Do you realize that you steal from God when you do not set aside your tithe? There are lots of things that we borrow in this life, even our lives are borrowed. However, most of the things we use cannot be borrowed without asking permission from the owner. In the case of our wealth, talents and blessings, the rightful owner is no less than God, Himself. God allowed us to receive and use these things without any demand in return. Tithing is not even a condition of God. It is something that we do as faithful borrowers.
Tithing is simply returning, not the100%, but the tenth of everything borrowed from the owner. It is like having ten colored pens borrowed from a friend and returning only one instead of the complete ten. This does not mean that you own the pens because you know in your heart that all ten pens are borrowed, and you only returned one.
Know The Owner of the Tithe
To keep the integrity of our tithes, we have to know in our hearts that we give not out of legalistic matters but because we owe it to the rightful owner, who is God. Knowing this, we will have in our hearts the desire to tithe and not the duty to tithe. Once the knowledge that our tithes belong to God is established in our lives, we will not do anything that can hinder us to give less or compromise our tithes.
Robbing the Owner
If you own a thing and someone stole it from you, would you like it? The same thing with our tithes, God will surely not be pleased if we steal His property. Remember that as we remove the integrity in our tithes and offerings, we are stealing from the Lord.
Getting what we do not own without the owner’s permission is stealing. Therefore, knowing that God owns our tithe and not returning it to him is an act of theft. It was clearly written in the book of Malachi that a man robs God by withholding tithes and offerings.
Some Thoughts to Ponder Over
How do you see and put God as the owner of everything in your life? Do you believe that whenever we neglect tithing and offering, we are stealing from the Lord? Why? Have you ever felt that you are stealing from the Lord? If yes, when did this happen? How did you cope in this kind of situation?