Giving To the Lord Part 2: How Much Should We Give?

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at what the Bible said about giving and tithing. The ancient Israelites were required by God’s Law to give one tenth of their crops and flocks to God. In the New Covenant, there is no percentage requirement for giving. Instead, we are instructed to give generously and sacrificially from what God has given us. You can read Part 1 here.

In this part, we’ll establish the amount that followers of Jesus Christ should give to support God’s work, based on Biblical teachings.

Understanding How God Thinks:

As we read and study the Bible, we should always strive to better understand how God thinks. What pleases Him. What angers Him. What He expects from us. This helps us to get to know Him better and to bring our lives into alignment with His wishes.

On the topic of giving, God’s rule is clearly one tenth. And it is on gross, the total crop.

As explained in Part 1, the laws that God gave to Moses required that the ancient Israelites give one tenth or ten percent of their flocks and their harvests to God. This is the origin of tithing.

Although there is no mention of formal tithing before the Mosaic Laws, there are two references to people offering one tenth.

First, for blessing him, Abraham gave Meichizedek, a priest of God, 10 percent of the spoils obtained when he defeated King Kedoriaomer and the other kings allied with him. (Genesis 14:18-20).

Second, after his famous dream, Jacob vowed to give God 10 percent of everything that God gave him if God would watch over him on his journey and return him safely to his father’s household. (Genesis 28:20-22)

These instances, along with the Mosaic Laws, show that God deems one tenth the appropriate amount to give to him and to support his work.

Additional offerings beyond one tenth would then be expected to support the poor, widows, the sick, the elderly, etc.

How Much Should We Give:

So, how much should we give, as followers of Jesus Christ?

Tithing, one tenth or 10 percent, is still the gold standard to go by.

Paul instructs us to give generously. But this is too subjective. We can rationalize that to mean anything we want.

We need something quantitative. To set the bar. A good benchmark.

And 10 percent of our gross income is that level. It is a good benchmark because:

• It follows God’s thinking on the subject

• It follows the New Testament teaching of giving generously

• It is sacrificial. Only the most affluent among us will not feel the effect of giving 10 percent.

Thus, as followers, we should all strive to give at least 10 percent of our gross income to support God’s work. However, this is the MINIMUM target. As our salaries grow and we gain better control of our finances, we should give more.

And we should all give additional offerings to help the poor, the sick, the elderly, and those who are less fortunate than us.

The New Covenant teaches that we should give in proportion to what we have received. Jesus gave his life, dying in our place for our sins in the most excruciating manner imaginable so that we might have eternal life. That is a priceless gift that each and every believer should be grateful for beyond words.

Thus, no matter what our circumstance here on earth, every believer has been given a gift with value far beyond that of any material possession we could possibly have in this life. Certainly, ten percent of our income is not too much to ask in return.

Tithing Statistics:
Here are some statistics about tithing taken from a report compiled by StateOfThePlate.info titled, “20 Truths About Tithers”.
• 10 Million Americans tithe, donating more than $50 Billion annually

• How much tithers give:
       o 10 Percent…….. 23 percent of tithers
       o 11-15 Percent….. 54 percent of tithers
       o 16-20 Percent… 14 percent of tithers
       o 20+ Percent…… 9 percent of tithers
       o In summary….. 77 percent of tithers give more than the minimum of 10 percent

• How tithers calculate their percentage:
       o Net Income……. 18 percent of tithers
       o Gross Income…. 28 percent of tithers
       o Gross Income Plus Other Financial Blessings… 42 percent of tithers
       o Not Defined…… 12 percent of tithers

• Households that tithe have been found to be financially healthier than those that don’t
       o They tend to be better money managers, so they actually come out ahead. Wow!

And here is a quote from Sir John Templeton, one of the greatest investors of the 20th century, that supports the last bullet point above:

“I have observed 100,000 families over my years of investment counseling. I always saw greater prosperity and happiness among those families who tithed than among those who didn’t.”

Summing Up:

Giving is something that every follower of Jesus Christ should do faithfully and joyfully.

Tithing of 10 percent of our gross income remains the golden benchmark because it is both generous and sacrificial. And because it is consistent in God’s thinking on giving, as defined in the books of the Old Testament.

However, 10 percent is the starting point, not the finish line. As our income and financial blessings grow and as we become better managers of God’s money, our giving should increase.

And we should always give joyfully out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

Offering up to God part of what He has blessed us with is how we demonstrate our love and gratitude to him and how we acknowledge that he is the Lord of our lives.

In Part 3 of this series, we will discuss how to get started giving.

Stay tuned.