Kenyan engineer Joseph Nguthiru turns water hyacinth into biodegradable plastic, reducing mosquito breeding grounds, cutting plastic waste, and creating green jobs for the community.
Your life changes as the love of God explodes in your heart, tearing down walls you built to protect yourself and building up confidence and faith in a God who is for you.
Tithes and Cheerful Giving
I read through the comment section of the post I shared on tithing yesterday, and it became clear that many still have little idea what the Bible actually says on this subject. Much of the confusion comes from blending covenants, flattening Scripture, and turning a redemptive story into a financial rule.
The tithe in the Old Testament was not ten percent of money
Under the Mosaic Law, the tithe was NOT a simple ten percent, and it was NOT PRIMARILY MONEY. It was agricultural produce tied to the land of Israel. God commanded Israel to give a tithe of grain, wine, oil, and livestock because Israel was a theocratic nation living in a land God directly governed (Leviticus 27:30–34; Deuteronomy 14:22–29).
When all the required tithes are added together, Israel gave far more than ten percent. There was the Levitical tithe (Numbers 18:21), the festival tithe (Deuteronomy 14:23), and the poor tithe every third year (Deuteronomy 14:28–29). Altogether, it amounted to well over TWENTY THREE PERCENT annually. This was A NATIONAL TAXATION SYSTEM, not a voluntary offering.
Abraham and Joshua
Yes, Abraham gave ten percent to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). But note carefully what the text says and does not say. Abraham gave ONCE, from the spoils of war, voluntarily. THERE IS NO COMMAND, NO REPETITION, NO INSTRUCTION TO HIS DESCENDANTS TO DO THE SAME. Scripture describes the act; it does not prescribe it.
Jacob’s vow in Genesis 28:22 is similar. It was conditional and personal, not a command laid on God’s people. These passages show generosity, not legislation.
The tithe was made mandatory only under the Law
The tithe becomes a command only when God forms Israel as a covenant nation with a priesthood, temple, and land inheritance. The tithe supported the Levites, who had no land inheritance (Numbers 18:24). It was never designed as a universal rule for all believers in all times.
This is why Malachi 3:8 cannot be lifted out of its context and aimed at the church. Malachi is addressing Israel under the Old Covenant, specifically the priests who were corrupting temple worship. To threaten Christians with “robbing God” language is to ignore covenant boundaries.
The New Testament shifts the entire framework
When we come to the New Testament, something radical happens. The tithe is never commanded of the church. Not once. Instead, we see a DEEPER, more DEMANDING vision of giving.
In Acts, believers sold ALL their property and possessions and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet (Acts 2:44–45; Acts 4:34–35). This was not ten percent. IT WAS EVERYTHING. It was sacrificial, voluntary, and driven by love, not law.
Paul makes this explicit. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Giving under compulsion belongs to the Law. Cheerful giving belongs to grace.
Grace demands more than the tithe, not less
Here is the part many miss. The New Testament does not lower the standard. IT RAISES IT. God has not given us a percentage. He has given Himself. “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). That price was THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
Under the gospel, God does not ask for ten percent. HE CLAIMS ALL OF US. Our money, yes. But also, our time, our families, our homes, our energy, our gifts. “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). That language would have shocked an Israelite living under the tithe system.
THERE IS A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A THEOCRATIC TITHE AND NEW COVENANT GENEROSITY.
The gospel frees us from percentages and binds us to love
God does not need our money. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). Giving under grace is a response, not a requirement. It is shaped by gratitude, not fear. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The same is true of giving. When Christ gives Himself fully, He does not negotiate percentages. HE LAYS CLAIM TO THE WHOLE PERSON. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9). That kind of grace reshapes how we hold everything.
This is why Paul never asks, how much must you give. He asks, what does love now require. “As he may prosper” (1 Corinthians 16:2). “According to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). Grace trains the heart to loosen its grip, not to calculate minimums.
So, giving is not about sustaining God’s work. God sustains His own work. Giving is about conforming us to Christ, breaking the power of greed, and teaching us to trust the God who “DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON BUT GAVE HIM UP FOR US ALL” (Romans 8:32).
That is why New Covenant giving cannot be reduced to a tithe. It is worship. It is trust. It is love responding to Love.
The tithe was a shadow. Christ is the substance. And once you see that, you stop asking, “How much do I have to give?” and start asking, “HOW CAN MY WHOLE LIFE HONOUR THE ONE WHO GAVE EVERYTHING FOR ME?”