're in love with someone, you are committed. You just do it because He said so. And it's a joy to do it!

6. GOD IS NOT NUMBER ONE IN YOUR LIFE

If God is really number one in your life, WHATEVER He says, you just DO IT! You can wait to buy your new couch, your new dress, your TV s<::t, whatever. The main thing is the tithe is not for those things. If God is really number one in your life, you pay Him first. If you pay your tithe first, believe me, you will always have some money for your other things. The Bible says, «Seek ye first the kingdom of God and ALL these things shall be added unto you," Matthew 6:33. Then again, it goes back to the question, is He number one? If He's not number one, you'll do the reverse of it. You will seek all these things that God promised to be added to us later on after we sought His Kingdom. Consequently, you will neither have enough of «these things" nor will you find God. Life becomes a rat race.

7. UNBELIEF THAT TITHING STILL APPLIES TO THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

Tithing is not mentioned in the New Testament because it is a principle established in the past. It is a closed case. Everybody has already known and has accepted this fact. Colossians 2: 14 shows us that Jesus has already blotted out the Mosaic Law by nailing it to the cross. In I Cor. 9:6-14 we can see that the Christians still continued to tithe to support the ministry and the ministers.

8. LACK OF TRUST OF THE PEOPLE RUNNIN G THE CHURCH

Some Christians do not trust that the pastors and workers of the church are handling the money responsibly. They do not like the way they are spending the money they gave. They question the church workers' and pastors' integrity. As a result, they just stop giving even their offerings. Or they give something that did not really touch them-something of minimal value. I used to be one of these types of Christians. Thank God for the pastors who have enlightened my knowledge on God. Yes, that is the absolute truth. We don't want our hard-earned money to just be wasted. That's why it is very important that you know who you are giving it to. There is always the bad and the good kind of church-wherever you go. Find someone that really preaches the WORD and has integrity in their dealings with money. You will eventually find a church you can trust if you are praying for one. When you find it, commit to tithe and give faithfully. Find a good home church where you get fed and you can also feed God's people and their ministry through your living.

9. THEY DO NOT REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH THEY EARN A good rule of thumb is to just tithe from your money as it comes in. Just give your best estimate. I'm sure you know how to do that. I know of someone who confessed this to me. That's why she does not tithe. Since I had told her to do it weekly or daily, she was able to tithe to God. She has a lot of small businesses. She collects her income at different times. For some reason, she has a hard time keeping up on how much she is really earning.

10. SIMPLY DO NOT CARE AT ALL Other Christians just simply don't care! They think going to church, attending Bible studies, dropping God their extra coins, are enough. They treat the church like a gigantic coin-operated vending machine. You drop three quarters in and you get an hour's worth of sermon, drive off and have some fun. They treat church like some of the stores where you go once in a while, checking out what's new. Drop a few coins to get a spiritual sip and run off. They do not really care. They don't plan to commit there or anywhere anyway. These types of Christians have really not yet experienced God's reality in their lives. If they did, they would care. They go from church to church eating spiritual food, but they are not willing to pay. If you did that in restaurants they would call you a thief. You go from one restaurant to another-whoever serves great food every Sunday and Wednesday-sit there, enjoy the music and the spiritual food. When the bill comes, you don't pay. That's shameful. Even grumble you were not full. How would you get full? What can you get for a dollar? If you go to a restaurant a glass of juice already costs $31 Friends, don't get me wrong. To God, it's not really the amount. It's not how much you give, but how much is left. That's exactly what we are doing when we don't support our local church where we eat spiritual food regularly. Some even get offended when the waiters (ushers) collect the offerings and tithes. We forget, everything costs money. Nothing is free. Yes, the Word and prayers are free, but the buildings and utilities are not. The next time you go to church, ask God to open your heart. I know we all want to give to God. It's the devil that wants to stop us, so we don't get blessed. When we are not blessed, we blame God instead of worshipping Him. The devil likes that.

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