Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (Matthew 23:23).

Jesus was continually in conflict with the religious leaders of His day. Their problem was that they focused on religious rules and regulations and missed the most important things. Jesus doesn’t tell them to disregard tithing but He does warn them against missing the point and neglecting the most essential issues.

Justice, mercy and faithfulness are the principles that matter most. If we pay attention to tithing but aren’t just, merciful and faithful in serving God we have missed the point. Jesus reinforces the point that our character is more important than what we do.

​We are to do the things we are supposed to do, but we are to do them as the kind of people we are called to be. Don’t neglect character and focus on behavior. God is still making us individuals who are just in our treatment of others, merciful to their failings and faithful in our service to Him. Then the specifics like generosity will reflect accurately who we are.