When you give, you should absolutely expect a return! It’s a promise in God’s Word (Luke 6:38; Malachi 3:10, Mark 4:20, 2 Corinthians 9:6). So, if you are a giver, you’re already on the right path to prosperity. But if something is blocking your way, you can take steps to clear the path to your blessing. Begin by considering some of the common roadblocks to receiving.
1. Are you tithing?
God’s will for His children is THE BLESSING—to be the lender and not the borrower, above only and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:12-13). But if you’ve found yourself in a tough financial spot, take heart; there is deliverance available for you.
If you’re in a place where a financial advisor has recommended that you file for bankruptcy, first and foremost seek the Lord, and if you feel a peace about moving forward, do so. But one thing is very important—watch your words.
Romans 12:3 says, “…God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (KJV). Every born-again child of God starts out with exactly the same measure of faith. So if you’re saved, you have the very faith of God already inside you! Isn’t that good news?
Furthermore, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica and said, “Your faith grows exceedingly” (2 Thessalonians 1:3, NKJV).
This means your faith can also grow exceedingly.
So, exactly how did their faith grow?
Jesus often told His followers to give: “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38).
Agriculture is the first thing we think about when we hear the phrase “seedtime and harvest.” It’s what comes to mind when we first read about it in Genesis 8:22, where we are promised that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
But you don’t have to look very long to see that the principle of seedtime and harvest, or “sowing and reaping,” applies to every area of our lives. The law of sowing and reaping is a God-instituted process that will exist as long as we are on this earth.
The exciting thing about the promise of hundredfold return is that anything that can be produced by the Word of God has the potential for a hundredfold return. You will find all the way through the Old Testament that people’s crops were multiplied a hundredfold (see Genesis 26:12). This is God’s principle of return on the covenant.
When you plant, there will be a hundredfold return coming in response: whether it be words, faith, money, etc. The whole kingdom of God operates according to this principle: seed planting and harvest!
To understand the full intent and extent of THE BLESSING, you have to return to where it was first expressed—in the creation of man. In the Garden of Eden, God’s intent was for man to have dominion over the whole earth.
When it comes to offering your tithe to Jesus, your mouth is just as important as your hand. Under the old covenant, the people were to take their tithe—the first fruits of their increase—to the priest declaring, “Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us’” (Deuteronomy 26:3). Then the priest would place the tithe in a basket and present it on the altar before God as the people declared aloud their redemption before the Lord (verses 5-10, 13-15).
Yes—because the Lord desires to bless the work of our hands (Deuteronomy 16:15, 24:19). Is work pleasant? Not always. But it is definitely not evil.
So what is God’s perspective on work? First, we must realize that God creates all of us with a very special purpose and destiny. Jeremiah is a great example of this. God told him: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
Jesus said in Mark 12:17, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” In that day, the coin used to pay taxes was the Roman denarius, and it had Caesar’s picture on it. Since it was a government coin and had a government stamp on it, it belonged to the government. What Jesus was saying was, “The coin is Caesar’s; let him have his own.”
The whole kingdom of God operates according to the principles of planting, seedtime and harvest. The hundredfold return is God’s principle of return on your giving. What are you planting into the kingdom of God? Expect a hundredfold return on whatever you give, whether it be words, faith, money or any other seed you plant.
Purchasing ministry materials and tithing are two different things, even if a portion of your purchase goes to support a ministry like KCM.
The biblical promise of a hundredfold return is for sowing seed of any offering you give. But does it also apply to giving your tithe?
Actually, the tithe is a specific commandment from the Lord and carries its own blessing with it. This is a blessing that is separate from the blessing we receive when we sow an offering, which is over and above the tithe:
Living on the streets of Philadelphia, functionally illiterate, parents in and out of prison, Nashon Walker became a bitter and violent young man. Sentenced to 85 years in prison at the age of 19, he met Jesus and his future was forever changed.
Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (NKJV).
This verse tells us a lot about tithing:
It can be difficult to have a strong conviction about something as important as tithing, but it not be shared by your spouse. The enemy would like you to think you cannot have financial success because of your spouse’s objection to tithing.
Proverbs 3:9 gives clear direction for tithing on gross income (before taxes) vs. tithing on the net (after taxes): “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.” Tithes should be given from the first fruits—your income before any expenses or other obligations are taken out—the gross, not the net. (Also read Deuteronomy 26.)
Brother Copeland tithes off the gross and considers the money that goes for taxes as a seed into the government. Since he started doing this, he has never failed to have more than enough to pay his taxes when they are due.
Many people see themselves as on a fixed income, such as receiving a regular check in the mail from Social Security or a pension. No matter how you receive your income, think of your income as your seed bin, out of which you give to others.
Generally speaking, we tithe on our income. Loaned money from a bank or lending institution is not income, but debt that must be paid back with interest. Therefore, loans are not sources of income, but sources of expense that would not require a tithe.
It is amazing how many believers waste their energies arguing whether or not tithing is a New Testament doctrine. Tithing didn’t begin with the Law! According to Genesis 4:2-4, before the Law was ever given to Moses, Abel and Cain brought the firstfruits of their labor to God. Again in Genesis 14, we find that Abraham tithed—before the Law.