Proverbs 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.
To honor means: respect highly or a mark of distinction. We could say, “Respect highly with a mark of distinction the Lord with our substance. “Our substance is what we make, create, and earn to live the everyday working and doing life.
This first fruit, or tithe and offering, is given as an act of honoring God. However, more than earthly goods are intended when talking about substance.
The very substance of who we are comes under the light of the new birth in Christ. We now honor the Lord with our entire life because of His grace toward us. Giving ourselves daily to the will of our heavenly Father is giving honor to the Lord. He redeemed us by giving us His very best, and that is Himself. We, therefore, honor Him by giving the best we are and have in Him.
The sanctified money that you steward, by faith, will go much farther and do a lot more blessed work with less strife. Heb. 7:8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
Here on earth, we give the tithes and offerings to the ministers, pastors, or clergy that are called by God to ministry or as said in this verse, we give to ‘men that die,’ but when we give by faith it is the Lord who receives it.
It is the Lord that gives you the wisdom as to how to steward the balance. Solomon, a very wealthy king encourages us to be generous with the substance that we steward. Eccl. 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you do not know what evil shall be upon the earth.
Solomon is saying that we will not always have the answers as to why evil or its effects shall be upon the earth, but none the less stay generous, because you will reap that generosity one day. You may be a help to someone in crisis, and one day you find yourself in a hard place, and there will be seven and eight helping you along.
I like the way the Apostle Paul says it in 2 Cor. 9:6 But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.
Developing an attitude of generosity will help us respond to the voice of the Lord when we are asked by Him to be a blessing toward a need. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Giving with honor will bring peace to our hearts and lives, so continue being a generous person.
Thank you for your encouraging testimony. When I first got saved and the tithe principle was taught, I was blessed because I caught the truth of it immediately. After 35 years of walking with Christ and tithing I can say like King David in Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
When I was 10 years old, I started my first job. I was counting the money I made, when my mom walked in and taught me a principle that I will never forget. She told me to always put 10 cents of every dollar I made aside. As I was living in a place with no church at the time, my sister and I would collect our tithe in a bread bag and give it to evangelists who would travel through our reserve. After that, we learned about child sponsorship and sponsored 2 children. After I got married, we were living off of my 15 hour work week while my husband was in school. We still tithed faithfully. We payed the rent, bought groceries, and maintained a car without student loans. I have no idea where the money came from to do this every month, but God was so obviously and graciously faithful. He honoured me as I honoured Him (but to a much greater extent!). Praise God!
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