I just finished reading a great post by James about how tithing can increase your income. And it got me thinking about my own personal story of when I started tithing and the things that followed.
Starting to tithe
I don’t exactly remember when I started to tithe – probably about 7-8 years ago. But I do remember getting a new job that was nearly double my previous income and thinking, “Wow, so this is the result of tithing.” It was a helpful lesson to me since I was, like most, skeptical about the whole thing. I had heard about all the scandals with TV preachers and kind of grew up with a cynical attitude towards giving to the church. Somewhere along the line I decided to “take a chance” and try it out.
We have had a couple times over the years where God has wanted us to stretch our giving. The times were faith-tests that have proved extremely valuable to us. I remember a time when we realized, due to an error on my part, that we hadn’t been tithing the correct amount. Once I finally figured it out how much it was supposed to be, I quickly realized that if we did that our expenses would be greater than our income. That’s never a good thing 
I remember praying with my wife and telling God that if He really can do what His word says, then it will all work out. We went ahead and started tithing the correct amount, not knowing where the rest of the money was going to come from to pay the bills. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that the NEXT DAY, my boss called me into her office to tell me about a completely unexpected raise that she was giving me. The raises normally only came once a year and this was way off the schedule. Guess how much it was for. Yep, it was almost the exact amount of the difference. I must say that experience was a strong encouragement for my faith.
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I have a similar story Bob. We hadn’t tithed regularly until earlier this year. When we started tithing, that same month I started receiving an income from my blog. Guess how much it was for? Almost exactly that I had tithed that month, plus a little extra!
We just need to remember that God doesn’t need our money (its already his), its more about us being faithful stewards of what he has given us, so that in return he can bless us (not always monetary).
Great post. I have really found that when we are faithful with our tithing, God really blesses us and continues to make things happen for us financially and spiritually.
Plus, tithing helps me stay grounded when it comes to money. I am fairly driven when it comes to success and building a future for my family. Tithing helps me remember each month that everything we have is from God. God owns all my money and I am just a steward of it.
Thanks for the great post.
Kevin
Excellent post. I grew up in a family that tithed regularly and my parents taught me that it was a priority. However, when I left the nest I stopped tithing. I guess I thought I could live vicariously through my parents blessings. Wrong! Many years passed I was began to tithe occasionally. I could see the difference. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started tithing faithfully. My husband and I make it a priority and God meets all of our needs “according to His riches in glory!”
@Everyone
it is interesting to me that so many people seem to go through a phase where they test the waters with tithing to see if it really does work. We all seem to learn our lesson that God meant what He said and that it really is true…
I think tithing works much like getting out of debt. God blesses those that show that they can handle His blessings His way.
Great post Bob!
When my wife and I started tithing two years ago, we were barely making ends meet. Over the course of the next year and a half, every time it looked like our expenses were too high to meet, I would get a surprise bonus that met or exceeded the shortfall.
It also helped both of us adjust our priorities and get over our obsession with ’stuff’.
God is true to his word.
I have to agree that tithing is a must. My husband and I always tithe our money but this past year I have been convicted to “tithe” my time and my energy as well. God wants our firstfruits, this means that even if you do not have enough to go around he wants you to give it to him FIRST, and then as promised he will provide for our needs. We live in a “hustle and bustle world” where it seems that we never have enough time to finish everthing we want to do. What do you think would happen if we started tithing our time? What if we gave him the firstfruits of our day. Instead of getting that extra hour of sleep in the morning,what if we got up early and spent time in sudy and prayer with God? I think tithing could be applied to many areas in life.
I want to speak out against tithing. Tithing is not a Biblical command. We are called to give everything to God. Sure he’ll allow us to keep what we need, but too often the idea of a tithe limits believers and their giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says that “God love a cheerful giver”, and that “each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity;”. There is no amount that is a necessity for giving.
Personally, I like the wisdom that John Wesley shared on the topic of money. We should… 1. Make all we can 2. Save all we can (being frugal) and 3. Give all we can.
@Success Professor
First let me say that have always loved that John Wesley quote as well… I appreciate your perspective on this, I know there is quite a debate in the Christian community about tithing.
I personally do believe it is a biblical command, there are tons of verses in the old testament about tithing, so there isn’t much debate about that. But some people say it doesn’t pertain to the new covenant, since it is only referred to a couple times in the new testament.
I kind of try not to get hung up over the whole thing, it isn’t a deal-breaker. You can still go to Heaven without doing it, but from my personal experience, I have been a lot more blessed as a result of doing it…
Here’s an interesting article on the subject: “Can a Christian Rob God?”
http://www.livebyword.org/article.php?article_id=54
I can’t tell you the amount of times that the Lord has blessed us through tithing. Gifts, opportunities, humility, so many different ways.
No, tithing isn’t expressley discussed in the NT ( although we could look at Jesus’ discussion about the poor woman’s mite ), there are a number of things that aren’t and it doesn’t invalidate them.
Personally, I hold that the O.T. is the study of God’s character. He wouldn’t have talked so much about it and then just changed His mind.
I have struggled with this issue of tithing. I have always tithed and never experienced much financial prosperity. When I asked God about this, he said to me, “Are you trying to live under the law or by grace?” I was tithing out of fear. Although, I am a natural giver, I believe that I was tithing under compulsion and the new testament tells us not to do that. If any one has true revelation about this, please let me know. I have been seeking God in a strong way in regard to this. I love God so much and I want to be obedient. I’m tired of pastors putting fear into people about tithing.
I have experienced the same. We cannot out give God. God has Super Bank and will provide all that ask and believe.
I pray that God shows you the light, i pray that He teaches you to pray before you read the Bible so that you will understand it and not interpret whatever you have read in a way that suites you and your lifestyle.
May God Bless you with wisdom.
God is a wonderful God as you know very well and he never forces anyone to do anything they dont want to do, God gave each and everyone of us a choice to either want to be like him or not and he gave us the Bible (our manual), He has actually made our lives easy by giving us a “manual” to live by and we have chosen to make it difficult by trying to do it by ourselves. its like buying a new gadget, it takes you longer to get it working if you try putting it together yourself but if you read the manual and go by what the manual says then life is easier as you get the gadet working in no time and there is no element of fear that you might be doing it wrong because if something does go wrong then you have a strong case to say “hey, i connected this the way the manual says and its still not working”… and so to get to the point… your bible will tell you what you have to do in order for your life on earth to be easy and have a guarantee that you will be with God at the end and in the Bible God makes promises and you and He even said “test me, and see if i shant keep my promise to you”, this is like him saying, if this doesnt work i will give you your money back, with no questions asked.
Also know that your pastors are human too, pray for them because they can also make the mistake of forcing you to do things that you really dont want to do, the thing is that pastors jobs are really hard as they dont want to accountable for your sins at the end, they are just like parents teaching their children about life.
I have a fixed income and i,m going to be paying $385 dollars in rent starting in May and would like to have my own computer if i tithe 10% of my total income i’ll be lucky to even pay my bills.
I liked what Randy Alcorn said in his book “Money, Possessions & Eternity”. He speaks about people who say we are no longer under the OT laws of giving 10% (plus a further 10% + 10% each three years) BUT if we are under grace, saved by grace & empowered by grace, shouldn’t we be giving more? If the law was our “training wheels” before grace, should not tithing be our training wheels before giving more than 10%?
It sat right with me…
I totally agree with tithing your “first”, even more; our most precious thing, TIME!! Do you realize for most people they would rather give you money than their time? I started tithing my time to God. This means, FIRST thing when my feet hit the floor, I go straight to my chair and read my bible, study that chapter and pray for him to lead me through that day. Everything falls in place from there!
I’m very confused about tithing and how it relates to my financial situation. I am trying to get out of debt, which I also feel is a biblical directive. I also help my elderly parents out with $250 each month. If I tithe the full 10% each month, plus provide offerings on nonpay weeks, I don’t have enough to pay the debts that I am trying to pay off. I can’t make the minium payments and I’m charged late fees and overlimit fees which only increase the amount of debt that I have. I want to give the Lord my all !
I am in so much debt I can’t see straight. My house payment is 2 months behind, my lights, cable and water are very close to being disconnected. I owe 5 payday loan places. Everytime I think I might be able to get caught up one of my kids gets sick or my car breaks down and I get even deeper in debt. I’ve never had this experience before in my life and I am completely incapable of tithing. Even if I could tithe I have no idea of what good it would do at this point. I’m sure God is doing something in my life I just don’t have a clue of what it is.
to Dee:
things have been pretty hopeless to me too, not in the financial side, but my personal life purpose, i think it is more damaging. I am depressed, but I read that “God is not interested in fixing your problems, but in building your character…” When I pray and nothing improved, I convince myself by the above quote.
My bishop instructed me in the tithing law about 6 months ago, and I began to tithe each month. I must admit trepedation at first of handing over 10 percent of my earnings to the bishop, but I felt it was God’s will. After reading Numbers 18, I knew it was the right thing to do.
The way I see it, tithing has been a win-win situation for everybody.
1. For me, I’ve had better health and more money since submitting myself to God’s law of tithing.
2. My Bishop has been a blessing to me and has helped my spiritual walk greatly. Numbers 18 tells us that God desires only the best for those who submit themselves to his service. Thru his members tithes, my bishop has the finest of just about everything at his fingertips, and I know God has blessed him for a reason, and I am happy for him. Again, it is God’s will for the priest to enjoy the best as their just due for serving him.
Great post, Bob. I do totally think that once you start tithing, God starts blessing you abundantly. My husband and I have also experienced His kindness.
I do have a question…for anybody willing to answer…
Do you calculate your tith from you Take-Home-Pay-Amount OR from your total earnings BEFORE taxes?
Pilar,
While think it is important not to get legalistic – we started from our take home pay amount and then moved up to our earnings before taxes. My logic was that before the government started pulling taxes out of our paychecks people would have been tithing first on the amount they made and then paying taxes later.
Thanks for answering, Bob.
I was just curious about how does everyone else calculate their tithe. We also tithe from our earnings before taxes. I guess the important thing is to do it with your whole heart on it, and truly believing in His promise.
A quick shout out for tithing. My wife and I tithe and are prompt in providing offerings to individuals within our christian family too. We do so because of the “test” God proposes to us and we do so with love–not just because we are told our income will be protected. Yes, we have seen tithing as a part of the fence around us that protects us and family.
We are mindful that enemies (those jealous of or covetous of what we possess) are very capable of attacking us in the celestial places — accusing us, etc. Faithfulness in our tithes and offerings are an insurance policy protecting us against these threats. Providing a gift in the form of sacrifice once problems arise is too late. Tithing “puts God to the test” and He is faithful to protect us. Hallelujah!
Well, I mentioned this in the forum area, but I am currently unemployed, and have been for about 2 months. My wife and I talked about tithing when I was first let go ( my wife is a stay at home mom, so no additional income there ) and we agreed to continue to support a missionary family and our Compassion International child as our tithe. But beyond that, we don’t give any more.
I just qualified for unemployment insurance, which isn’t much, but it helps. My question for all of you is….. should a person tithe when they are unemployed? Does that even matter ( I think of the “widow’s mite” )?
if you tithe God will see that your bills get paid.Oooh I just love him so much.Try him
Great testimony. I want to start tithing as well. Right now I don’t have the money to tithe as per our earnings we should tithe AED 1007.70 being 10% of our total earnings. But this month I am left with only 1,124/- in my account after the bank recovers payment for my loans. What should I do – I don’t have any groceries in the house and I have borrowed from friends who are asking their money back everyday and I don’t know what to do? Do I give everything to God or should I use this money to buy groceries and settle atleast a few debts that I have
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Every bit helps to keep things going in the right direction!
We could use all the information on tithing we can get! (Links, Tapes,
Videos, Statistics.)
In particular where tithing has a positive effect on the economy! Through
individual, companies and so on examples.
We also could use some help in getting the word “Tithing” in all Religions,
or the equivalents.
For example: in English Christians say tithing.
In Arab (Muslims) Zekiat or sadaka.
In Russia – desatina,
In Jewish – deka, and so on.
What ever other suggestions or information you may have, would also be very
appreciated!
Best Wishes
Val G
val@ciac.biz
all the promises you say tithing brings are promises that you get with giving in general not tithing. Giving is good but saying that tithing is new testament is wrong. Read this article and understand. http://thenarrowpath.com/topical/Are%20We%20to%20Practice%20Tithing%20Today.htm