I took part in a conversation today about whether or not one should tithe. The general consensus among "Christian " woman took me completely off guard. You see, 9 out of 10 ladies were of the mindset "If you can't give cheerfully, just don't give at all." Or "I only give 2% because I can't give anymore and still be cheerful." WOW! What happened to asking what the Bible says about this?
I am going to take a few minutes and share some verses with you, and some thoughts.
I will say right now that this is NOT a prosperity thing. It's not a give and get rich scheme.
First, I want to look at the meaning of the word itself.
Tithe..
Miriam Webster Dictionary defines it as "a tenth part of something paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax especially for the support of a religious establishment"
So, the word in and of itself actually means 10%. And the word Tithe or tithes is used in the Bible on several occasions.
The first one that comes to mind is Malachi 3:8-10
" (8) Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. (9) Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. (10) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
What is God saying here? To keep It short, He's saying exactly what it looks like. Tithe and be blessed, don't tithe and you may be blessed, but you won't be ABUNDANTLY blessed like you could be. And face it, who doesn't want to be blessed?
This past week we had a little mishap with our budget. I overdrafted our bank account because of a lack of budgeting. When our paycheck rolled in last Friday I sat down and budgeted everything again. Including our tithes. Our tithes and offerings ended up being greater than $200 and by the time that was budgeted and bills were paid, we were left with $40 for 2 weeks. $40 to buy laundry soap, Toilet Paper, Diapers and groceries. I fought within myself for the greater part of the day about skipping the tithe check this week. After all, God knew the situation and I had to feed the children. In the end, about 6pm I caved and wrote the tithe check. ($215 to be exact) Sure, I could have gotten away with $190 going in and still would have been our 10%. But, I decided to not withhold our tithes and offerings and keep the budget at what we had planned before the mistake. (Yes, I handle the finances) After all, Why should God and His church have to suffer for a mistake I made in budgeting? Now, I can't say I did this cheerfully. In fact, I did it stressed, lacking faith and grumbling. (Not biblical at all, and so not proud of my attitude.) Within an hour God had provided $160 and a box of diapers.
Did you read that? GOD PROVIDED even in the midst of my grumbling and distrust. Do you have any idea how humbling that is? To kneel before a Holy God who proved Himself even though you doubted? All of the sudden my children could eat good. Not just the fried potatoes and canned chicken and bean soup for 2 weeks. I can't even take any credit for that. Instead ALL glory goes to God.
We limit God so much with our refusal to tithe. (I should add that we are rather new to tithing. This isn't something we have been doing for years and just now seeing the fruits. ) Excuses of "I won't have anything left afterwards." Or "My children have to eat." All may very well be valid reasons to not tithe. But, why do we think that God can't move through our problems? Why do we doubt?
I can say from experience that it's nothing but selfish reasons. So many "I's" And the biggest one being "I can't" for whatever reason.
Although God loves a cheerful giver, That should never be our excuse to not tithe. Sometimes being cheerful comes later. Comes after the action has become habit. Your attitude should be one of faith. Work on the cheerfulness. If Satan knows you are going to use that as an excuse, of course he is going to step in and hinder that cheerfulness. It's a purposeful decision that needs to be made by YOU. Not your neighbor, Pastor or friend. YOU.
Should you tithe? YES! With or without a cheerful attitude. Although I suggest working on that attitude. But, obedience is best no matter how its done. I mean, we teach our children that too. Obey without question. Right? It's their safety net.
Does this mean you will never experience trials? NO. Does this mean your budget will never be tight? No.
But it does mean that God will take care of His own.
This is not very well written. But, I hope y'all get the point of what I'm trying to get across.
Have a blessed evening all of you. And thank you for taking the time to read yet another post.
Bre Shafer
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