Generosity

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.


Malachi 3:10 (NIV)


It's debatable whether tithing is required in the new covenant era. People get fixated on 10%, when in reality, with all the other offerings, it probably amounted to 20-25% of people's income. In the new covenant, where deliverance isn't just from slavery in Egypt but an eternity in hell, if anything we should be more generous.


I think it was John Wesley who as a young man got a pay rise and said that when our income increases, we shouldn't raise our standard of living. Instead, we should raise our standard of giving. If we have enough for our needs, then anything extra we should be generous with.


Of course, God doesn't need anything from us. Yet everything we enjoy is a gift from Him. Even our very lives are on loan from Him.


It's fair enough to give back to the One we owe everything. It is more blessed to give than to receive. It's good to be generous with the Lord.


'Heavenly Father, please help us to be generous. Thank You for Your generosity to us in Christ, in whose name we pray, amen'


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