What does the Bible say about tithing is one of the most-asked questions of Christian search engines — and the answer is more layered than a flat "give 10%." Scripture's witness is that giving is a spiritual practice rooted in trust, not a tax for membership.
The tithe is established in the Old Testament — Abraham gives a tenth to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20), the law commands it (Leviticus 27:30), and Malachi 3:8-10 famously calls Israel's withholding of the tithe a kind of robbing of God. That passage also contains scripture's most direct invitation to test God: "prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven."
In the New Testament, the principle deepens but the exact percentage opens up. Jesus criticizes the Pharisees who tithed mint and rue but neglected justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23) — he didn't tell them to stop tithing, but he refused to let them use it as a substitute for the weightier things. Paul's framework in 2 Corinthians 9:7 sets the standard for Christian giving: "every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
A faithful default in most Christian traditions is to begin with 10% and grow from there — not because the percentage is sacred but because the practice forms generosity faster than reasoning does. Where you give matters too: the local church first, but also missions, the poor, and people God puts in your path. See also generosity, money, and worship.
Verses
Malachi 3:8-10
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Matthew 23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Proverbs 3:9-10
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Reflection
If your bank statement told the story of what you love, what would it say?
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