Each time I read what David said in Psalms 82:5-7, I could not help it but pity a lot of people that call themselves believers. I pity them in the sense that it was said of them that they know not, neither will they understand.
For that reason, they walk on in darkness, as all the foundations of the earth are out of course. That is, people who are said to be gods and children of the most High, yet they shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
This is so because they choose to celebrate their ignorance when they suppose to know. No wonder God equally lamented in Hosea 4:6a saying, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”. Worse still, instead of accepting their ignorance, they go about celebrating it.
One issue that lots of believers, even men and women that call themselves pastors, have really missed it is their lack of understanding of the mystery of tithe or tithing. For that reason, lots of people are making blind argument against tithe, thereby celebrating their ignorance.
As said, even the so-called pastors who are preaching in favor of tithe are themselves ignorant of this mystery. For that reason, such pastors see or view tithes as avenues to raise money for their churches or ministries.
Such ignorant pastors coarse their church member of the need to pay tithe but themselves are not paying. Rather, they portray themselves as Old Testament Levites, taking the tithes of others for their private use but are not paying themselves.
Some members are equally paying tithe as a financial obligation they owe the church and the Pastor, thereby seeing tithe as an expense. For that reason, they are equally missing it, as tithing is to them a burden.
I am saying this from experience because some years ago when I was ignorant of the mystery of tithing, paying tithe was such a burden as I treated it as necessary expenses to meet.
For avoidance of doubts, tithe is never an expense nor a financial obligation you owe to your pastor or church. As long as you have the mentality or see tithe as an expenses or financial obligation, it will continue to be a burden for you paying it.
Rather, we need to see or view tithe as one of the kingdom investment with sure and abundant or high yield of returns. This is the knowledge and understanding I wish that you get from this post.
For that reason, I wish to declare boldly that nobody should beg you to pay tithe nor anybody force you to pay tithe against your will.
Rather, you need to have a right mental attitude towards tithe. Once that is done, it will cease to be a burden and nobody will ever have to deceive you against paying tithe.
In economic, the term “opportunity cost” which is defined as the alternative forgone is very real in our society and in our every day lives which tithing is included.
However, it is unfortunate that those teaching against tithing are denying that there is no opportunity cost involved. Please, this is not true, there is opportunity cost in paying or not paying tithe.
You should ask yourself, some who are paying tithe in millions, have their income reduced, and they continued to be paying it. Comparing it to yourself that find it difficult to pay ten thousand as tithe, are you better of?
Please, I wish to say that what could open your eyes of understanding of the mystery of tithe is what Hebrew 11:6 said. That verse says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”.
It was the above verse that my eye of understanding got opened through bishop David Oyedepo some years ago. That particular year, April 1994 to be precise, I travelled from my city to attend bible school in Winners Chapel at Raji Oba street, Lagos.
During that one month Bible School, I was privileged to be among the set of WOFBI students that had the opportunity of sitting under the teachings of Bishop David Oyedepo who handled us on the course “Exploits of Faith”.
In that course, one definition of faith David Oyedepo gave us was “believing that God is who he said he is and that he is committed to doing what he says he will do for us if we are committed to doing what he says we should do”.
In that course that he referred to Malachi 3:10 which he used as an example of the verse, which our obedient should be used to prove that we actually had faith in God. He finally urged us of the need to sincerely prove God individually.
The Bishop emphasized that God or the church is never in need of our help, as we are never in position to help God or the church. He said that we are the one that stands to gain from our obedience to God’s instructions like paying tithe.
Coming back to our discussion, I wish to say that it was during one of the Bishop’s teachings that I heard the word “kingdom investment” for the first time and his teachings sparked in me investment consciousness, both in companies or in the kingdom.
It is when therefore we are having kingdom investment mentality that we will begin to treat tithing and other financial commitment in the kingdom as investing in the kingdom with the hope or believe of abundant returns.
Reading Malachi 3:10-11, we observe that the verses shows that tithe is one kingdom investment that has sure promise of returns. The verse 10 is the only place in the bible I have seen where God actually asked that we should prove him. That verses says,
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
The only way we actually prove that we understand the mystery of tithe is to prove God individually, and never base our faith on what any man/woman of God is teaching.
The opportunity cost of not paying tithe is to forgo open heaven and rebuking of the devourer while other people are enjoying the dividend of open heaven and devourers being rebuked for their sakes.
It is for that reason that I am saying that you should not be foolish that nobody is begging you to pay your tithe. Winners Chapel is one of the churches that never beg people to pay tithe, yet people are paying their tithe willingly with joy.
One of the reason is that their members have proved God, therefore they see tithing as kingdom investment with high yield of returns. They often warn members failing to tithe is what makes their financial life to be tight.
In closing, therefore, I wish to say that when you prove God and have the correct knowledge and understanding about the mystery of tithing, you will surely refrain from viewing tithe as expenses or financial obligations.
Rather, you will begin to see or view it as an investment you are making in the kingdom and that this investment has a sure and high yield of return both in cash and kind. Shalom!
