From Tithing to Stewardship

The Bible is explicitly clear that God owns everything. Moses wrote, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is” (Deuteronomy 10:14). God exercises complete ownership over his Creation. In addition to being the owner of everything, God is also in control of every single human event. Nothing happens without his stamp of approval. The Psalmist declared on many occasions, “The Lord reigneth” (Psalm 93). In other words, the Lord rules sovereignly over the whole world, determining the course of human events and establishing the ways of humanity.

However, the Bible which reveals that God owns and is in control of everything is the same Bible which presents certain principles of stewardship. Quite inarguably, even though God ultimately owns everything, he has chosen to allow humans to use HIS possessions and property in a manner which pleases them. Essentially, all he requests is that a person tithes off his income, or give ten percent of his earned income. This sounds like a great deal, that we can receive the blessings of God by only returning ten percent of our wealth.


Unfortunately, some people do not even pay tithes. Others do achieve this low benchmark but fail to remember, in the words of Chuck Bentley, “God does not own the first 10 percent of all the money we earn; he owns 100 percent of everything we have.” After paying tithes, they squander the remainder of their income on unnecessary purchases, as the spirit of materialism restricts them from philanthropic causes. Nevertheless, God has called us to do more than tithe; he has required us to be stewards of our time, energy, and money. A steward is a person who manages another’s possessions. God has bestowed upon us precious possessions, and how we use these resources represents our attitude toward the needy endeavors. Let us not fall into the trap of greed and selfishness, but be wise managers of our incomes, contributing to efforts that promote the kingdom of God.

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