The fear of the law of tithing (Part 7)
Verse of the Day: 2 Corinthians 9: 7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart, so let him give; for God loves a cheerful giver”
As I said before, Jesus and the disciples have NEVER taught about tithing but they all talked about money. In all the New Testament they talk about sowing (give) in order to reap, but Paul was more explicit in the verse of the day (2 Cor 9: 7) because he says that everyone must give as he has decided in his heart which was not the case in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, God is interested in the heart and not the acts.
In the verse of the day, we see two conditions to give: The joy and the freedom of giving.
Today many Christians give under the pressure of pastors and with sadness but I remind you that we have just read that God loves a cheerful giver, which means that God does not love the one who gives sadly. If you give your money to the church against your spirit, by fear of the pastor or anything else, the bad news for you is that God does not like your sacrifice because He ONLY wants what comes from a joyful heart! This could walk in the Old Testament but today (in the New Testament), God is interested in the heart and not in what you give.
Today we hear a lot of preachers who accuse Christians who do not give their tithes faithfully of being robbers of God and without realizing it, they push them in the curse of the 613 laws of Moses. Many Christians live in constant guilt of being thieves. I saw those trying for a month or two but very few manage to do it through the year. What’s the result? They give by force and not voluntarily, they give by fear and not by faith and love. Ultimately, God does not find joy in what we give because we are filled with guilt and often afraid of the curse that could hit our business, work or even our children.
I always wondered why these pastors are picking on the law of tithing while there are hundreds of other legislation in the bible; Remember the law of Moses consists of 613 commandments, and to be deprived of the curse, we must put into practice all the 613 WITHOUT EXCEPTION!
Jesus said that we know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8: 32). The truth that I am sharing with you can set you free from the curse and fear. Many of the people who followed these teachings are now completely free as they give to God with joy in the direction of the Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament, the law is not carnal but spiritual. We are not obliged to give 10% but the verse of the day told us that we give according to the percentage of our heart provided we do so voluntarily and joyfully. Those who understood the greatness of God give more than 10%.
In Part 8, we will see that according to the bible, giving is comparable to sowing.
Chris Ndikumana
