Giving God His Due - Martin Wiles

You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 NLT

How could ninety cents go further than one dollar? According to Dad, however, it was doable.

Two things Dad taught me about money were the importance of saving some and the necessity of giving one-tenth to God. As a child, I only received money from allowances or gifts on Christmas or my birthday. Dad reminded me that I was supposed to give one-tenth to God. He called it tithing and repeated an old adage: “You can’t outgive God.”

I took Dad’s word as truth. When I learned math concepts, I wondered how to buy more with ninety cents than one dollar. But Dad taught me that tithing worked, and so I continued. I tithed ten percent of my income when I began my first part-time job. Dad even taught me that I should tithe from my gross pay, not merely my net. Again, I wondered, Why should I give from what I didn’t receive? After I began working full-time, I continued the practice. Tithing worked. I couldn’t explain it; I simply experienced it.

When we give God his due, we demonstrate our belief that his resources are limitless. He had given me the job and the means to work it and owned every available job and resource. Why should I worry about how I would get by without the ten percent? Believing God can make the ninety percent go further than the one hundred percent is an act of faith—a deed that reminds us that we walk by faith, not sight.

Giving God his due boosts our trust level. We always need the ten percent to pay bills. In fact, we need more than ten percent. Yet, God still wants us to give him the ten percent—and sometimes more. Then, we'll believe he’ll stretch the ninety. And God will honor our giving when we’ve done it with the right spirit and motives. He promises to meet our needs, and we'll learn he can be trusted to keep his word. Giving sporadically illustrates a lack of faith in God, but consistency proves our faith.

Giving comes down to giving because we want to, not because we must. We give to God because he has given so much to us. 

Make sure you are giving God his due. 

Father, prompt me to give you your due because you have given so much to me. 

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