12 Sept 2017 - Do You Give?

A Practicing Christian ch 12 - Do You Give?

"God does not need your money. Tithing is a sign to God that you have put your faith in Him."

Questions

1. What does the Bible teach about tithing?
1. That tithing is the means of supporting our pastorate
2. That the 10% tithe is the bare minimum
2. Explain Malachi 3:9-10 in the context of your own life.
1. Tithing is an important way to show honour to God. It says that we place our finances and our financial well-being lower than we place God. It also says that we trust God to take care of our finances. To withhold tithes, whether out of direct greed or fear of hardship, is to tell God that we no longer trust Him supremely to take care of us.
3. What does your money have to do with your walk with God?
1. It is the indicator of where my heart is. The more I come to trust God and His provision, the more freely I give

1 Timothy 5:3-16

"But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must learn to practice Godliness toward their own family first and repay their parents, for this pleases God. The real widow, left all alone, has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers; however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives." - vv. 4-6

With this passage, and the ones following, Paul gives instruction regarding the serving of widows. We see the ideas of stratifying by need and merit. First, by need - those widows who have family, let the family support them and honour God in the process. Second, by merit - those widows who work to the service and honour of God, not to their own gain, are the ones who are worthy of being helped. Does that mean that all others are not to be helped? Not so. It just means that those who best fit the two criteria make the highest priority.

Later in the passage, we see further instructions about setting an age threshold and about encouraging young widows to remarry. Again, part of this helps with the stratification, but there is a moral argument given here, that the young women have not yet learned the discipline of keeping busy and, if allowed to be a registered widow, will become idle gossips and busybodies. Now, Paul isn't being blanketly misogynistic here. There must have been some measure of trouble that Timothy was having with people abusing the widows' ministry and it's important to keep that mindset in place.