WHY GIVING TO CHARITY IS NOT THE SAME AS TITHING

GIVING TO CHARITY

Before even thinking about handing over your money to a church or giving to the poor, we want to you to understand the history of giving as part of being a Christian. Giving to the poor and tithing, subject to understand for followers of Jesus.

The Bible is full of verses that demonstrate God’s heart toward the poor among us, and today we are going to look at both sites to know the truth about giving to the poor and tithing.

Deuteronomy 15:7 and 15:11 the Bible talked about helping each other and not letting people down because they are poor. This reason is because there is always be poor people around.

When you read 1 Samuel 2:7, the Bible says that it’s God that make people rich and at the same time make people poor, but he also does lift the poor to become rich.

Also, Psalm 9:18 tells us not to forget the poor and also be good to our neighbors. On the other hand, Psalm 41:1 talks about blessing coming to the giver.

If we want to go further, we will go on and on regarding giving to charity. We have all been told so many times that giving to the poor brings blessings to one’s life. I guess regarding this, we are all aware of the benefits one receives from helping a friend, a family member or a colleague.

Read more about giving to the poor. Click here…

Also, sometimes people end up getting bad in return after helping someone. That’s another topic.

TITHING

Tithing is a term commonly used today to mean setting aside a certain amount of one’s income for God. Typically, a tithe refers to a tenth of one’s income because the word literally means “tenth” but it is often generalized to mean any amount of money set aside for God. This money is traditionally given to the local church. The roots of tithing are found in the Bible.

The concept of setting aside any portion of one’s income begins within the first book of the Bible. In Genesis, Adam and Eve’s children, Cain and Abel, brought “portions” of their flocks and crops before the Lord. The idea was to set aside a portion of the first crop of the season to thank God for a successful harvest. This general practice continued with the Israelites as they grew and even as they were enslaved in Egypt, and after slavery, Moses continue tithing with the Israelites.

Leviticus 27:30 says, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord: it is holy to the Lord.” These gifts were a reminder that everything belonged to God and a portion was given back to God to thank him for what they had received.

The practice of tithing continues from the Old Testament to the New Testament as Priest and Temples were established and Christian were instructed to bring offerings to the church to support the priesthood and the church.

Surprisingly, tithing is not mention by name in the New Testament and one might say it’s not biblical, but it is.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus was sharing with a crowd and condemned the teachers of the law for their hypocrisy. Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

This explains that they worked hard to follow every law to the letter, but paid no attention to their heart.

Jesus on the other hand wasn't condemning tithing, but was informing the leaders of the temple that giving to the poor and the needy is another way of pleasing God because God gives riches and takes riches in his own will, so poor people are not to be looked down upon.

Also, when the blind man called Jesus whiles, he was walking on the disciples in Jericho. We read the disciples pushed the blind man away, thinking that has been a curse from birth, but this is what Jesus did and said.

Mark 10:46-52 - And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you." And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

John 9:2-3 - 2, and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3, Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. 4, while it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.…

Fellow donors, this can go on and on and on regarding tithing and history of Paul and the early Christian in Roman till now... But I would like to conclude here.

I guess by now we have all come to understand that giving to the poor is not the same as tithing, but they seem identical on my point of view.

1. Tithing is a means of showing your generosity to God, which will you be blessed for your generosity. So whatever comes with tithe is between you and your God.

2. Giving to the poor is as Jesus stated doing the work of God, so Heavens can open up, and it will glorify the name of God and the Heavens.

3. Also, tithing as explained by the Bible is for workers in Christianity. On the other hands, giving to the poor, one doesn't need to have a job. One can share $2 with a friend, a colleague or the needy and everyone will be satisfied which is a good thing.

4. Giving to the poor as explained by Jesus can help a one get Salvation even though there are a lot involved when it comes to Salvation, giving to charity can grant you access after obeying God's commandments all because most of the poor people are also children of God.

Fellow Christmas, Muslims and Donors this is what Rohoboth Foundation have about tithing and giving to charity. If you have any further suggesting, you can leave your comment below, and we will be glad to hear from you.