Money is very useful. We can’t survive without it. With money we pay for clothes, school fees, transportation, toiletries, and more. Money is not bad. The love of money is bad. (1 Timothy 6:10) Taking care of our money does not mean that we love it more than anything else. Money is a tool to help us accomplish the things we need to do. That is why we must use our money in the very best way possible, so that we accomplish the things we need to do.
In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded to give back to God a tithe or one tenth of what they had received from God. (Malachi 3:6-12) God accused Israel of robbing Him because they did not keep His command to give a tenth. Ten percent of their possessions were to be given for the work of God. They could use ninety percent for their own personal needs. Every family was required to count the things they had been blessed with (goats, cattle, oil, money) and then give God 10 percent of those possessions.
In the New Testament nothing is said about Christians giving a tenth. Paul makes it quite clear that it is expected of a Christian to, “set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income…” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
Paul did not tell the Corinthian church to give a tithe or a tenth. What he did tell them was to first look at their income and then decide on how much to give. In other words, they had to do the same thing the Jews did in the Old Testament. They had to count what they had been given. God accused Israel of robbing Him because they failed to give a tenth. Can we also rob God by not giving Him what is expected? Remember that Paul was a Jew. He had always kept the Law, including giving a tithe of what he had. When he told the Corinthians to give “in keeping with his income,” he was saying a Christian should generously give in thank-fulness for what he had received. Does God want us to give a tenth, or even more?