Open Hands 

Part 3: Why I Tithe 

May 17, 2026 

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10 Reasons Why I Tithe  

The tithe is the first tenth of what God has provided, intentionally returned to Him through the local church as an act of worship, trust, surrender, and priority. 

 

1. I tithe because it’s a  in God’s Word. 

 

Genesis 4:3-5 (NLT) When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. 

 

Genesis 14:19–20 (NIV) He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High…who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 

 

Genesis 28:20-22 (NIV) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth. 

 

Mathew 23:23 (NIV) For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 

 

Didache 13:3–7 “Hence take all the first fruits of vintage and harvest, and of cattle and sheep, and give these first fruits to the prophets. For they are your high priests… If you make bread, take the first fruits and give in accordance with the precept. Similarly, when you open a jar of wine or oil, take the first fruits and give them to the prophets. Indeed, of money, clothes, and of all your possessions, take such first fruits as you think right, and give in accordance with the precept.”  

               2. I tithe because i don’t want to keep what

 

Leviticus 27:30 (NIV) A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 

 

Exodus 13:1-2 (NKJV) Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Consecrate[a] to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine. 

 

Malachi 3:8-9 (NIV) “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 

               3. I tithe because it tells everything else in my life that  

 

Deuteronomy 14:23 (TLB) The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. 

 

Matthew 6:24 (NKJV) No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon. 

               4. I tithe because it  off my heart. 

 

Luke 12:15 (NIV) Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 

 

1 Timothy 6:6–10 (NIV) But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it…Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

               5. I tithe because it  for God to fill. 

 

Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

               6. I tithe because it connects  to eternal purpose. 

 

Colossians 3:23–24 (NIV) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

               7. I tithe because it provides for . 

 

Malachi 3:10 (NIV) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 

 

Haggai 1:7-10 (NIV) This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” 

               8. I tithe because  give more than . 

 

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (c. 130–202 AD) 

“The Jews had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all means that they possess for the Lord’s purposes, appearing as those who are not under a law of servants, but as sons.”  

 

Origen of Alexandria, Homilies on Numbers (c. 184–253 AD) 

“If you do not offer your first-fruits to God and your tithes to the priests, unless you do these things, your righteousness does not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees; and if it does not exceed theirs, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 

               9. I tithe because it opens a  over my life. 

 

Malachi 3:10–11 (NIV) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 

               10. I tithe because it reveals where  really is. 

 

Matthew 6:21 (NIV) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.