marksman
My eldest granddaughter showing the result of her
in all the many passages on money and giving in the New Testament, tithing is never even suggested, let alone commanded.
When Paul writes to the Corinthians about giving, he carefully avoids prescribing either a set amount or a fixed proportion. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (II Corinthians 9:7)
So tithing is not compulsory; but we should not therefore dismiss it altogether. For how do we decide how much of our income to give away? At least the 10% figure gives us something to work from. It suggests that we should be giving a significant amount, not just the few coins left in our purses at the end of the week. We should probably be giving away enough for us to notice a dent in our weekly or monthly budget. For the less well off, this might be only 5% (or even less); but for the richer ones among us, it should probably be 20% (or even more).
Putting a figure on it is man's idea and under the law. As I read scripture the only gift that we should give God is ALL. However much God has blessed me, all of it is available to him. I don't talk in terms of percentages except one. 100%. That means I don't have to worry about what I give as I leave that to the Holy Spirit to decide and tell me.
On one occasion I had news that a Christian Village in India had all their houses destroyed by Hindus and they were living under tarpaulins on the street. The mission organisation put out a request for funds to build houses for them. They told us how much each house would cost and I knew that God wanted me to fund the cost of a house for one of the families made homeless.
So I sent the money to them, knowing that they were going to be living in their own home again. If I had sent them a tenth, they might still be living on the street.