The Leadership Heart Test You Didn’t See Coming (It Involves Your Wallet)

Why tithing might just be your best leadership strategy yet

You’ve read the books, attended the workshops, updated your vision board, and color-coded your planner. Yet deep down, leadership still feels... incomplete. You have strategies, but not peace. Goals, but not flow.

What if I told you the real issue isn’t your productivity system, but your priorities and how they show up in your giving?

Yep. We're going there.

Let’s talk about what The Blessed Life by Robert Morris so unapologetically addresses:
Your money. Your motives. And why your leadership might be leaking power because you're holding onto something that was never yours to keep.

 

The First fruits Test: God’s Favorite Pop Quiz

Leadership isn’t just about how well you communicate or delegate it’s about who or what sits first in your life.

In Morris’ words, “If God is first in your life, everything will come into order. If God is not first, nothing will come into order not your marriage, not your money, not your business, not your team.”

What does that have to do with tithing?

Everything.

The first 10% of your income, biblically called the tithe, is not just a number, it’s a spiritual highlighter revealing what you truly trust.

“You can give 10% and still not be tithing… if it wasn’t first.”
– Robert Morris

So if your first payment goes to your mortgage company, guess who you're really trusting? (Hint: It’s not Jehovah Jireh.)

The CEO Who Paid God After the Groceries

Let’s imagine a CEO who says, “God is the center of my business.”
But every month, they pay bills, staff, vendors, and themselves… then whatever is left gets tossed toward a donation basket. That's like taking your spouse on a date, but scrolling through emails the whole time and handing them leftovers.

That’s not intimacy. That’s obligation.

And guess what? God doesn't bless leftovers. He blesses firstfruits.

 

Tithing: The Kingdom KPI You’re Ignoring

In leadership, we love metrics. ROI. KPIs. OKRs. But God’s metric for trust is... well, older and simpler:

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21

Forget charts for a second. Just check your bank statement. It’s the ultimate heart-monitor.

So here's the question:
Do you lead like a river (flowing), or a reservoir (stagnant)?

Because the leader who gives joyfully, consistently, faithfully becomes a conduit of impact. Not just in money, but in influence, wisdom, and overflow.

 

Why the Enemy Hates Generous Leaders

Here’s a truth bomb from Morris that had me both convicted and chuckling:

“God says, ‘Test me in this.’”
Translation (East Texas Edition): “I double-dog dare you.”

Why does Satan hate generous people?
Because generosity plunders hell. It disrupts selfishness. It breaks the chains of mammon (aka, that lying spirit on money that whispers, “If you had more, you’d be secure.”).

Generous leaders reflect heaven and hell hates that.

Leaders Who Give Win. Period.

Let’s get brutally honest:
We trust our accountants more than our Savior.
We plan our vacations more carefully than our tithes.
We strategize with Venn diagrams but forget that obedience is what opens the floodgates.

“Tithing is not law to me it’s life.”
– Robert Morris

And that’s the key. Tithing isn’t a financial formula, it’s a leadership posture. A declaration that says:

✅ “God, you’re first.”
✅ “I trust You with my finances and my future.”
✅ “I’m not building my kingdom, I’m investing in Yours.”

 

The Tither’s Confidence (aka, My Favorite Power Move)

When fear comes knocking “You’ll go broke. You’ll lose it all!”
the tither replies with swagger:

“Nope. I’m a tither. God rebukes the devourer for my sake.”

Can your leadership strategy do that?

 

Leadership Takeaways (a.k.a. Your Tithing Manifesto)

1.      Tithing is a test and you can pass it.

2.     If God isn’t first in your giving, He’s not first. Period.

3.     Your tithe isn't a gift, it's a return. A trust exercise. A spiritual alignment.

4.    You don’t tithe to get rich you tithe to get in order.

5.     God blesses what you give first, not what’s left.

 

So, What’s the Leadership Lesson?

You can’t be an abundant leader while living with a scarcity mindset.

You can’t preach vision while practicing fear.
You can’t lead people to freedom while being chained to mammon.

So, choose today:
Are you going to be a taker... or a tither? A reservoir… or a river?

As for me?

I tithe. I give. I trust. And leadership, my friend, is better from the overflow.