5 Reasons Why Christians Should Still Practice First Fruits Giving
Sermons about church-giving and tithes are nothing new, especially if you’ve been in the Christian congregation for quite some time. But “First Fruits giving” may be a less common term for many, and while we can never out-give God, it is best to know the concept and the reasons behind why Christians should still practice First Fruits giving.So what exactly does this mean?We explore this and the relevance for today's Christian in our newest article.
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First fruits giving can sound like a relic of the Old Testament — a harvest-era practice tied to crops, livestock, and a covenant most Christians assume ended at the cross. So it's a fair question: should believers today still give their "first fruits" at all, or is that language better left in the Pentateuch?
The short answer is yes — not because the ceremonial form still applies, but because the principle behind it runs straight through both Testaments. Here are five reasons it's still worth practicing today.
A Quick Refresher: Where First Fruits Giving Comes From
In the Old Testament, first fruits were the earliest and best portion of a harvest, offered to God before anything else was used or sold (Exodus 23:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-11). It wasn't a percentage calculated after the fact — it was the first portion, given on faith that the rest of the harvest would follow.
Today, most Christians don't have crops to bring to an altar. In practice, first fruits giving now usually looks like the first paycheck from a new job, a portion of a bonus or commission, or the earliest gift from a new source of income — given to God and the church before the rest of that money gets allocated elsewhere.
For the full biblical background — including where the practice originated and the specific Old and New Testament passages that describe it — see our guide on first fruits in the Bible.
1. It Trains Us to Give First, Not Last
Proverbs 3:9-10 puts it plainly: "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing."
Notice the order. First fruits giving isn't about giving from what's left over — it's about giving before anything else happens to that money. That's a discipline, not a formula, and it's just as relevant to a paycheck as it was to a harvest. Giving first is a statement that God gets the first claim on our resources, not the leftovers.
2. It's an Act of Faith Before the Full Picture Is In
When an Israelite brought the first fruits of a harvest, the rest of the crop wasn't fully in yet. Giving early meant giving before they knew exactly how the full year would turn out.
That's still true for a new job, a new client, or a new source of income today — the first paycheck or first sale often comes before you know how sustainable that income will be. Giving from it anyway is a small, concrete act of trusting God with what's still uncertain, which is a version of the same faith Paul commends in 2 Corinthians 8-9 when he describes the Macedonian churches giving generously out of their own hardship.
3. It Reflects a Bigger New Testament Idea, Not Just an Old Testament Rule
This is the part most "is this still relevant?" conversations skip: first fruits language doesn't disappear in the New Testament — it gets expanded.
Paul calls the Spirit himself the "first fruits" of what's coming for believers (Romans 8:23). James calls believers "a kind of first fruits" of God's creation (James 1:18). Paul calls Christ "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). The New Testament writers didn't retire the concept — they used it to describe some of the most central ideas in the faith: resurrection, new creation, and the Spirit's work in us.
That's a strong signal that the principle of first fruits — giving God the first and best of something, in faith that more is coming — was never meant to expire with the Old Covenant. The specific agricultural form did. The principle didn't.
4. It Declares That God Comes First, Not Just Financially
Giving first fruits isn't really a statement about money. It's a statement about order: God gets first place, ahead of bills, ahead of savings goals, ahead of whatever else is competing for that income.
That's consistent with the wider pattern of biblical stewardship — the idea that everything we have already belongs to God, and giving is simply the most visible way we act on that belief. First fruits giving is one specific, concrete expression of a much bigger posture.
5. It Strengthens the Church's Capacity to Do More
Practically speaking, first fruits gifts — first paychecks, bonuses, unexpected windfalls — often aren't budgeted for anywhere else. That makes them a meaningful source of margin for a church's ministry, missions, or benevolence work beyond what regular tithes and offerings already cover.
Churches that make it easy to give these one-time or occasional gifts — rather than only collecting a fixed weekly offering — tend to capture more of this generosity instead of losing it to good intentions that never turn into action. Online giving tools that support one-time gifts alongside recurring giving make it simple for members to act on a first-fruits impulse the moment it happens, rather than waiting for the next scheduled offering.
So Should Christians Still Give First Fruits Today?
Not as a legal requirement — the New Testament never commands believers to tithe a specific portion of a first paycheck the way the Law required of Israel's harvest. But as a spiritual discipline, first fruits giving still does something a regular monthly gift doesn't: it puts God first in a very specific, well-defined moment, before the rest of that money has a chance to get spoken for.
That's worth practicing not because a rule demands it, but because the habit is good for us. If you're looking for more of the "why" behind giving in general, why do we give tithes and offerings and Bible verses about giving are good places to go deeper.
Handing over a first fruits gift isn't paying off your whole year's income — it's giving a meaningful part of it, first, on faith. Whatever form it takes for you, give it wholeheartedly, without hesitation or guilt.
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Travis Albritton has been serving Christians online for more than 5 years, and has been starting and leading ministries in the southeast United States for more than a decade. His popular podcast, The Practical Christian, has been downloaded more than 300,000 times in 160 countries around the world. He's an Amazon best-selling author, passionate husband and father, and driven disciple on a mission to launch Christians into online ministry.
First fruits giving can sound like a relic of the Old Testament — a harvest-era practice tied to crops, livestock, and a covenant most Christians assume ended at the cross. So it's a fair question: should believers today still give their "first fruits" at all, or is that language better left in the Pentateuch?
The short answer is yes — not because the ceremonial form still applies, but because the principle behind it runs straight through both Testaments. Here are five reasons it's still worth practicing today.
A Quick Refresher: Where First Fruits Giving Comes From
In the Old Testament, first fruits were the earliest and best portion of a harvest, offered to God before anything else was used or sold (Exodus 23:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-11). It wasn't a percentage calculated after the fact — it was the first portion, given on faith that the rest of the harvest would follow.
Today, most Christians don't have crops to bring to an altar. In practice, first fruits giving now usually looks like the first paycheck from a new job, a portion of a bonus or commission, or the earliest gift from a new source of income — given to God and the church before the rest of that money gets allocated elsewhere.
For the full biblical background — including where the practice originated and the specific Old and New Testament passages that describe it — see our guide on first fruits in the Bible.
1. It Trains Us to Give First, Not Last
Proverbs 3:9-10 puts it plainly: "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing."
Notice the order. First fruits giving isn't about giving from what's left over — it's about giving before anything else happens to that money. That's a discipline, not a formula, and it's just as relevant to a paycheck as it was to a harvest. Giving first is a statement that God gets the first claim on our resources, not the leftovers.
2. It's an Act of Faith Before the Full Picture Is In
When an Israelite brought the first fruits of a harvest, the rest of the crop wasn't fully in yet. Giving early meant giving before they knew exactly how the full year would turn out.
That's still true for a new job, a new client, or a new source of income today — the first paycheck or first sale often comes before you know how sustainable that income will be. Giving from it anyway is a small, concrete act of trusting God with what's still uncertain, which is a version of the same faith Paul commends in 2 Corinthians 8-9 when he describes the Macedonian churches giving generously out of their own hardship.
3. It Reflects a Bigger New Testament Idea, Not Just an Old Testament Rule
This is the part most "is this still relevant?" conversations skip: first fruits language doesn't disappear in the New Testament — it gets expanded.
Paul calls the Spirit himself the "first fruits" of what's coming for believers (Romans 8:23). James calls believers "a kind of first fruits" of God's creation (James 1:18). Paul calls Christ "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). The New Testament writers didn't retire the concept — they used it to describe some of the most central ideas in the faith: resurrection, new creation, and the Spirit's work in us.
That's a strong signal that the principle of first fruits — giving God the first and best of something, in faith that more is coming — was never meant to expire with the Old Covenant. The specific agricultural form did. The principle didn't.
4. It Declares That God Comes First, Not Just Financially
Giving first fruits isn't really a statement about money. It's a statement about order: God gets first place, ahead of bills, ahead of savings goals, ahead of whatever else is competing for that income.
That's consistent with the wider pattern of biblical stewardship — the idea that everything we have already belongs to God, and giving is simply the most visible way we act on that belief. First fruits giving is one specific, concrete expression of a much bigger posture.
5. It Strengthens the Church's Capacity to Do More
Practically speaking, first fruits gifts — first paychecks, bonuses, unexpected windfalls — often aren't budgeted for anywhere else. That makes them a meaningful source of margin for a church's ministry, missions, or benevolence work beyond what regular tithes and offerings already cover.
Churches that make it easy to give these one-time or occasional gifts — rather than only collecting a fixed weekly offering — tend to capture more of this generosity instead of losing it to good intentions that never turn into action. Online giving tools that support one-time gifts alongside recurring giving make it simple for members to act on a first-fruits impulse the moment it happens, rather than waiting for the next scheduled offering.
So Should Christians Still Give First Fruits Today?
Not as a legal requirement — the New Testament never commands believers to tithe a specific portion of a first paycheck the way the Law required of Israel's harvest. But as a spiritual discipline, first fruits giving still does something a regular monthly gift doesn't: it puts God first in a very specific, well-defined moment, before the rest of that money has a chance to get spoken for.
That's worth practicing not because a rule demands it, but because the habit is good for us. If you're looking for more of the "why" behind giving in general, why do we give tithes and offerings and Bible verses about giving are good places to go deeper.
Handing over a first fruits gift isn't paying off your whole year's income — it's giving a meaningful part of it, first, on faith. Whatever form it takes for you, give it wholeheartedly, without hesitation or guilt.
podcast transcript
Travis Albritton has been serving Christians online for more than 5 years, and has been starting and leading ministries in the southeast United States for more than a decade. His popular podcast, The Practical Christian, has been downloaded more than 300,000 times in 160 countries around the world. He's an Amazon best-selling author, passionate husband and father, and driven disciple on a mission to launch Christians into online ministry.
First fruits giving can sound like a relic of the Old Testament — a harvest-era practice tied to crops, livestock, and a covenant most Christians assume ended at the cross. So it's a fair question: should believers today still give their "first fruits" at all, or is that language better left in the Pentateuch?
The short answer is yes — not because the ceremonial form still applies, but because the principle behind it runs straight through both Testaments. Here are five reasons it's still worth practicing today.
A Quick Refresher: Where First Fruits Giving Comes From
In the Old Testament, first fruits were the earliest and best portion of a harvest, offered to God before anything else was used or sold (Exodus 23:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-11). It wasn't a percentage calculated after the fact — it was the first portion, given on faith that the rest of the harvest would follow.
Today, most Christians don't have crops to bring to an altar. In practice, first fruits giving now usually looks like the first paycheck from a new job, a portion of a bonus or commission, or the earliest gift from a new source of income — given to God and the church before the rest of that money gets allocated elsewhere.
For the full biblical background — including where the practice originated and the specific Old and New Testament passages that describe it — see our guide on first fruits in the Bible.
1. It Trains Us to Give First, Not Last
Proverbs 3:9-10 puts it plainly: "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing."
Notice the order. First fruits giving isn't about giving from what's left over — it's about giving before anything else happens to that money. That's a discipline, not a formula, and it's just as relevant to a paycheck as it was to a harvest. Giving first is a statement that God gets the first claim on our resources, not the leftovers.
2. It's an Act of Faith Before the Full Picture Is In
When an Israelite brought the first fruits of a harvest, the rest of the crop wasn't fully in yet. Giving early meant giving before they knew exactly how the full year would turn out.
That's still true for a new job, a new client, or a new source of income today — the first paycheck or first sale often comes before you know how sustainable that income will be. Giving from it anyway is a small, concrete act of trusting God with what's still uncertain, which is a version of the same faith Paul commends in 2 Corinthians 8-9 when he describes the Macedonian churches giving generously out of their own hardship.
3. It Reflects a Bigger New Testament Idea, Not Just an Old Testament Rule
This is the part most "is this still relevant?" conversations skip: first fruits language doesn't disappear in the New Testament — it gets expanded.
Paul calls the Spirit himself the "first fruits" of what's coming for believers (Romans 8:23). James calls believers "a kind of first fruits" of God's creation (James 1:18). Paul calls Christ "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). The New Testament writers didn't retire the concept — they used it to describe some of the most central ideas in the faith: resurrection, new creation, and the Spirit's work in us.
That's a strong signal that the principle of first fruits — giving God the first and best of something, in faith that more is coming — was never meant to expire with the Old Covenant. The specific agricultural form did. The principle didn't.
4. It Declares That God Comes First, Not Just Financially
Giving first fruits isn't really a statement about money. It's a statement about order: God gets first place, ahead of bills, ahead of savings goals, ahead of whatever else is competing for that income.
That's consistent with the wider pattern of biblical stewardship — the idea that everything we have already belongs to God, and giving is simply the most visible way we act on that belief. First fruits giving is one specific, concrete expression of a much bigger posture.
5. It Strengthens the Church's Capacity to Do More
Practically speaking, first fruits gifts — first paychecks, bonuses, unexpected windfalls — often aren't budgeted for anywhere else. That makes them a meaningful source of margin for a church's ministry, missions, or benevolence work beyond what regular tithes and offerings already cover.
Churches that make it easy to give these one-time or occasional gifts — rather than only collecting a fixed weekly offering — tend to capture more of this generosity instead of losing it to good intentions that never turn into action. Online giving tools that support one-time gifts alongside recurring giving make it simple for members to act on a first-fruits impulse the moment it happens, rather than waiting for the next scheduled offering.
So Should Christians Still Give First Fruits Today?
Not as a legal requirement — the New Testament never commands believers to tithe a specific portion of a first paycheck the way the Law required of Israel's harvest. But as a spiritual discipline, first fruits giving still does something a regular monthly gift doesn't: it puts God first in a very specific, well-defined moment, before the rest of that money has a chance to get spoken for.
That's worth practicing not because a rule demands it, but because the habit is good for us. If you're looking for more of the "why" behind giving in general, why do we give tithes and offerings and Bible verses about giving are good places to go deeper.
Handing over a first fruits gift isn't paying off your whole year's income — it's giving a meaningful part of it, first, on faith. Whatever form it takes for you, give it wholeheartedly, without hesitation or guilt.
VIDEO transcript
First fruits giving can sound like a relic of the Old Testament — a harvest-era practice tied to crops, livestock, and a covenant most Christians assume ended at the cross. So it's a fair question: should believers today still give their "first fruits" at all, or is that language better left in the Pentateuch?
The short answer is yes — not because the ceremonial form still applies, but because the principle behind it runs straight through both Testaments. Here are five reasons it's still worth practicing today.
A Quick Refresher: Where First Fruits Giving Comes From
In the Old Testament, first fruits were the earliest and best portion of a harvest, offered to God before anything else was used or sold (Exodus 23:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-11). It wasn't a percentage calculated after the fact — it was the first portion, given on faith that the rest of the harvest would follow.
Today, most Christians don't have crops to bring to an altar. In practice, first fruits giving now usually looks like the first paycheck from a new job, a portion of a bonus or commission, or the earliest gift from a new source of income — given to God and the church before the rest of that money gets allocated elsewhere.
For the full biblical background — including where the practice originated and the specific Old and New Testament passages that describe it — see our guide on first fruits in the Bible.
1. It Trains Us to Give First, Not Last
Proverbs 3:9-10 puts it plainly: "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing."
Notice the order. First fruits giving isn't about giving from what's left over — it's about giving before anything else happens to that money. That's a discipline, not a formula, and it's just as relevant to a paycheck as it was to a harvest. Giving first is a statement that God gets the first claim on our resources, not the leftovers.
2. It's an Act of Faith Before the Full Picture Is In
When an Israelite brought the first fruits of a harvest, the rest of the crop wasn't fully in yet. Giving early meant giving before they knew exactly how the full year would turn out.
That's still true for a new job, a new client, or a new source of income today — the first paycheck or first sale often comes before you know how sustainable that income will be. Giving from it anyway is a small, concrete act of trusting God with what's still uncertain, which is a version of the same faith Paul commends in 2 Corinthians 8-9 when he describes the Macedonian churches giving generously out of their own hardship.
3. It Reflects a Bigger New Testament Idea, Not Just an Old Testament Rule
This is the part most "is this still relevant?" conversations skip: first fruits language doesn't disappear in the New Testament — it gets expanded.
Paul calls the Spirit himself the "first fruits" of what's coming for believers (Romans 8:23). James calls believers "a kind of first fruits" of God's creation (James 1:18). Paul calls Christ "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). The New Testament writers didn't retire the concept — they used it to describe some of the most central ideas in the faith: resurrection, new creation, and the Spirit's work in us.
That's a strong signal that the principle of first fruits — giving God the first and best of something, in faith that more is coming — was never meant to expire with the Old Covenant. The specific agricultural form did. The principle didn't.
4. It Declares That God Comes First, Not Just Financially
Giving first fruits isn't really a statement about money. It's a statement about order: God gets first place, ahead of bills, ahead of savings goals, ahead of whatever else is competing for that income.
That's consistent with the wider pattern of biblical stewardship — the idea that everything we have already belongs to God, and giving is simply the most visible way we act on that belief. First fruits giving is one specific, concrete expression of a much bigger posture.
5. It Strengthens the Church's Capacity to Do More
Practically speaking, first fruits gifts — first paychecks, bonuses, unexpected windfalls — often aren't budgeted for anywhere else. That makes them a meaningful source of margin for a church's ministry, missions, or benevolence work beyond what regular tithes and offerings already cover.
Churches that make it easy to give these one-time or occasional gifts — rather than only collecting a fixed weekly offering — tend to capture more of this generosity instead of losing it to good intentions that never turn into action. Online giving tools that support one-time gifts alongside recurring giving make it simple for members to act on a first-fruits impulse the moment it happens, rather than waiting for the next scheduled offering.
So Should Christians Still Give First Fruits Today?
Not as a legal requirement — the New Testament never commands believers to tithe a specific portion of a first paycheck the way the Law required of Israel's harvest. But as a spiritual discipline, first fruits giving still does something a regular monthly gift doesn't: it puts God first in a very specific, well-defined moment, before the rest of that money has a chance to get spoken for.
That's worth practicing not because a rule demands it, but because the habit is good for us. If you're looking for more of the "why" behind giving in general, why do we give tithes and offerings and Bible verses about giving are good places to go deeper.
Handing over a first fruits gift isn't paying off your whole year's income — it's giving a meaningful part of it, first, on faith. Whatever form it takes for you, give it wholeheartedly, without hesitation or guilt.
Sign Up for Product Updates
Travis Albritton has been serving Christians online for more than 5 years, and has been starting and leading ministries in the southeast United States for more than a decade. His popular podcast, The Practical Christian, has been downloaded more than 300,000 times in 160 countries around the world. He's an Amazon best-selling author, passionate husband and father, and driven disciple on a mission to launch Christians into online ministry.
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