[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_heading title=”Love is Giving” _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Georgia|700|on||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”42px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_heading][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/h4you.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/iStock_000019040823_Large-scaled.jpg” title_text=”painted heart” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” min_height=”766px” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
By Terance Clark \u00a0 \u00a0 August 30, 2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a08 Minute Read<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”241px” custom_padding=”49px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Week 48 \u00a0 This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n (Note:<\/strong> This is part 2 of a series on giving through tithing we began last week related to the passages found in Deuteronomy 11-16.\u00a0 If you missed part 1 please go back and read as it will provide context.\u00a0 You can find the link below.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Psalms 89:14 Says “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;”\u00a0 It is the absolute beginning for understanding all that God is and what He is doing and even why He’s doing it.\u00a0 Last week we saw the difference between righteousness and justice.\u00a0 Justice is the rules of law that govern a society, but righteousness is rooted in loving through giving.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px|auto|1px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Giving is Love<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Hebrew word for love is “hava” and it’s root word “hav” is the word for give.\u00a0 In our culture love is romantic, but in God’s language love is giving. For God so loved that He gave\u2026. Does that sound familiar?\u00a0 To love is to give and when you follow Gods ways you find that whenever He does something, He follows it with an opportunity for us to give.\u00a0 First, He gives, then He gives us an opportunity to give.\u00a0 Beginning in the garden God took six days to create the perfect place for us then He created man and gave him the world and put him in the garden.\u00a0 He then created the opportunity for man to give love back.\u00a0 It’s so like us with our evil inclination to think the tree of knowledge was His endeavor to tempt us.\u00a0 No, it was the opportunity he created to allow man to give back with obedience and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n Tzedaka is a combination of giving out of love and giving because it’s the right thing to do.\u00a0 Because God established this mindset within His people loving and giving were interchangeable.\u00a0 To love was to give and to give was to love.\u00a0 Not just as an act of kindness, but a moral responsibility.\u00a0 You see in our culture giving is an act of kindness.\u00a0 We feel good when we give to charity, that makes me a good person, but in Gods kingdom giving is a normal way of life.\u00a0 Giving is not to draw attention to ourselves, but to ensure everyone is cared for.\u00a0 Either way we feel satisfied and accomplished when we have the opportunity to help others.\u00a0 Keep this in mind as it’s a key element missing in the way we give tithes today.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n “Loving and giving were interchangeable<\/span><\/strong><\/em>“<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px|auto|1px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” inline_fonts=”Georgia,Geostar” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n When God established Israel the nation He set it up so that giving was built into the way of life within the community.\u00a0The priests gave to the nation by providing the means for people to worship the Lord.\u00a0 The people gave to the priests their food so that they would have a source to survive.\u00a0 The priests could not own land they just received from the people.\u00a0 The people couldn’t come before God they needed the priests.\u00a0 The poor were also included within this process and the community was built around the process of supporting this system.\u00a0 Most of the offerings were setup so that when the sacrifices were done they were shared with the poor or shared with others.\u00a0 I’ll cover this in detail next week, but the people never got the best part of the meal they always gave it away.\u00a0 You see how everyone was always thinking about what was best for everyone else and giving was the foundation of the nation.\u00a0 This is God’s way of thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px|auto|1px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n What is Tithing<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The original purpose of tithing was to provide food for the poor of the nation. \u00a0<\/span>Don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t just a welfare program, it was much more than that.\u00a0 It was a structure that provided a way to make giving a part of society and created a circle of dependency and trust.\u00a0 Deuteronomy 14:22 states that tithing consisted only of crops and not money.\u00a0 The crops were only those grown in Israel which were Wheat, Barley, Oats, Spelt, Rye, grapes for wine and olives for oil, and Gentiles were not required to do it.\u00a0 I’m not saying Gentiles are not to give, I think you can see thus far that giving is a part of Gods nature and should be with us too.\u00a0 What I am trying to uncover is that there has been an underlying pressure put in the church that God’s word says we are cursed or not blessed when we fail to give a certain amount and the truth is we are not obligated to tithe to begin with.\u00a0 Tithing only occurs within Israel according to the scriptures.\u00a0 More on this later.<\/span><\/p>\n I know I’m opening up a bunch of stuff here, but give me a few more weeks and I’ll straighten it all out.\u00a0 In our culture we worship wealth and the getting of riches which is more in line with Roman and Greek culture.\u00a0 In the kingdom the pursuit of wealth is considered ungodly and a weight to what really matters in life.\u00a0 The pursuit to know the Lord and His ways is the goal.\u00a0 We see this not only in scripture lived out by the apostles, but in early church writings as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n “The pursuit to know the Lord and His ways is the goal<\/span><\/strong><\/em>“<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px|auto|1px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” inline_fonts=”Georgia” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n In closing, this week we see that righteousness (tzedaka) is the process of loving through giving and is the balancing piece of justice.\u00a0 Tithing is a part of tzedaka that God established to provide for the priests and the poor and it consisted of very specific crops.\u00a0 Next week we’ll get into the details of tithing and then compare it to what we’ve been taught.\u00a0 Finally we’ll uncover Malachi 3 and see what tithing should look like in our world today.\u00a0 Remember, the goal is to free our hearts to understand what God’s desires are for us so that we can become like Him and that is rooted in a heart that loves to give.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” 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_builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_blog posts_number=”1″ use_manual_excerpt=”off” excerpt_length=”0″ show_author=”off” show_date=”off” show_categories=”off” show_excerpt=”off” show_pagination=”off” offset_number=”1″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_blog][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_blog posts_number=”1″ use_manual_excerpt=”off” excerpt_length=”0″ show_author=”off” show_date=”off” show_categories=”off” show_excerpt=”off” show_pagination=”off” offset_number=”2″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_blog][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Terance Clark \u00a0 \u00a0 August 30, 2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a08 Minute Read Week 48 \u00a0 This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17 \u00a0\u00a0 (Note: This is part 2 of a series on giving through tithing we began last week related to the passages found in Deuteronomy 11-16.\u00a0 If you missed part 1 please go 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