Giving to the Kingdom

 Deuteronomy 14:28-29
bring all the tithes” so the Levites, “foreigners, the fatherless and the widows,” could come and “eat and be satisfied”.

There has been a lot of debate and discussion about tithing. Does the Bible require that Christian tithe to the church? There are many who believe that part of following Jesus is to give at least 10% of your income to support the work of God. There is no doubt that the Old Testament instructed God’s people to bring their tithe to help support the needs of the ministry and to help those who were not able to help themselves. One would argue that we are no longer under the law of the Old Testament and there is no such mandate given to believers in the New Testament. Much is said in the New Testament about giving of your means to help the spread of the gospel of Jesus, but there appears to be no commandment or set rule on how much you should be giving. We know that Paul encouraged believers to give and often thanked those who gave to support the work he was doing to tell others about Jesus. We also know that, in our present day, it requires money to maintain a church ministry, or any kind of ministry that desires to reach out and help people who have physical and spiritual needs.
Let it first be established that it is not possible to buy the favor of God, or give enough to pay for salvation. Salvation comes only through believing Jesus paid the price for our sins and confessing our sins and believing He is God who can reconcile us back to Him. But when a person has given their life to Christ, a transformation of desires begins. We seek to be more like Him and the things that we once desire to please ourselves are now turned toward the things of God. We now want to give all that we can to support the work of the Kingdom. We take inventory of how we are spending our resources. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinth. 10:31)Our life is no longer ours, but it belongs to God, All of it! Our money, time, effort, emotions, and spirit now belong to Him. God does not want 10% of you, He wants all of you. I believe that we are stewards of what we have and none of it belongs to us. What we do with it all depends on what kind of relationship we have with Him. If we love Him, out of a cheerful heart, we give to see others come to Christ. We desire to help those who are in need of a helping hand. We don't give so that God will bless us, we give because that is what Jesus would do. Don’t hold back what God has blessed you with to fulfill your selfish desires, but let Him take full control of everything you have. Don’t be in bondage to only give 10% but give to please the God you serve. Live in moderation, provide food and shelter for your family. Enjoy life, but remember, everything you have belongs to Him, and His desire is for us to first seek the kingdom of God.