Tithing is a Test of Faith

Tithing is a test of our stewardship over the property of God, a test of our honesty to return to God what is rightfully His, a test of our obedience to do what He told us to do, and a test of our love and desire to please Him with our lives. Tithing is a demonstration that we believe in God, and that we acknowledge that He is the provider of all material blessings. If you haven’t the faith to believe that the tithe belongs to the Lord, neither can you have faith in Him to meet your financial needs. After all, if you don’t believe that the tenth is His, you must not believe that the whole earth is His either.

Without that confidence in His supremacy, there could be no confidence in His ability to provide our needs. Most of us realize that robbery is a serious offense in our secular society, and those convicted of this crime can be sentenced to years in jail. But what happens to a person who is guilty of robbing God? The scriptures say that he will be “cursed with a curse” (Mal. 3:9). What kind of curse is this?

From Malachi we see that God’s blessing to the tither is to open Heaven’s windows and pour out abundant blessings, and to rebuke the devourer (Satan) from destroying their increase and fruitfulness (Mal. 3:10-11). In contrast, the non-tither is cursed by having no protection to prevent the devourer from destroying their prosperity, and God cannot shower them with His abundant Heavenly blessings. God cannot bless or protect the prosperity of the person who does not tithe! This indeed is a curse. Some claim they can’t afford to pay their tithes. But let me ask, “Can you afford to be cursed?