Malachi 3:9-12 (NLT)

You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put Me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Matthew 6:2 (CJB)

So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already!

Tzedakah means –  Justice and Righteous Giving

1. Giving is not a suggestion.

• There are more than 500 verses in the bible concerning prayer and nearly 500 verses concerning faith, but there are more than 2000 verses on the subject of money and possessions.
• Jesus talked about money and/or giving in 16 of His 38 parables!

2. God Must Be First

Exodus 13:2 (ESV)

“Consecrate to Me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is Mine.”

Exodus 13:12-13 (ESV)

. . . you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

• The clean firstborn had to be sacrificed and the unclean firstborn had to be redeemed.

3. Giving ALWAYS comes before receiving.

Romans 5:8 (NLT)

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Malachi 3:10 (NLT)

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put Me to the test!

Luke 20:25 (NLT)

“Well then,” He said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

• The question is: Do you give to God what belongs to God?

1 Samuel 15:29 (NLT)

And He who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will He change His mind, for He is not human that He should change His mind!”

Luke 6:38 (NLT)

“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.”

• The FIRST belongs to God!