Tithing and Offering

Applying Bible Principles

When he was president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Gordon MacDonald said, “One of the greatest missing teachings in the American church today is the reminder to men and women that nothing we have belongs to us.”

We own nothing. We have been given material means to use, but not to own. All that we have belongs to God. God is our Source according to Psalm 62:5.  We are only managers and stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

Because all that we have belongs to God, and because he gives us the ability to obtain wealth, every spending decision is in reality a spiritual decision. According to First Corinthians 10:31, our constant goal must be to glorify God in all of life, including how we use his resources.

Stephen Olford wrote this: “ . . . man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.’ We are to glorify God by our worshipful praise (Psalm 50:23). We are to glorify him by our consistent fruitbearing (John 15:8). We are to glorify him by our spiritual unity (Rom. 15:6). We are to glorify him by our entire dedication (1 Cor. 6:20). And we are to glorify him by our good works (Matt. 5:16). In this last category is included the matter of giving. Only in this way can we provide for ‘honest things in the sight of the Lord.’ The glory of God should motivate us to give and to give our best.”

If our goals and ambitions are truly set on spiritual things, if our emphasis in life is to glorify God, we will use the funds he has “loaned” to us on a temporary basis to glorify him. We will put his money and possessions to good use by giving to his work and by storing up “treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:19-21).

There are two key questions to be asked concerning money and possessions: First, are you glorifying God in how you are using the money and possessions God has entrusted to you? And second, are you viewing these things as yours or as God’s?

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