The Blessed Life: The Power of Offerings

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story of three stewards. One steward was entrusted with five talents. When accounting time came around, he returned those five talents to the master, plus five more. And the master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (v. 21).

There was another steward who was entrusted with two talents, and, likewise, he returned to the master more than he had received.

But the third steward—the one who was entrusted with one talent—was different. He brought only the single talent back to the master and said, “There you have what is yours” (v. 25). And the master called him wicked and lazy.

The principle of faithful stewardship teaches that we should give more to God than just the tithe. Now, I’m not saying tithing is unimportant. Quite the contrary! Tithing is giving back to God what is already His, and it is the foundation on which our giving is built. Tithing removes the curse and brings a blessing on the balance of our finances. It causes God to rebuke the devourer and open the windows of heaven.

But if you look closely at Malachi 3, God mentions more than the tithe. He mentions “tithes and offerings” (v. 8). In other words, it’s tithes and offerings that remove the curse, bring blessings, and rebuke the devourer.

God wants to bless and multiply our finances—just as He blessed and multiplied the two fish and the five loaves in Matthew 14. He can cause our finances to go further than we could ever cause them to go through our own cleverness or diligence. I know this is true, because I’ve seen it operate in my own life over and over.

God wants your finances to be blessed, and He wants your finances to be multiplied. But it is vital to understand that you will never see the multiplication of your finances until you understand these two principles:

• We give to the Lord first so that our finances are blessed.
• We give over and above our tithes because only that which is shared can be multiplied.

These are the principles of multiplication. And they are as powerful today as they were on that Galilean hillside.

The enemy wants to keep you from discovering God’s principles governing financial stewardship, giving, and blessing. Why? Because once you do, it will change every area of your life from your marriage to your health and finances. To learn more, we encourage you to invest in The Blessed Life by Robert Morris.

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Copyright © 2002 by Robert Morris