Tuesday’s post: read this with your Bible open

If giving has ever felt like fear, pressure, or a loyalty test, this is for you. Read the passages in context and let Scripture speak for itself.

Hey—

I’m sending this before Tuesday’s article drops because I want to be clear, and I also want to say it gently.

If you’ve ever heard “you’re robbing God” aimed at your wallet, you already know this isn’t just a Bible topic. It hits people in the gut. It can make sincere believers feel nervous around God.

I’ve watched the offering moment become a pressure moment. I’ve watched good people do spiritual math in their heads—wondering if heaven is going to punish them for being broke. I’ve watched families carrying debt feel like they’re disobeying God because they can’t keep up.

That fear doesn’t produce generosity. It produces anxiety. And anxiety makes people easy to manage.

What makes it harder is that the pressure usually comes dressed in Scripture. Real verses. Serious tone. Strong authority. But often the verses are lifted out of their covenant world and dropped into a modern budget like nothing changed.

On Tuesday I’m publishing Unpacking #3 — The Tithe Isn’t What You’ve Been Told. The short version of the claim I’m challenging is this: biblical tithing was a Temple-centered covenant practice, not a New Covenant payroll rule—and coercion doesn’t belong in worship.

I’m not writing this because I’m anti-giving. I’m not. I believe giving is part of a faithful life with God. I’m writing because fear-based giving warps people. It trains them to associate “obedience” with panic, and “faithfulness” with paying to stay covered.

One of the reasons this conversation gets slippery is language. “Tithe” (a tenth) gets treated like a synonym for “giving,” and then anything can be demanded in God’s name. “Storehouse” gets treated like “our building,” and suddenly the local institution becomes the gatekeeper of what counts as obedience.

And once that happens, the most tender-hearted people carry the cost first.

Tuesday’s piece walks through Torah context and Malachi 3, but I want to mention one passage that gets mishandled constantly: the widow’s mite.

Most people have only ever heard it as a fundraising story: give like the widow, even if it hurts. But when you slow down and read what’s happening around it, it doesn’t read like a fundraising poster. It reads like a warning light. Yeshua is exposing a religious culture that consumes the vulnerable while honoring itself.

I’m also sharing a local example from my own memory here in Arizona, where the widow’s mite was used during a building push in the very way I’m describing, with personal sacrifice stories layered on top that quietly turn generosity into a loyalty test. I’m not telling you that to create drama. I’m telling you because these aren’t abstract ideas. They land in real rooms, on real consciences.

And here’s why I’m pressing this: coercion-based giving doesn’t just distort money. It distorts your picture of God. It trains people to believe He’s pleased with fear, and that access to Him is maintained by financial compliance.

That’s not the heart of the New Covenant.

Hit reply and tell me this: when you give—do you feel clean, or do you feel managed?

If you’re in a church that’s open-handed, transparent, and humble with money, praise God for that. Protect that culture. And if this note makes you think of someone who’s been under pressure or in a church where questions get punished, feel free to share it with them—no agenda, just light.

And please—open your own Bible and read the passages in context. If you want to read this with the text open, start here: Malachi 3:6–12, Mark 12:38–44, and Matthew 23:23. Don’t let anyone (including me) do your seeing for you.

I’m praying Abba gives you clarity, peace, and courage as you sort this out. May His shalom rest on your home and your decisions.

Sergio