Tithing: Where Does Generosity Start?

Last time I mentioned how God always raises the Old Testament standards in the New Testament. From “don’t murder” to “don’t hate.” From “no adultery” to “no lust.”

In the same way, in most of the key passages about giving in the New Testament, we’re not instructed to give a tenth, but to be generous. But let me ask you this: If for thousands of years God told people that the minimum standard for giving to Him is ten percent, then God sent Jesus, His only Son to die for us, and then God tells us that the new standard for giving to Him is, “Be generous,” do you think there’s any way in the world that God meant that we should now give Him less than ten percent? Do you think that the God who gave ten percent as the minimum standard then gave His Son to us might consider less than ten percent generosity towards Him?

I know, personally, if I gave God ten percent, I wouldn’t feel generous at all, because God has always said that’s the minimum. And He now asks us to be – “generous.”

See I believe that for Christians, it’s not about giving ten percent. For Christians, it’s about being generous, and I think that being generous means giving everything we can, as much as we possibly can. And I believe the Bible makes it very obvious that ten percent is kind of the minimum starting point.

I’ll give what I think is a good illustration of this next time…