Tithing Part 1

This is the second blog that I have written about my experience with tithing. The first one that I wrote was entitled Tithing Part 2. It is entitled that because on the time line of my life, it happened after my first experience with being faithful in tithing. I know that may sound confusing, but it is really not. You can read about it here: http://spiritualspackle.blogspot.com/2011/05/tithing-part-2.html

When I first got saved, I decided that I needed to tithe. Before I got saved, I was attending church sporadically and would drop $5 or $10 in the basket as it went around. After I got saved I realized that was not enough. I was led to give more. I realized that 10% was an Old Testament concept, and that the New Testament did not state an actual percentage. So, what was I to give and how should I decide that?

2 Corinthians 9:7 says,  “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  and Philippians 4:6 directs us also when it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."


Using those scriptures for guidance, I decided to pray and then tithe what I was led to by my heart. I prayed, and 10% was laid on my heart to give to my church. I have tithed 10% since ever since then, without fail. I like that 2 Corinthians 9:7 says what it does about not giving because we feel compelled to. I don't have to give 10%, I get to give 10%. Tithing is not an obligation, but a privilege. I love the fact that I can contribute to my church and to the ministries that my church funds. I have been blessed, so I share that blessing.

We should never see tithing as a chore, or put saving before tithing. We need to be aware of the importance that we place upon money. Why should we not share our wealth? Luke 12:15 warns us against getting caught up in greed and coveting our money when it says , "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” We are to worship God, not material things. Give, and more will be given to us. Maybe not in this life, but for all eternity in the next one!


Furthermore, 10% is not all that I give. Your monetary tithe to your church is not all that you should give, either! If there are ministries that I want to give to or capital campaigns (like the Pay it Forward campaign that we had at New Life Church), I give over and above the 10%. I do not feel that we are commanded to give 10%, but that is the amount that was laid on my heart to give financially. Also, money is not all that we should be giving away freely!

Galatians 6:2 says, "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." and 1 John 3:17-18 says, "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."


This scripture backs up how I feel. Giving of our time is equally if not more important than tithing. I tell my clients that one of the most important things that I have learned in recovery is that community service is not something that is assigned by a judge or a probation officer. It is the act of us giving of ourselves out of a DESIRE to help others, not out of guilt. I think that it is really easy to write a check. It is difficult to give of your free time to help those less fortunate and smile the whole time you are doing it. 


Back to my story. So it was laid on my heart to tithe 10%. I then looked at my finances, and saw that if I tithed as I was being led to, I would only have $50 a week for food and entertainment. I do not mean food like going out to eat food, I mean food like groceries in the fridge and the pantry I would starve without having food. I decided that I could live on that $50 a week, even though at the time I was spending $120 a week on food and entertainment. I would just have to tighten my belt, as they say. No more movies or dining out for me.


That Sunday, I went into church with the amount I was to tithe. I filled out an envelope and dropped it into the basket. I was finally giving to support the church as I felt that I was supposed to. I knew that it would make my life a little difficult, but nowhere does it say that Christ called us to be comfortable. Christ even looks at how giving out of abundance is not nearly as important as giving to the point of being uncomfortable in Luke 12:41-44:
"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on." 
 So I tithed on Sunday. Monday I went into work and as soon as I got to staffing, my boss told me to talk to her after staffing was over in her office. I went to her office and met with her after staffing and got great news. She told me that because I was going to be graduating soon, she was going to give me some more things to do at work. The new responsibilities translated into a different job title and a higher salary. Needless to say, the increase in my pay was over and above what I was tithing. 


Even with tithing 10% on the increase in my pay, I was still taking home more than I was before I began tithing. I was overjoyed, but not  at all surprised. By this time, God had already shown me how powerful He could be. This was just one more way that God has blessed my life, and it is another way that I have to brag on Him. He can do all things, and is happy to do so. 


His grace never ceases to amaze me. There are times now that I am married with a child when the bills are tight and we have trouble making ends meet. We live paycheck to paycheck and are probably two paychecks from being homeless.........but so is almost everybody else. If we are hurting, our tithe is never even mentioned as a something to fore go so as to pay our bills. We look at cutting corners with food, or accepting that we cannot eat out or go see a movie for the rest of the month(or several months). But what if my needs and the needs of my family are not being taken care of?

We must always insure that our family is provided for. Maybe you have been laid off or are having some other form of financial difficulty and cannot afford to put food in the pantry or pay your rent. You are not required to keep giving. For those people, I would give them 1 Timothy 5:12, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." If you cannot afford to buy food for your family or pay the rent, you should not be giving to the church. In this case, the church should be helping you!


That said, God should always come first and foremost in our lives. If we remain faithful to Him, He will continue to bless us. Do not be confused or let prosperity preacher's mislead you. We are not blessed by what we give, we are blessed by grace which cannot be earned or bought. Tithing does not equal salvation! You can tithe and still not be saved. 1 Corinthians 13:3 states, "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."  

In summary, tithing does not have to be 10%. Tithing needs to be the amount that God places on your heart after you pray for direction and guidance. You should seek God's counsel before making any decisions, financial or otherwise, then follow it. If you cannot give what God lays on your heart to give, then you need to reexamine your lifestyle and your spending habits and revisit the difference between wants and needs. In case of emergency, there may be times that some people need help financially from the church instead of helping the church. Perfectly acceptable, life happens! In these times, I would recommend that as a good time to focus on volunteering your time to help others (not that you shouldn't always give of your time). Lastly, do not only give financially, but also give freely of your time. Do all of this not out of obligation but out of love! Thanks for reading!!

Tithing Part 2

Let me tell you a very interesting story about tithing. I had began tithing after I got saved. I made it a point to round up my tithing, because when it comes to tithing I want God to round up for me (figuratively speaking, of course). I had trouble tithing when I first decided to. There was no possible way that I could, but God had given me a life again so I owed it to Him to step out in faith. So I put my trust in Him, and tithed 10%. It worked out in the end.

I will tell that story in another blog entitled Tithing Part 1. I know that it probably should have came before a blog entitled Tithing Part 2, but it will not. I guess that I am not very good at chronological order, nor am I able to do simple addition very well. That for me would be true to form, because I have never been that great at history or math. Math was actually the only non-A grade on my transcript for my Associates Degree. Segue over, now on to the story.

After I got saved, the song "I'm Not Who I Was" impacted me. You could say that it was my anthem as a drug addicted convict who found hope and changed my life completely. I no longer was who I used to be. I found out that Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli and Leeland were performing in Springfield. The tickets were $10 for general admission, or $50 for VIP tickets. I wanted to get the VIP tickets, because with them came a meet and greet. I wanted the opportunity to give my testimony to Brandon Heath and let him know how much his song had impacted my life.

So when my paycheck came, I payed my bills and then set aside my tithe. After doing that I discovered that after my car and insurance payments came out the following week and after I tithed on Sunday I would not have the $100 to get the VIP tickets for my fiance and me. I would have the $20 for regular tickets, but not the extra $80 for the ones that I wanted.

I made a promise to myself and to God when I had gotten saved about tithing, and I was not about to backslide. The last thing that I wanted to do was lie to the one that I owed my new life to. I lied in my addiction, not in my recovery. I was not about to begin lying again. I refuse to give the Devil a place to start getting back in to my life. I worked for two decades to get him out of it. At least, that is how I see it.

So I went to church and tithed and tithed on Sunday. It was one of the hardest decisions that I had made in my early recovery, other than tithing at all. It did not make sense to me to give my money to God and the church at first. In Tithing I I will look at the Biblical reasons that I began tithing when I first got saved.

I just decided that seeing Brandon Heath would be amazing enough without meeting him, and that is what I was going to do. I loved his music, and really enjoyed the other two performers that he was touring with. I would tithe, and the following week I was going to see the concert with my fiance. I would buy the tickets the following day after I got off of work.

The next day I went home after work, changed and grabbed my mail before going to get my tickets. In the mail was a letter from my car company. I was in the middle of filing bankruptcy, and my car company wanted to give me the option to finish paying off  my car instead of writing it off. The letter said that the automatic payment that they would normally be taking out in two days was not coming out. I needed to fill out papers that stated I still wanted to buy the car. They were willing to allow me to miss a car payment and were dropping the percentage rate of my car loan if I completed the paperwork and called them. Not only was I able to not pay my car payment for that month, but the drop in the interest rate they were giving me dropped my car payment almost $100 a month.

To this day, I do not know why I went home and changed, or why I got my mail and opened it immediately. I never went home and changed, nor did I ever get the mail. I always let my roommate get the mail out of the mailbox and would grab it off of the end table where he put my mail. On that day I did not. To me, this was all a God thing. This was God showing me that if I put my trust in Him, He would provide for not only my needs but some of my wants.

Needless to say, I got to go to the Brandon Heath concert. It was amazing, and so was telling him my testimony. That too is another blog that I will write someday in the future. Cannot wait to share with you tomorrow morning. Hope that this week is a blessing for all of you!