Should Christians Tithe?

Should Christians tithe? It is one of those questions that makes people shift in their seats the moment it comes up. Bring money into a sermon and you can almost feel the room change. An open and engaged crowd suddenly becomes guarded. Before you even finish your sentence, someone is already building their rebuttal. But I want to say something before we go any further, because I think most people are having the wrong conversation. Tithing is not primarily a money issue. It never was.

Jesus said where your treasure is, your heart will be also. Most people who quote that verse read it in the wrong direction. He did not say where your heart goes, your treasure will follow. He said it the opposite way. Your money moves first, and your heart follows after it. Generosity is not just a financial decision. It is a theological one, and you cannot separate the two.

What Is a Tithe?

The word tithe simply means a tenth, ten percent of what you receive. That part most people know. What many people do not realize is that tithing shows up in Scripture long before Moses, the Law, or the temple system ever existed. Scripture first mentions tithing in Genesis 14 with Abraham. After God gave him victory in battle, Abraham gave a tenth of everything to a man named Melchizedek, a mysterious king-priest whom the New Testament later identifies as a type and shadow of Jesus Christ Himself.

What makes this so significant is not just what Abraham did, but why he did it. Nobody told him to. Abraham had simply encountered God’s faithfulness and responded from a place of genuine recognition. That is what real faith does. It does not wait to be required. It sees who God is and responds in honor before anyone asks. You do not always appreciate that detail until you slow down and think about what it means for us today.

Abraham and the Pattern of Faith

This matters because of how the New Testament treats Abraham. Paul writes in Romans 4 that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, the same righteousness every believer receives by faith. The New Testament holds this man up as the prototype of what a believer looks like. He is not just a historical figure from the distant past. He is the model. Before any law existed, this man of faith tithed to someone who represented the priesthood of Christ.

Jacob does the same thing in Genesis 28. He wakes up from an encounter with God, still poor and uncertain about his future, and makes a vow. If God provides and brings him home safely, he will give a tenth to God. Two men, two different generations, both tithing before Moses, before the commandments, and before any written requirement. A pattern was forming long before anyone called it law.

Should Christians Tithe If It Was Part of the Old Testament?

This is usually where the objection starts. Someone will say that Jesus fulfilled the Law, tithing was embedded in that Law, and therefore the whole thing is behind us now. I understand the argument, but when you apply that same reasoning consistently across Scripture, it starts to fall apart.

If the approach is to discard everything the New Testament does not explicitly restate, Christians immediately run into problems. Believers still worship through the Psalms, and Proverbs continues to shape how we live with wisdom and discernment today. The moral truths found in the Ten Commandments still matter as well. Nobody argues that commands like “do not murder” only applied to Israel. We already recognize there is a difference between ceremonial laws fulfilled in Christ and principles that run consistently through Scripture from beginning to end.

Jesus fulfilled animal sacrifices because He became the final sacrifice once and for all. Jesus fulfilled the Levitical priesthood when He stepped into the role of our great High Priest. The New Testament explains both of those transitions very clearly. But tithing is never directly canceled or described as something that no longer matters for God’s people.

What gets me every time I read Malachi 3 is the placement of one particular statement. Right in the middle of a passage about tithes and offerings, God says,

It almost feels like He anticipated the future debate and anchored the conversation to His own character. His nature does not shift depending on the era. His desire to be first in the lives of His people did not come with an expiration date attached to it.

The Tithe Belongs to God

One more thing worth noticing in Malachi 3. God does not frame tithing as giving. He frames it as returning. He says bring all the tithes, not donate, not contribute, but bring, as if it already belongs to Him. Because it does.

Think of it this way. If someone borrows your car for the weekend and drives it back on Monday, they are not giving you a car. They are returning what was already yours. If they refuse to bring it back, that is not just keeping something. That is taking something that does not belong to them. That may be exactly why God uses the word robbed in that passage. The tithe was never yours to hold onto in the first place.

What Did Jesus Actually Say About Tithing?

People sometimes say Christians should not tithe because Jesus never addressed the subject. That claim simply is not accurate. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus looks directly at the Pharisees and says that they ought to tithe mint and spices while not neglecting the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith. He did not tell them to stop. He told them not to use tithing as a cover for a cold and indifferent heart. The important thing to notice is that He connected tithing and mercy instead of treating them like an either-or choice.

Some people respond by pointing out that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and not to us. But if that logic is applied consistently, it creates a real problem. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, He was speaking to one specific man in a private conversation. Nobody reads Jesus telling Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” and assumes that command only applied to one man. Every week, pastors preach from Christ’s rebukes of pride, greed, and hypocrisy without arguing those words were only meant for the Pharisees.

What Does Paul Say?

Some argue that Paul never used the word tithe in his letters and take that as settled evidence the practice does not apply to the church. But Paul also never used the word Trinity, even though everything he wrote about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reflects a fully trinitarian understanding. Biblical truth does not depend on vocabulary alone. Scripture builds doctrine through consistent patterns and teaching.

When you examine Paul’s writings carefully, the substance of should Christians tithe is clearly present. He instructed the Corinthians to give systematically and regularly on the first day of every week instead of giving impulsively or emotionally. Two full chapters in 2 Corinthians are devoted to the theology of proportional and generous giving. Paul also defended the right of gospel workers to receive financial support from the people they served. That mirrors the Old Testament pattern where the tithe sustained God’s workers and the work of the house of God.

Gross or Net?

This is one of the most common practical questions I receive, and I want to answer it honestly. Scripture never gives a direct verse resolving the gross versus net debate. I do not want to create a law where God did not create one. I also do not want people living under unnecessary condemnation.

For many believers, tithing on gross income becomes the clearest expression of firstfruits thinking because it honors God before anything else is touched. Business owners often tithe on net profit because revenue and personal increase are not the same thing. Payroll, overhead, inventory, and operating expenses are simply part of producing income. In many cases, net profit becomes the most honest reflection of actual increase.

What matters most is the heart behind the calculation. Most people already know whether they are sincerely trying to honor God or simply searching for the smallest defensible number. That question has a way of answering itself.

Why I Personally Believe Christians Should Tithe

People ask me why I tithe, and honestly the answer feels very simple to me. Abraham tithed before the Law existed because faith recognizes who God is and responds in honor. Jesus affirmed the practice while correcting hypocrisy. Hebrews 7 connects tithing not to Moses but to Christ’s priesthood. If Abraham honored the shadow by giving a tenth, it becomes difficult to argue that believers who know the fullness of Christ should do less.

Another reason has shaped me deeply over the years, and it has less to do with debate and more to do with what I have watched happen inside my own heart.

Over time, I have realized that Jesus’ warning about money is less about dramatic greed and more about the quiet competition for your trust. Money slowly convinces people that security comes from what they can hold onto instead of from God. That is one reason I tithe consistently. Every time I give, I remind myself that God is my provider, not my income, my savings, or my ability to manage life on my own. I also tithe because I believe in the local church and what it takes to preach the gospel, disciple people, support missions, and care for families in need. Grace should not create smaller hearts in believers. It should make us more generous.

Tithing Is a Trust Test

Malachi 3:10 contains one of the strongest invitations in all of Scripture when God says to test Him in this. Scripture rarely speaks that way. At its core, tithing is a trust test.

The real question underneath the theological debate is whether you truly believe that ninety percent with God’s blessing can accomplish more than one hundred percent carried entirely by your own strength. Most people who take God seriously in this area eventually develop stories they cannot explain apart from His faithfulness.

Tithing Is a Starting Point, Not a Ceiling

Should Christians tithe and stop there? The New Testament never calls believers to negotiate their way down to the minimum possible surrender. Tithing is a healthy and biblical starting point, but it was never designed to become the ceiling of Christian generosity.

If you have never tithed before, do not focus on perfection right now. Focus on faithfulness. Start somewhere and stay consistent because something begins shifting inside a person who gives regularly over time. You start noticing that your trust slowly moves from what you can manage to what God can provide. Generosity loosens the grip fear and self-reliance often have on people.

Your bank statement reveals what you truly worship more honestly than your Sunday vocabulary ever will. Before tithing touches your wallet, it touches your will. That is where the real question lives.

Want to go deeper on biblical generosity? My book A Beginner’s Guide to Giving is now available!