Is tithing only for Christians? Would God prosper non-Christians who tithe? Read, below, the living experiences of those who have put tithing to the test.
So YOU HAVE read of Ed Smith, the man who couldn't afford to tithe. Now stop for a moment and put yourself in Ed Smith's shoes. You have just learned the answer to the question of whether the unconverted should obey God's Ten Commandments and pay tithes — or whether, as Ed Smith reasoned, these are only for Christians. Ed Smith got the point. But would you? Would you have understood that God is a God of love? He is concerned about you? He knows what you need? That He has your interest and welfare in mind? God set laws in motion which, if obeyed, produce happiness, peace, prosperity — everything one could desire. God's laws were instituted for man's good — your good. They are a way of life. They produce an abundant, interesting life here and now — as well as eternal life through Jesus Christ. God's overall spiritual Law is summed up in the one word LOVE. Love to God and love to neighbor. It is further subdivided into ten points — the Ten Commandments — which reveal how we should love God and love neighbor. If the Ten Commandments were obeyed by the nations today, there would be no war. And among individuals there would be no war, no murder, no adultery, no stealing, no lying. Can you imagine a world like that — free from mental anguish and suffering, free from nagging fears and worries? Such a happy world could be — if only we would learn that God's laws were set in motion for our good.
People Deprive Themselves of Blessings
When any human being breaks the laws God set in motion, he automatically deprives himself of blessings — deprives himself of joy, of peace of mind, of the prosperity that could have been his. When any human being obeys the laws God set in motion, he automatically begins to receive blessings — inner happiness, peace of mind, increasing prosperity on the job! The way of obedience is the way of blessings. The way of disobedience is the lack of those desired blessings. A professing Christian who commits adultery automatically cuts himself off from the blessings of a happy marriage. A non-Christian who obeys the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery" automatically receives the blessings of a happier home. A professing Christian who does not tithe is stealing from God — he is breaking one of the Ten Commandments. He automatically cuts himself off from financial blessings that could have been his. A non-Christian who pays God his tithes automatically receives financial blessings because he is obeying a law set in motion to bring financial prosperity — to keep one out of needless debt. It is that simple! Many of you, right now, are heavily in debt because you have broken God's financial law. You have cut yourselves off from the only Source that could have given you wisdom to keep out of debt — God. And you are not likely to deliver yourself from debt until you begin to obey the financial law of tithing. Yes, strange as it seems, you — even if a non-Christian — can prosper and be free from debt if you make God your financial partner. In this partnership God gives you 90 percent of the income. Think how much more prosperous the U.S.A. or the British Commonwealth would now be if our peoples had made God a national partner! The ten percent, which God has reserved for Himself since the creation of the world, is called a tithe. It is an old English word meaning "tenth." The first tithe, or tenth, belongs to God (as explained in the preceding article). If a nation has been faithful in tithe paying, there would be no mounting national debt and no significant private debt. Yet today, because we have failed to pay God His tithe, we seek the help of foreign nations as trading partners and we fear the consequences of our national and individual fiscal blunders. Trade war and rising national animosities will be the result.
It Pays to Tithe
There is a REWARD that comes from tithing. God prospers the tither and delivers him out of debt. Do you believe God can do for you what He did for wealthy Abraham? Or are you a doubter? Do you want His blessings, or to be deprived of them? Notice Malachi 3:9-12, a prophecy for today: "Ye are cursed with the curse, Yet ye rob Me, even this whole nation" (Jewish Publication Society translation). That means professing Christian and non-Christian alike! "Bring ye," God continues to the professing Christian and non-Christian alike, "the whole tithe into the storehouse, and try Me now herewith, saith the Eternal of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than sufficiency.... And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Eternal of hosts." That is God's promise — and God cannot lie. God is no respecter of persons — it is not a matter of spiritual conversion. It is a financial matter. Of course, the matter of attitude is all important! God loves a cheerful giver — not one who gives grudgingly or of necessity (II Cor. 9:7). If a person merely "gives to get" — simply as a legal necessity - he cannot expect God to bless him! Nor could one expected God to bless a tither if he employs fiscal foolishness in managing the remaining 90% of his income! [Editor's Note: We publish a booklet entitled Managing Your Personal Finances. It explains how to properly administer that remaining 90%. Click the link for your FREE copy.] We receive hundreds of letters each month from non-Christians who have learned the lesson of tithing. They have put tithing to the test — and found it pays! Suppose you were a policeman. Would it pay you to tithe? Here is your answer!
Maybe you are a woman who has to earn your own living. Here's a letter from one who has found a better way than "women's lib."
Maybe you are a teen-ager?
Take the case of this ranching family from Huntington, Oregon, the same state Ed Smith the well driller came from:
Who says God won't open up the "windows of heaven" and bless those Who says God won't open up the "windows of heaven" and bless those Perhaps you are unemployed. Does it pay to begin tithing even if you haven't found a job yet?
Maybe you are on the new frontier - Alaska. Does it pay to tithe there, too, with living costs so high?
They do! Thousands have proved it! Now consider the unusual case of an employer's conscience' and back pay.
Some people remain doubters for years... until — but let Harvey S. tell his own story:
Here's a letter from a man who used to be in debt — until he found the way to lend to others:
Learning the Hard Way
Perhaps you think you are like Ed Smith who couldn't afford to tithe? Here is an example of one young man who found out the hard Way:
This young man put his finger on the problem. It doesn't pay to put off tithing. God's laws are permanent, living laws. The man who begins tithing will soon have unexpected breaks as David has found out! So don't make the excuse of procrastinating as the young husband mentioned in the next letter did. God will find you out and test your word!
God challenges us to prove Him! And He is ready to help us whenever we turn to Him for financial help. Yes, tithing pays. It is a financial law God set in motion for man's good. It works for the young and old, for the wage earner and housewife, for the Christian and the non-Christian alike. It's all explained in our FREE booklet Ending Your Financial Worries! Running away from God's laws is like running away from every good thing. God sets before everyone the way of life and prosperity — and its opposite, the way of poverty, suffering and death. God commands you to choose! Which path will you take?