What is your motivation for giving?
Do you tithe out of fear of the wrath of God? ….then perhaps you should consider that you really do not know Him …God is LOVE (1 John 4:8)
Do you tithe out of fear of being cursed?…. Do you not not know what Christ did for you on the cross? (Gal 3:13)
I have heard that even people who I regard as great bible teachers have said ‘I would be afraid not to tithe’
Gal 5:6
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
LOVE should be our motivation and perfect love (ie Gods love in us) casts out all fear.
1Jn 4:18 'There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out all fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love'
What we do out of fear is not done in faith……and not done in LOVE
and according to Rom 14:23…. ‘everything that is not of faith is sin’
and according to 1 Cor 13:3…. 'if we give all we possess to the poor without love we will gain nothing'
Surely we can see then that tithing done out of fear is SIN….and most certainly will not be gain us anything from God!
Preachers and churches who use Mal 3:8-12 as a sledgehammer to extort money from God's children through the fear of being cursed for robbing Him are doing the wrong thing (1 Cor 6:8-10) (Acts 15:10)
Gal 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us NKJV
God's children today CANNOT be cursed for not obeying the Law of Moses which we are NOT under!
God's children today CANNOT be blessed for doing 'works of the Law' … (Gal 3:1-5) …such as tithing (Heb 7:5, Mat 23:23, Lev 27:30-34)
Gal 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? NKJV
Brethren, we either TRUST God to bless us .. OR we try and EARN our blessing and salvation and miracles.
It cannot be both!