You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 1:13)

Have you ever had this kind of thought before? Here is a good way to tell. Check your attitude at offering time. Have you ever wanted to hide your pocketbook from God so you wouldn’t have to give? If so, you need to change your attitude or it will prevent you from receiving your financial harvest. It will stop your increase. Refuse to harbor such dishonorable thoughts toward God in your heart. Rebuke them and say, “No! I will not have that attitude. I love God and I love to give my tithe!”

Actually, we ought to be like little children when it comes to giving. Have you ever noticed how excited children get when their parents give them some money to put in the offering? They can hardly wait to give it.

We ought to be the same way. We ought to look forward to giving our tithes and offerings all week long. “Well, it’s hard to have that attitude now,” you might say. “After all, I’m not a child anymore. No one is giving me any money.”

God is! He is the One Who gives you everything you have. He owns everything on this earth because He made it. He will give you possessions if you will honor Him in joy with the first fruits of your increase.

Some people try to come up with their own plan. They’ll say, “I can’t really afford to give a full 10 percent, so I’ll just give five.” But that won’t work, because the Bible says the first tenth already belongs to the Lord. If we give Him anything less, we’re robbing Him (Malachi 3:8). Leviticus 27:28, 30 says it this way: “... no devoted offering that a man may devote to the LORD of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the LORD... And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S. It is holy to the LORD.”

Just as tithing opens the door to increase and the blessings of God, stealing God’s tithe and using it on yourself opens the door to decrease and the financial destruction the devil brings. You’ll never come out ahead by keeping the tithe.

When you really understand what a great deal tithing is, you’ll have a hard time not getting excited about it! You’ll want to jump and shout and praise God every time you think about it. You won’t be upset at God for His 10 percent; you’ll thank Him for letting it flow through your hands.

He didn’t have to do that, you know. He could have just given us the 90 percent and withheld the 10. He could withhold 90 and give us 10! But He didn’t. He gave it to us so we could use it to keep the door of prosperity open. He gave it to us so we could return it and establish a covenant of blessing with Him.

Do you realize what a wonderful privilege it is to have a financial covenant with Almighty God? Do you understand what it means to be connected to His heavenly economy? We don’t have to worry about economic depression or recession. We can sleep peacefully at night when the rest of the world is tormented by fear of financial failure.