Genesis 14:18-23 says:

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
(Gen. 14:18-23)

All throughout the Bible we are taught to honor the Lord.  Even when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the first commandment He gave was, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” We are not to worship or give any place of honor to false gods.  Proverbs 3:9 even says, “Honor the LORD with your possessions…”

When we give our Tithe to God under Old Covenant principles, we pay our Tithe to Him as if we owed a debt.  Doing that, we come back under that performance mode.  Under the New Covenant, Jesus paid-in-full, the price for ALL DEBT and we no longer owe God. 

Now, one might immediately argue the point and say… “Yes, we own God everything.  We owe Him our very lives.”  That mentality is that of a servant, not one who is a son.  For a son does not owe, but is a partaker in the inheritance of his father.  Galatians 3:24-26 says, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  And Galatians 4:7 says, “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

However, if you see yourself as one who “pays your tithe to God” (as under the law), then you have an incorrect picture of God’s heart.  When you pay someone for any service or goods, even an act of kindness, it is in a sense, paying someone for services rendered.  Therefore you pay a debt you emotionally feel that you owe.  However, you cannot pay for a free gift; you pay for something you owe. 

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” The word “saved” means, to save, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):—heal, preserve, to save (self), do well {which implies prosperity}, to be whole or make whole.  All of these benefits come to us in our salvation package.  We receive healing, preservation {as in long life}, doing well {as in financial soundness} and being made whole, physically and in every area.

God gave all this to individuals who receive Him as their Savior; all because of His unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor, which is called “God’s grace.”  And God gave it to us as a free-gift because we can never earn or pay for it.  It’s free!  When we give our Tithe {money} to God, we do so because of His grace.  We do not need to “pay God back” for anything He has done for us under the New Covenant.  However, He does ask us to serve Him and make Jesus our Lord.

Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ, who is our New Covenant Melchizedek.  And Melchizedek blessed Abram.  Abram, who was renamed, Abraham, gave a Tithe (or ten percent) of all to Melchizedek, the “king of peace” just as today; Jesus is the “Prince of Peace.” 

Genesis 14:21-23 said,

Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’” Abram would not take the offer from the king of Sodom, because Abram said, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High”, meaning that Abram was committed to honoring God and receiving “the Blessing” that God had pronounced upon him. 
(Gen. 14:21-23)

Abram would not take any portion that he had committed to God, “from a thread to a sandal strap.”  He would not take anything from the king, so that the king could not take credit for blessing Abram.  He knew that his blessing came from God.

In Matthew 6:32-33, Jesus says, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  What the Gentiles sought after was possessions, but did not have a heart of honor toward God. 

When Jesus said, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek”, He was referring to things pursued under the world’s system.  This word “seek” comes from a word that means to seek as in a religious form of worship, even to the point that it becomes worship to false gods.  Seeking after things can become an obsession in life, only to get more stuff.  A person, who seeks after things, has fallen short of seeing the one who gives all things to us to enjoy, but not to worship.  Jesus said, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” 

Then in verse 33 Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.  This word “seek” means, to give worship to God, which is the same as honoring God.  And the word “added” means that all these things shall lay beside you; and it also speaks of increase. 

So, don’t pay your tithe to God as in a debt.  Instead, honor God with your giving because you love Him, but more importantly, because He first loved you.