You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15)
Many times when we read this commandment of You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15) we take it that God does not want us to steal from our fellow human beings.
But have you ever considered that this commandment can also apply to stealing from God?
God then continues and says, "But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?'" and His response is "In tithes and offerings." (Malachi 3:8)
The repercussions of doing this are terrible because He says, "You are cursed with a curse because you have robbed Me." (Malachi 3:9)
To remove this curse that arises from stealing from God, you have to Bring all the tithes to the storehouse (Malachi 3:10) by giving 10% of your income to the Church that feeds you spiritually.
The results of doing this are wonderful because God says, "I will open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessings for you that there will not be enough room to receive it." (Malachi 3:9)
Therefore instead of stealing from God, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render to God the things that are God's. (Matthew 22:21)
Once you commit to stop stealing from God by tithing regularly, also commit to doing the following:
1. Stop stealing by commission - that it going out of your way to take something that does not belong to you.
2. Stop stealing by omission - that is by failing to return something that does not belong to you that you had borrowed.
To remain committed to this goal, remind yourself that what you may consider a "little sin" can have large consequences.
We can see a good example of this when the Israelites were fighting for their Promised Land at a place called Ai, because one man named Achan took the things that God said they should not take and buried them in his house. (Joshua 7:20)
As a result of taking A beautiful Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of God of 50 shekels, (Joshua 7:21) the people of Ai killed 36 Israelites and chased all who had come to fight. (Joshua 7:5)
This was a humiliating defeat because the inhabitants of Ai were few in number (Joshua 7:3) and so the Israelites should have conquered them easily.
Therefore ensure that you do not steal from God or from your fellow humans even if they are your enemies. This is because it can result in you losing spiritual battles that you should have won easily.
A practical example can be if you are in the midst of a spiritual battle where you are praying and fasting but nothing is moving in your direction. What you may not know is that you had borrowed something from someone and totally forgot about it and now the owner has also forgotten where it went but they are pleading with God to help them recover it.
So ask God to show you the things that you have in your possession that are not yours so that you can return them to their rightful owners.
Prayer
Heavenly Father I ask You in the name of Jesus to help me to tithe faithfully even when what I have does not meet my needs.Father God I also ask You to remind me of anything in my possession that I have stolen either advertently or inadvertently so that I can return it to its rightful owner. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
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