Taxing, Tipping, or Tithing – Day 1: Are You Taxed, Tipping, or Tithing?

"Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything." — Genesis 14:20

Most of us approach giving with one of three mindsets. The first is Taxed — giving only because we feel we have to, like a legal obligation we resent but can't escape. The second is Tipping — giving a small, optional, afterthought amount, the way you'd leave a few dollars on a restaurant table when the service was just okay. The third is Tithing — giving a full tenth as an act of worship, faith, and trust, declaring that God is Lord of all we have.

Abram didn't tithe to Melchizedek because a law required it. There was no law yet. He gave because something in him recognized that the victory he had just experienced — rescuing Lot, defeating four kings — was not his own doing. It was God's. And his giving was his way of saying so out loud.

The question isn't whether you give. The question is what your giving says about what you believe. A tax is paid grudgingly. A tip is left casually. A tithe is offered intentionally — as an act of worship to a God who is worthy of everything.

This week, as we walk through this 7-day devotional together, let's allow God to move us from obligation to offering, from tips to trust.

When you give, which mindset do you bring — tax, tip, or tithe? What would it look like to tithe as an act of worship this week?

Lord, examine my heart when it comes to giving. Help me to move beyond obligation and into offering — trusting that You are faithful and worthy of all I have. Amen.