What Does the Bible Say About Tithing?

What does the Bible say about tithing, is it still required for Christians today?

Short answer. Yes and no, depending what you mean. The Old Testament commands a tenth for Israel, to support the Levites and temple worship (Deuteronomy 14:22-23). Abraham and Jacob gave a tenth even earlier, before any law existed (Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22). But the New Testament never repeats the 10% command for the church. Jesus talks less about a percentage and more about the heart behind giving, praising a widow who gave two small coins because it cost her everything (Mark 12:43-44). Paul tells believers to give 'what you have decided in your heart to give... not reluctantly or under compulsion' (2 Corinthians 9:7). Tithing is a good, historic baseline, not a binding law for Christians. Cheerful, sacrificial generosity is.

Tithing before the Law: worship, not obligation

Long before Moses came down the mountain, Abram gave a tenth of the spoils from battle to Melchizedek, a priest-king of Salem: 'And Abram gave him a tenth of everything' (Genesis 14:20). No command had been issued. This was a response, gratitude expressed in the ancient world's common language of tribute, redirected toward the true God rather than a local deity or ruler. Giving a tenth to gods and kings was ordinary practice across the ancient Near East; Abram's originality was in whom he gave it to. Jacob does something similar but more conditional. Fleeing his brother with nothing, he vows: 'of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you' (Genesis 28:22, ESV). It's a promise made in fear and hope, at Bethel, before he has a shekel to his name. Neither man was told to tithe. Both did it anyway, as an act of trust that whatever came to them had come from God's hand first. That's the seed the later Law formalizes, but it starts as worship, not statute.

The tithe written into Israel's law

Under Moses, the tithe became structured and specific. 'Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year' (Deuteronomy 14:22-23, NIV). Its purpose was concrete: the Levites, who served at the tabernacle and later the temple, received no land inheritance like the other tribes, so 'I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance for the work they do' (Numbers 18:21, NIV). There was also a tithe every third year set aside explicitly for widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor (Deuteronomy 14:28-29), this was a welfare system as much as a worship system. Malachi 3:10, often quoted as a blank promise of financial blessing, is addressed to a specific post-exilic Israel that had stopped bringing offerings and was robbing God of what the covenant required. It's a rebuke inside a national covenant relationship, not a universal formula for personal income. Reading it as a guaranteed transaction misses what it actually says.

Jesus: the heart behind the percentage

Jesus affirmed the practice of tithing when speaking to the Pharisees, 'You give a tenth of your spices... But you have neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness' (Matthew 23:23, NIV). Notice what He's correcting: not tithing itself, but tithing as a substitute for justice and mercy. Then there's the widow. Watching people drop money into the temple treasury, Jesus points to a poor widow giving two small coins and says she 'has put in more than all the others... She out of her poverty put in everything she had, all she had to live on' (Mark 12:43-44, ESV). Two coins outweigh a rich man's large gift, because Jesus is weighing sacrifice, not sum. And to His disciples He pushes further still, past any percentage: 'those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples' (Luke 14:33, NIV). He never legislates 10%. He asks for everything.

Paul and the New Testament pattern of giving

When Paul organizes a collection for the suffering church in Jerusalem, he never invokes the tithe. Instead: 'Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously' (2 Corinthians 9:6, NIV), and 'Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver' (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV). A chapter earlier he sets the actual standard: 'if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have' (2 Corinthians 8:12, NIV). That's proportional, not fixed, someone with little gives little and it counts fully; someone with much is expected to give much. The New Testament pattern is giving shaped by means and by willingness, evaluated by God, not by a percentage on a spreadsheet.

Where this is not simple

Here's where honest people land in different places. Some Christians hold that 10% remains a wise, tested baseline, a concrete number stops generosity from quietly shrinking to nothing, and Jesus' words to the Pharisees assume tithing as a good practice, not a bad one. Others point out that the New Testament never repeats the command for the church, that the Old Testament tithe was tied to a theocratic, agricultural economy and a specific tribe with no land, and that grace-shaped giving in 2 Corinthians 8-9 is proportional and voluntary, not fixed. Both sides can quote real verses without twisting them. What's not defensible is either using Malachi 3:10 as a prosperity-gospel transaction ('tithe and God must bless you financially') or using Christian liberty as cover for stinginess. I land closer to the second view, no fixed percentage binds a Christian under grace, but I'd rather see someone tithe faithfully out of trust than give 3% resentfully while calling it freedom. The number matters less than what's happening in the giver.

If this is not theoretical for you

If money is genuinely tight and tithing feels like one more thing you're failing at, hear this plainly: God is not running a ledger where your giving buys His attention. If financial pressure is tangled up with anxiety, shame, or a marriage strained by debt, a pastor's counsel is not a substitute for a good financial advisor or, sometimes, a counselor, Scripture doesn't remove the need for practical help, it sits alongside it. Start where you actually are, not where a formula says you should be. Giving ten pounds cheerfully, from someone with very little, is not a lesser gift than a large one given with resentment, Jesus said as much about the widow. Faithfulness this Tuesday looks like an honest look at your bank balance and an honest prayer, not a guilt-driven number.

Questions people ask

Does Malachi 3:10 mean God will financially bless me if I tithe?

Malachi 3:10 is God's rebuke to a specific covenant nation that had stopped bringing offerings altogether, it's not a universal promise that tithing guarantees personal financial increase. Treating it as a transaction risks turning generosity into a bet rather than worship. The verse is real and worth reading in context; it just isn't making the promise it's often used to make.

Should I tithe on my gross income or my net income?

The Bible doesn't address payroll deductions, so there's no verse settling this. Many Christians tithe on gross as an act of trust; others tithe on net, especially when money is tight, and increase later. Since the New Testament frames giving as proportional and willing rather than legally fixed (2 Corinthians 8:12), this is a matter of conscience, not command.

What if I genuinely can't afford to give 10% right now?

Then give what you can, honestly, and don't let guilt masquerade as conviction. Paul's standard is 'according to what one has, not according to what one does not have' (2 Corinthians 8:12, NIV). Sacrificial giving from little is not a lesser gift, Jesus said the opposite of the widow's two coins. Revisit the amount as your circumstances change.

Does my giving have to go to my local church?

The Old Testament tithe supported the Levites specifically; the New Testament doesn't specify one channel. Supporting the local church that feeds and disciples you is wise and biblically consistent with 1 Corinthians 9:14, but giving to the poor, missions, or other kingdom work is also genuinely biblical generosity, not a lesser substitute.

If you want to go further

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

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