Why do believers tithe?

As believers, we tithe because we know that we are already blessed through Christ's sacrifice for us (2 Corinthians 8:9). It is something we do out of a revelation.

The Bible tells us that God gave up His only begotten Son, Jesus, for us, and with Him, God has also freely given us all things (Romans 8:32). When we understand that God is the source of all our provision, and that Jesus is the reason we are blessed, tithing becomes our response of worship. As we tithe out of such a revelation, our tithes honor our Lord Jesus and testify that He is alive today (Hebrews 7:8). Such a revelation also enables us to tithe “not grudgingly or [out of a sense] of necessity (compulsion),” but as the cheerful giver that God loves (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Tithing was first mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20 when Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of God Most High. Abram had just returned victorious in a battle with four kings and through his tithe, was acknowledging God as the one who had given him the victory and the spoils in that battle. This happened way before the law was given through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20). Thus, tithing did not begin as an old covenant law. Today, we tithe not to keep an old covenant law or tradition. We also do not tithe out of fear. Neither do we tithe to be blessed. We tithe because we know that we are already blessed through the Lord’s sacrifice for us.

God says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.” We believe that the “storehouse” mentioned here refers to the local church or a church in the area where you live. In the natural, the storehouse holds the grain that the people feed on. Similarly, the local church is the place believers go to to feed on and be nourished by the Word of God. Our tithe to the local church supports their labor of love in getting the preached Word out to the people.