Difficult Questions: Can Believers Tithe More Than 10 Percent?

From time to time, we dig into Scripture and seek answers to difficult questions from the Bible. Today, we are asking the question: “Can believers tithe more than 10 percent?”

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)

The answer to our question lies in how closely we want to adhere to the Bible and what it literally states. If we want to literally do as the Word says, then our tithe will not exceed 10 percent because the word tithe actually means a tenth. So, to be technical, if we are designating something as tithe, God expects it to be 10 percent of our gross income- or a tenth of our increase.

Can we decide to give God more than 10 percent each time we give him our tithe? Certainly we can! If we want to honor God with more than a tenth, we can definitely do so, but anything above a tenth would actually be an offering. And there is nothing wrong with that. For example, if someone says they tithe 20 percent, they are actually tithing 10 percent and giving an offering of 10 percent.

What’s the difference? The tithe, or the tenth shows God that we know He is our source and that everything we gain is actually His. According to the Bible, it is expected that believers tithe. We can debate whether tithing is required, but you can search our other posts to read more about the command to tithe. The tithe carries with it the promise that God will rebuke the devourer, or the thief, from stealing from us, and God will open the windows of heaven to bless us with more than we can receive. The tithe is to be paid to the storehouse, or the place where we are fed and cared for- our local church.

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 (NKJV)

On the other hand, offerings carry a promise of increase that is in direct correlation with the amount we give. When we give offerings, our increase is based on how much we give. If we are generous in our offerings, we will receive a generous harvest from it. An offering does not have a limit like the tithe does. An offering can be given to any ministry you choose, but many choose to give it to their local church.

So, to get back to our question, technically we cannot tithe more than 10 percent because the word tithe actually means a tenth. You can’t tithe more than 10 percent because a tenth equals 10 percent. Mathematically, it isn’t possible for a tenth to exceed 10 percent. However, we can add an offering to our tithe and go beyond 10 percent in that way.