Thank you so much for this article!! I had become a tither under the law when I first went to church because that’s what I was taught. Pay a tithe, get a blessing; don’t pay a tithe, receive a curse. I thank God that He brought me out of that bondage, and I am so pleased to see a fellow Christian using his voice to cry out in the wilderness of law. Thank you!

I can remember sitting at the kitchen table crying over how to pay the tithe and the bills and put food on the table with what we had. I couldn’t do it. Our financial situation kept getting worse and worse. I did a lot of praying and came across Paul’s words you’ve mentioned. Through the ministering of the Holy Spirit, the lightbulb went off. My finances were indeed cursed; not because I wasn’t paying tithe, but because I was paying it. I was living under the law, and was therefore living under the curse of the law. When I quit tithing, our finances straightened out, and we began to prosper. From then on, I didn’t give out of trying to get blessed or because I was following a commandment, I gave out of wanting to help others in need. I still do.

Do I give all the time? No. I give as the Lord leads, and here’s the kicker, it’s not to a church, and it’s not always money. Sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s service, sometimes it’s money, or sometimes it’s a shoulder to cry on, and sometimes it can be as simple as holding a door open for someone. Tithing has become so legalistic that Christians today don’t get that tithing was never about money, but has always been about love.

Cain and Abel’s offerings weren’t money, and Cain was punished because he gave out of a wrong motive. God straight out told the Jewish people that the sacrifice He required wasn’t tithing but was “helping the widows and orphans which is your reasonable service”. He didn’t mean it as a command. He meant it to show them that when you love, you can’t help but help others, and, thereby, you worship God with your love. It means that since God loved me first, I love Him with all my heart mind and soul and love my neighbor as myself. I give out of a heart of love in meeting a need in someone else’s life through personal giving to or contact with an individual, not as a command to fill church coffers.

I was blown away when I did some digging on how our church spent the tithes and offerings it received. I found out that the church I was attending would only help someone who asked for it only once in a year time period. If the person in need asked for help before that year was up, they would be turned away. That’s only one instance. There were many others. Please know I’m not church bashing, nor am I saying that all churches are this way. There are churches out there that do it right. However, I encourage you to dig deep into where the money is going. When you find out, you may understand that helping the woman at the side of the road with a blown tire or giving a meal to the man diving in the dumpster may be a much better use of your money. Giving to get a blessing is selfish, giving because you have to is useless, giving to help others in their need is Christ, love in action.

Paul said, the just shall live by faith (Rom. 1.17,) and, the law is not of faith (Gal. 3.12.) Yet some still insist that they give their tithes in faith. And again he said, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Rom. 14.23) My vote is that Paul is right on this one. Insist on tithing and you will subject yourself a debtor to the whole law. Listen to Paul’s reasoning, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” (Gal. 3.10) In other words, you can’t pick and choose. It’s either all law or all Christ. If you willingly subject yourself to any part of the law, you are bound to keep it all and Christ shall profit you nothing (Gal. 5.2.) You may have been taught that tithing will bring you under the blessing, but the Apostle of faith said it will bring you back under the curse. Go ahead, argue your case with him. If you notice how much I’ve quoted him, you’ll realize you’ve been arguing with him all along.