The first tithe check is usually the hardest one. You sit down, look at the numbers, and your stomach tightens. There are bills you have not paid yet, expenses you have not planned for, and a balance that feels too thin already. You pray something honest, like “God, please let there be enough at the end of the month.”
That is normal. Tithing is an act of trust, and trust takes practice. Here are the six questions I get asked most often, with the shortest faithful answers I can give.
A tithe is a tenth. The Hebrew and Greek words behind it mean exactly that, one-tenth. In Scripture, God’s people bring ten percent of their income back to the Lord through the local church, as an act of worship.
For the longer answer, see What Is a Tithe?.
Because money is the most common substitute god, and the tithe is one of the most practical ways to keep it in its place. Jesus said it plainly: “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Tithing is a weekly vote against the wrong master.
It also, frankly, works. When God invites His people to tithe, He also invites them to test Him:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
People who actually start tithing tend to say the same thing afterward: somehow, ninety percent goes further than a hundred ever did.
The biblical principle is firstfruits, which points to gross. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” Israel did not pay the merchants and tax collectors first and then bring God whatever was left. They brought the first basket.
Applied to a paycheck, that points to gross income, before taxes.
If gross feels impossible right now, start with net. But aim for gross over time. For the full case, see Gross vs Net Tithing.
Most pastors say yes on gifts that function as income, and yes on windfalls (lottery winnings, inheritances treated as a one-time gain). Scholarships and grants are usually not tithed on, because they are tied to a specific purpose (tuition) rather than free income.
Tax refunds are the most-asked exception. Most pastors say no, because you already tithed on that money when you earned it. The refund is your own money coming back. See Should I Tithe on My Tax Return? for the longer answer.
The principle to apply is straightforward: tithe on what God provides as income, not on money you have already tithed on.
Tithe anyway. The tithe is the first ten percent, not the spare ten percent.
Debt is real. It is also not solved by withholding worship from God. The path forward is to bring the tithe and then aggressively reorganize the rest of your spending to pay debt down. Talk to your pastor. Get on a written plan. Cut the things that need to be cut. But do not cut the tithe.
If you are wrestling with this honestly, see Should You Tithe While in Debt?.
Generally, no. The tithe goes to the local church for the church to deploy. The whole point of the tithe is trusting God, through the local body, to do more with that money than you could.
Designated giving is what offerings are for. Offerings are over and above the tithe, and they can be directed wherever God prompts you, including the church’s specific funds, missionaries, or mercy ministries you support.
The simple rule: the tithe goes to the church for the church’s discretion. Offerings can go where God leads.
The most common mistake with tithing is to focus on the dollar amount instead of the heart.
The number matters. Ten percent is the biblical baseline, and it is worth getting right. But the number is not the point. The point is that every paycheck, you stop and say with your bank account, God, You come first. Before the bills, before the savings, before the next thing I want. You. Period.
The math is a tool. The posture is the worship.
Bring the first ten percent. Trust God with the rest.