The Importance of Tithing for Young People

How crucial is tithing? Why should young people tithe, even if they don’t have much money? What does God want us to learn from the practice of tithing? 

I’m a second-generation Christian who was born and raised in the Church, and my parents have been teaching me Christian living principles all throughout my life.

When I was young, my parents introduced me to the law of tithing: 10 percent for the first tithe and 10 percent for the second tithe, which I will explain later. So, I set aside 20 percent of my allowance from a very early age. Of course, in those days as a young child, I did not truly understand why I was doing this. I just did it because my parents taught me to. 

Thanking and honoring God

As time went by, I slowly gained understanding about what my parents were trying to teach me. They were teaching me that there is a God who created the universe and that He owns everything because He created all things (Genesis 1). 

God created everything for a purpose. Human beings are His masterpiece and need to be thankful and honor Him. 

King David expressed his appreciation for God’s great blessings and God’s purpose for human beings when he wrote, “Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psalm 40:5). 

Paying tithes is an expression of obedience and honor

Now that I have a job and work for a living, I have a better and deeper understanding of what my parents taught me about the law of tithing. Over time, I slowly have come to understand that it is crucial to obey and honor God by giving Him 10 percent of the income He has given me and saving 10 percent to keep His festivals. 

Obviously, giving 10 percent back to Him doesn’t mean that He needs my money. God doesn’t need anything from any of us. After all, He is the owner of even what we think we have. Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” Therefore, by giving a tithe to Him, we learn to obey and honor Him and show thankfulness for what He has done for us.

The first 10 percent of my income is God’s. I have no right to spend it on my own desires because it’s not mine. God uses it for His work on earth through His Church. Tithing is required as a point of obedience. 

Malachi wrote that we become a robber if we do not give tithes back to God. Humanly speaking, robbing is wrong and it incurs a physical consequence. Likewise, a spiritual robber has a spiritual penalty to pay (Malachi 3:9). On the other side of the coin, God will “pour out” His blessings, whether physical or spiritual, so “that there will not be room enough to receive it” if we obey and give back His tithe (verse 10).  

This is indeed a spiritual law of cause and effect!  

For another law of cause and effect, let’s read Christ’s own words in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

God’s promise is sure; He does not lie. Numbers 23:19 reads, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

The second 10 percent

As I mentioned above, my parents taught me to deduct another 10 percent from my allowance for the second tithe. Unlike the first tithe, which is God’s, the second tithe is for our personal use during the feasts of God, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 14:23-26).   

We are commanded to use the second tithe for festival expenses so we can attend and rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles every year. Even when I was younger, I was so grateful that I was able to have money saved up to spend at the Feast. 

Even though I still have a lot to learn, I am so thankful my parents taught me to fear and honor God through the law of tithing.

To learn more about the biblical teaching on this topic, read “Tithing: What Is It?” and “3 Reasons You Should Tithe.”

Bellinda Simanjuntak is a member of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, in Indonesia.