GIVE ON TITHE.LY

A tithe is a portion (10%) of your income given as an offering to your local church. 

(Fun fact: The word tithe literally means tenth in Hebrew.) Because the custom of tithing is biblical, many Christians and Jews practice it as part of their faith.

Leviticus 27:30 (TLB) says, “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord’s, and is holy.” And Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” Those gardening metaphors may have thrown you off, but what these verses are really saying is to give a portion (specifically a tenth) of whatever you make back to God. And firstfruits is just a biblical way of saying that you should give first—before you do anything else with your money. The Bible explains that tithing is an important part of faith for those who follow God and that your tithe should be money you set aside first.

Like llamas and alpacas, tithes and offerings are grouped together a lot, but they’re definitely not the same thing. A tithe is a specific amount (10% of your income) that you give first, and an offering is anything extra that you give beyond that.

The Bible tells us that tithing is a way to show that we trust God with our lives and our finances. Ready for a truth bomb? Tithing isn’t for God’s benefit. He doesn’t need our money. Instead, tithing is meant for our benefit because sacrificing a portion of our income reminds us to rely on God to meet our needs. Plus it makes us more aware of the needs of others too.

In fact, supporting the needs and the work of the local church is one of the main purposes of tithing. Tithing helps your local church actively be the church by helping others.

Giving encourages a grateful and generous spirit and can help steer us away from being greedy or loving money too much. Plus, being outrageously generous is a blast!

While tithing 10% of your income is biblical, that doesn’t mean you have to be tithe to be a Christian or you're a bad one if you don’t tithe. And guess what? God loves us when we give and when we don’t give. In fact, 75% to 90% of those who go to church don’t give a tithe. But think of what the church could accomplish if we all gave back what God has given to us!