Hello,
What is the best way to give your 10ths to God?
Should you give a standing-order direct debit to the Church each month? or do you think its best to be creative and give to different churches each month?
What are spiritual fruits we gain when we give cheerfully?
How should you give?
Thanks
Comments
As a general rule, you are supposed to give your tithes to your main church that you usually go to, but if you know of a church (COC) that's more needy at the moment than your own (like really needy), I don't see the problem with giving the tithe for the month to that church instead, being that we're all one church. However, don't do that every month or make a habit of it or else your church won't be able to pay its bills and expand its services, etc. (Imagine the disaster if the whole congregation of a church did that).
I know you didn't ask this, but I wanted to point out a common misconception that one can give their tithes to charity. This is wrong. Tithes must go directly to the Church only. Donations to charities or monasteries are supposed to be above and beyond your tithes, whenever you feel so inclined to give to them.
When we give, we follow the command and example of our Savior, who did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. This also indicates that we should not only give God of our money, but also of our time, hearts, and life. God loves a cheerful giver so we should not give grudgingly, as if against our will. We should look at the book of Acts, where the early church sold their possessions and placed the proceeds under the feet of the Apostles. This is to teach us that the place of money is under the feet—so that we may not get carried away with it.
Also, we gain for ourselves treasure in heaven that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth corrupts. When we give to the brethren of the Lord, Christ accounts it as if we clothed Him and fed Him, etc. (See Matt. 25). We fulfill the commandment Love God first (your tithes) and second your neighbor (charity). We practice and exercise the fruits of the Holy Spirit of love, kindness, goodness, etc.
The three pillars Christ gave us as a part of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 5-6 were Prayer, Almsgiving, and Fasting. We read this reading the Sunday (day before) the beginning of great Lent. Also, remember the refrain of the communion hymn for Lent which says: "Blessed are those who have mercy: who give the poor and fast and pray: the Holy Spirit will fill their hearts: the Son will show them mercy on Judgment Day."
I hope this answers your question. Also, if you want, I can provide you with the actual verses I referenced in my post (I got lazy and didn't want to make this post too too long).
Money is simply the way people are generally used to giving, but what about your precious time or talents? as long as your doing good and giving to God in one way it all counts as "giving your 10ths"
I know you didn't ask this, but I wanted to point out a common misconception that one can give their tithes to charity. This is wrong. Tithes must go directly to the Church only. Donations to charities or monasteries are supposed to be above and beyond your tithes, whenever you feel so inclined to give to them.
No, I didnt ask it, but its a very interesting point!
Wow.. i didnt know that. So why is giving to charities not considered as giving your tithes?
I'm really glad you raised that.
However, forgive me if this is a sin, but I really thought giving to someone (anyone) in need was giving 10ths to God?
I found a great article which answers every question you have asked thus far written by H.G. Bishop Youssef:
http://www.suscopts.org/literature/literature.php?misc=search&subaction=showfull&id=1102863028&archive=&cnshow=news&start_from=&;
Here is an excerpt from the article that answers your most recent question:
"Tithing. "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house… If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). God promises that when we give the 10% 'tithe', the remaining 90% will miraculously become more than 100%. On the other hand, when we do not tithe, we will not only miss the blessings, but be convicted of robbery. "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'in what way have we robbed You?'” (Malachi 3:10). In addition, God was very specific in His instructions to His people as to how to handle and present their tithing (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). All the tithes should be directed to the local church as it is mentioned in (Numbers 18:24). Helping the poor, buying books in Church, paying for the costs of conventions are not to be deducted from our tithes. "
H.G. article is great because it covers all aspects of giving, its spiritual rewards, and the attitude one should have while giving. While H.G. speaks strongly about tithing, he does not by any means belittle giving to the poor.
God Bless
So the tithe in this case is being given to the priests (aka the church) as well as aliens, fatherless, and widows (aka the poor). At least that is how I am understanding it. More comments are welcome.
QT and others,
I found a great article which answers every question you have asked thus far written by H.G. Bishop Youssef:
http://www.suscopts.org/literature/literature.php?misc=search&subaction=showfull&id=1102863028&archive=&cnshow=news&start_from=&;
Here is an excerpt from the article that answers your most recent question:
"Tithing. "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house… If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). God promises that when we give the 10% 'tithe', the remaining 90% will miraculously become more than 100%. On the other hand, when we do not tithe, we will not only miss the blessings, but be convicted of robbery. "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'in what way have we robbed You?'” (Malachi 3:10). In addition, God was very specific in His instructions to His people as to how to handle and present their tithing (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). All the tithes should be directed to the local church as it is mentioned in (Numbers 18:24). Helping the poor, buying books in Church, paying for the costs of conventions are not to be deducted from our tithes. "
H.G. article is great because it covers all aspects of giving, its spiritual rewards, and the attitude one should have while giving. While H.G. speaks strongly about tithing, he does not by any means belittle giving to the poor.
God Bless
Honestly, absolutely well done on finding that article.
I think I see your perspective on giving money to charities - it may be for a good cause, but the cause is not Orthodox. (is that more or less it?)
Thanks
You know in the OT people went by the letter of the law more than the spirit. My thinking on the verse you pointed out was that unless God commanded the Israelites to give the poor, they would have never thought twice about it.
The Levites would be equivalent to the Church and the priests who need our tithe money to function.
Your tithes should be on a regular basis to the church whereas charity is whenever you can and whenever you want (although you could give extra to the church if you wanted to).
QT,
That article was amazing and it's very thorough. But from what you said, I believe you misunderstood the point I meant to make. Giving to the poor IS a Christian thing to do (including Orthodox). I think we all know the many blessings in the Bible for those who care for the poor in various manners, including but not limited to monetary donations. What I meant to say is that normally, your tithes are direct to the church. After that, see if you will give extra to the poor. Sometimes, if I am not mistaken, the church uses some of the money put in it for poor and/or needy people, in the congregation or abroad. Basically, tithes are the most basic kind of giving we should do and it should be church to the church, as giving God part of the fruit of our labor so He will bless the rest. After that, one should try to give to the poor. God encouraged giving with liberality, and out of necessity. In other words, while God loves any cheerful giver, the gift means more when it is given out of something we needed. This again is not limited to money, but also giving of your time to serve and worship the Lord, etc.
Do you understand what I mean now? If not, I am more than willing to explain in a different way. Basically, what the Church believes is in the article I posted, which articulates the issue of giving much better and more thorough than I can. I also think the article's clear.
God bless
I'm new here and i was going through the topics and this one really struck me.
I understand the church needs money for maintenance and so on but I do not believe that we should be giving the poor second priority.
Jesus says:
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
This quote is among many others. The idea that we must give to tithes to the temple in the OT isn't necessarily applicable to us today, do we really, as copts, follow all of the commandments in the OT?
No, we don't, because we have a new convenent through Jesus Christ, who stressed many many times the importance of giving to the poor and by himself coming to the world as a poor man.
Is it really fair to build new structures for the church and upgrade the technology while there are poor people in our church unable to feed their children?
I do not believe that is right and it is definitely not what Jesus Christ wanted.
Thanks.
If you read the article, it in no way undermines giving to the poor. If you took my posts as doing the same, I apologize. But I wanted to emphasize that tithes go to the Church.
If you want, you may forget everything I have said and read the posted article by His Grace Bishop Youssef, although you'll find that I meant to convey the same ideas.
Again I will say that I heard H.G. Bishop David (not on tape, I was there) say that it is WRONG to gives your tithes to charity and not to the church. This money is for God/ The Church. Outside of that you should also give to the poor, although there is no specific percentage; you give as you are able.
The idea is not to not give money to the poor, but that you should give generously and not sparingly, as you are able.
I think everything has been said on this issue, being that all I have said has come from Church leaders and not from my weak self.