QT 6/10/2025 2 Cor 9:1–5, Giving out of joy not requirement

2 Corinthians 9:1–5 (ESV) —

1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

 

NOTE: The idea of a "willing gift" (vs 9:5) is very much a New Covenant idea. In the Old Covenant, the multiple tithes each year were expected. There were normally two tithes a year (each time, ten percent of all grain and all animals you had at the moment) and three tithes every third year (the extra tithe was for a special purpose). Tithing was not giving ten percent year, but on a yearly basis it ranged from 19 to 27 percent of your grain and animals. Today, ten percent seems difficult and it is, when you are already paying 15 percent or more in taxes. But for others, especially the rich, ten percent is nothing. In those cases, the rich could certainly give 20-30 percent and pay 20-30 percent in taxes, and still enjoy a comfortable life. That is why the New Covenant teaching is summed up in 2 Cor 9:7.

 

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (ESV) —

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

 

The New Testament does not teach tithing in any form, it teaches giving. We are not under the OT law. And while the "tithe" preceded the law, Abraham gave a one-time gift of ten percent of the proceeds of war to Melchizedek, and that is not anything like the OT law of tithing twice a year. Jesus does mention tithing once or twice but only when he is rebuking the Pharisees for hypocrisy.

 

We give out of joy and cheerfully. We don't give a tithe to hold back money for ourselves. We give as we are able. And God promises to provide. Every year I worked to increase the percentage of income I was giving -- and I always had enough.

 

PONDER:

1. Do I give because I have to or because I love to?
2. Do I use the idea of tithing as a way to hold back my giving and keep more for myself?

 

PRAYER: Father, I realize that these are very personal issues between a person and you. We don't need to perform or meet some percentage. I believe that spiritually a person will grow even more with a good giving program, but there is no law in giving. It should be from the heart and decided in the heart.