>>What tithing is is an opportunity for God to test us how much we're willing to believe and follow him. If you're rich and have all the money you'll ever need paying 10% isn't going to be all that hard. What really tests our mettle is whether we're able to pay our tithing when things aren't going so well. Those are the times we need to pay most, remember Job? God's going to test even the most faithful like that, if we can't stand a few trials with paying our tithes we're certainly not very good Christians are we? Something like tithing is minor compared to all the martyrdoms and and persecutions Christians have gone through for centuries. If we can't handle something minor like tithing we sure aren't going to handle something major like that.

Don't you think that you should give your belongings to others in need out of the kindness of your heart, and out of good will toward others alone? Why would we need to prove to god that we are worthy of his grace? Could we even manage such a thing? If we are to prove to God our faith, couldn't he discern that without the test being carried out? He knows everything, doesn't he? Surely he can see into the hearts of men.

Could it be instead that we need to tithe in order to prove to ourselves that we truly believe in god? I can believe in god with all my heart, but God may or may not tell me if my faith is genuine. Could tithing be a device by which we can test our own faith?

Of course there are tons of other problems all together, like people who are more than willing to throw their faith in something, anything, because they need an emotional crutch. Are these people more pious believers than someone who has agonized over the problem of the suffering of humanity for years, and finally made the decision to follow Jesus? Do we even have a right to judge either?