Dr. Richard Allen Lewis, Sr.
Your “Tithe” is not
the payment of a Debt to Christ,
Your “Tithe” is your Acknowledgement
of the Debt you know you owe Christ!
“Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In your tithes and offerings! You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:8-11).
What is tithing?
According to Mike Murdock, “The tithe is not the payment of a debt; it is acknowledgement of a debt.” Tithing is not something that you can pay back to God. Tithing is not something that you can say you owe. Tithing is all about respect and the covenant between God and His people. It is respect for the fact that you know you are a part of God.
We know God in three stages: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If, in fact, God knew us before we were in our mother’s womb and He gave us life…that means we are a part of Him. That makes us a spirit. Our bodies are the temples where our spirits reside. Stop allowing your temple to rule your Spirit. Truly, we are spirits, housed in bodies.
Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” Not tithing is robbing God! We can be very selfish. We are not honest because we are robbing God.
Tithing is the acknowledgement of a debt. That debt is unto God and not the pastor, stewards, or trustees. God said that we are to take care of His house! Each individual has a job in God’s house—tithing is part of your job! You cannot afford to pay Christ for what he has done for you. If you want to be in right relationship with the Father (God), Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit (Comforter), you have to be a tither and know, “You can’t beat God’s giving, no matter how you try!” Let’s try tithing in love, sincerity, and honesty as we start to ride on the AME Church Bridge to Financial Freedom!
