Dwight Fletcher | Put God first in your finances

EVERYTHING BELONGS to God, so we must honour Him with the money He has entrusted to us. We should worship God with all we have and with all we are, and this includes our finances.

The inner essence of worship is the treasuring of God as infinitely valuable above everything. What we do outwardly is a demonstration of what we think inwardly. When we go to church and sing about God, for example, it’s an outward expression of our inner conviction. Money is a big part of life, therefore, God wants it to be a part of our worship.

The Word of God tells us that a t the basic level of worship is tithing. ‘“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.” Leviticus 27:30 (NIV). The word ‘tithe’ literally means, giving a tenth to Him. It’s saying to God, “I love You, trust You and believe that You will take care of my needs.” The word ‘holy’ means ‘set apart’ for God. God claims ownership of that money. God uses our money through the agency of the Church to impact the world, save the lost, feed the poor, heal the broken. He uses it to expand the impact of His Kingdom.

God reciprocates a blessing to us through our giving. “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing…” Proverbs 3:9 (TLB). When we give to God first (not after everything else has been done), God’s promise is that He will bless us accordingly. This is a matter of faith. Whether we have a lot or little, God will be faithful to His word. There is a principle in this, it’s called the Principle of the First. The Principle of the First is to give the first to God and the rest will be blessed. This is what separated Abel’s offering from Cain’s in Genesis 4:3-5. Abel brought the firstborn of his increase, but Cain didn’t give first fruits, he just gave an offering, on his own terms. God didn’t accept that.

In the Book of Joshua, God told the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land. God told Joshua to give Him all the silver and gold from Jericho. This is the Principle of the First in action, because Jericho was the first city. God was saying, ‘Give me the first and the rest will be blessed’. They disobeyed and because of that the second city, Ai, was not blessed.

They lost the battle. Keeping the dedicated thing that belonged to God became a curse in their hands. They then had to get right before they could conquer the rest of the Promised Land. “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse — your whole nation…” Malachi 3:8-9 (NIV).

We must return God’s ten per cent; the first ten per cent. It takes faith to tithe first and then pay the bills, instead of paying the bills first and then seeing if there’s enough left over for God. The first puts God in His rightful place in our hearts and lives. We can’t put God first in our lives without putting Him first in our finances, because our finances are a big part of our lives.

“My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (NIV).