SEEDTIME My Tithing Experience Just finished reading a sat post by James about hhow tithing can increase me thinking m personal My Tithing hen I started Experience gand the things that followed, Starting To Tithe I don't exactly remember SEEDTINE com when started to tithe = probably about 7-8 years ago. But Ide smember getting a new job that was nearly double my previous income and thinking. "Wow, so this isthe result of thing’ Iwasa helpfal lesson to me since Iwas like most, skeptical about the whole thing Thad heard about al th 1nd kind of grew up with a cynical attitude towards giving tothe andals with TV preachers iam Bob! Lam here to help olive a life of financial As Seen In:church soe we BN WORNESI (D> beliefnet Somewhere along the line Ideciled to "tke chance" and tystout. “Wa FIDO! We have had a couple times over the years where God has wanted vs tostretch our giving The times were fath-tests that have proved extremely valuable to us, I remember a time when we realized, due to an error on my part, that wwe hadn'tbeen tithing the correct amount Once I finally figured it out how much it was supposed tobe. quickly realized that i we did that our expenses would be greater ‘han our income. Thats never a good thing @ Ieee eee emer ere do what sword aus then tll work out. We went abead and started tthingthe corect amount, not knowing where the res ofthe ‘money was goingto come from to pay the bill. tam not exaggerating atall when fay that the NEXT DAY, my boss called me into her office totell me abouta completely unexpected rae that she was giving From Our Legal Team: re. Theraises nommally ony came oncea year and this was way off the schedule Guess how much twas for: Yep twas almost the exact escigenstesnina inten amount ofthe difference. I must say that experience was a strong osm pects encouragement for my faith. Does Anyone Have Any Good Testimonies From Their Experiences Tithing?87 Comments have a similar story Bob. We had’ tthed regularly until earller 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 Thad tithed that month, plus aie extral ‘We just need to remember that God doesn't need our money lts already his) is 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. Ihave really found that when we are faithful with our tithing, God really blesses us and continues to make things happen forus financially and spiritual Pius. tithing helps me stay grounded when it comes to money. am faitly driven when it comes to success and building a future for my fam. Tithing helps me remember each month that everything we have is from God. God owns all my money and Iam justa steward of tt ‘Thanks for the great post. Kevin Excellent post. grew up ina family that tthed regularly and my parents taught me that it was a priority. However, when Ieft the nest stopped tithing, I guess [thoughtne could live vicariously through my parents Blessings Wrong! Many years passed I was began to tithe ‘occasionally. could see the difference. It wasn't until a few years ago that | started tithing faithfully. My husband and I make ita priority and God meets all of our needs ‘according to His riches in glory” Everyone st isinteresting to me that so many people seem to go through a phase where they test the waters with tithing tosee iit really does work. Weall seem to learn our lesson that God meant what He sald and that it really is me. ob Tams gad I came across this post Ihave cometoa crossroads in my hfe Thave aways smBeE fet thing wasthe right thing odo but never Seated eee oe praying about, nd then the other day lightbulb went on-thave been strugaing with my finances for years have been to financial planners. talked wth close fiends, ancl am aways praying for Goto show re the way. nally realized-athough have been asking for God's guidance, haven't actualy turned it ver to Him-thave been holding on tit Thave tried everything BUT tithing! Tam excited for Sunday to Its true and Ive been testing the waters myself. I started faithfully telthing ast month,aot baie wai, area eee eee eee B01 here posts are very encouraging think tithing works much like getting out of debt. God blesses thase that show that they can handle His blessings His way. Great post Bab! ‘When my wife and Istarted tithing two years ago, we .were barely making ends meet Over the course of the next year and a hal. every time itooked like our expenses were too high to meet, [would get a surprise Domus that met or exceeded the shortfall Italso helped bath of us adjust our priorities and get ver our obsession with’stuff God is rue tahis word Thave to agree that tithing sa must. My husband and 1 always tithe our money but this past year Thave been convicted to tithe" my time and my energy as well. God ‘wants our firstfraits, this means that even if you do not have enough to go around he wants you to give t to him FIRST, and then as promised he will provide for our needs, Wellive 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 stated tithing our time? What if we gave him the firstints 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? [think ithing could be applied to many areas in Life re & command: We ar called to gv everything to Go Sure Re TRIS envi ee ae cae TEESE | iden ofthe limits believers and their giving. 2 ‘rei Contra 87 ys tht ‘Gove a cher ge and sent ee erea raee eee et eet a aes Personally. 1 ike the wisdom that John Wesley shared on the topic of money. We should... Make all we can 2. Save all we can being frugal) and 3.Give allwe can, I respectilly disagree that we are not “called toive everything to God” because everything is already His. We can‘ ve God anything. ‘OakidRE. We ae only stewards of what i already His, 4 and He asks us to bring forth a portion of what He has aleeady blessed us with. Some may debate Whether Christians are bound tothe Old testament laws of giving a tenth because we receive salvation by Christ's grace, bt there isno debate tha the Lord rewards obedience and complete faith that He will bless us with all that we need even ifwe ave a tenth. Success Professor Firt let me say that have always loved that jon Wesley quote as well. Lappreclate your perspective on thi 1‘now thete is quite a debate in the Christian community about tithing. Ipersonally do helieve itis a biblical command, there are tons of verses in the old testament about tithing, so there jsnit much debate about that, But some people say it doesn't pertain to the new covenant, since itis only referred to a couple times in the new testament. Tkind of try not to get hung up over the whole thing, it jn a deal-breaker. You can still go to Heaven without doing it but from my personal experience, Ihave been 2 Jot more blessed as a result of doing t Right on! @ ime, cron tos al tage ew FE ec eyoustbc andres hypocrites! For you tthe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness: but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others! HE says... welghtier provisions OF THE LAW:YES, there ate many scriptures about thing Most who teachit teach it incorrectly. They combine tithing and fistiuits, which are separate. Notice scriptures have tuthing and firstruts in them together using the word AND, Simple English comprehension tells us that the use ofthe conjunction AND means that they are two separate things, ‘The two most famous versus used are in Genesis I4and ‘Malachi, Most people who teach Genesis 14 DONT READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER. Abram didn't ONLY give ‘tenth but he gave EVERYTHING! Also, people were a part of the spalls that he received, THERE WAS NO TITHING ON PEOPLE! Additionally, what Abram gave \was NOT from any of his own possessions It ONLY ‘came from the spoils ofthat particular battle (Question 1: ftthing starts with Abram, then after his encounter with Melchizedek whom else does he give his tithes? (Question #2: The story of Melchizedek was the second ofthree instances where Abram receives an increase financially. The other two are from Pharaoh and Abimelech. Please explain why there is NO RECORD of (Abram) Abraham tithing tether instance? Pharaoh was BEFORE Melchizedek and Abimelech was AFTER Melchizedek. ‘Question #3: 1f Abraham was the “ather of tithing” why fs there no record of Iesac tithing? (Question #4:In Genesis 2820-22 when Jacob, whose name means supplanter& trickster, ‘barters" with GOD (EGOD wil. Twill surely give a tenth to you") does hhe EVER make good on his vow?(Question #5: Since tithing ONLY makes references to animals and agriculture why do people make tithing ‘money today? This question exist because everyone DID NOT have animals or agriculture in the Old Testament. There were many different professions throughout the Israelites: Carpenters, Dyers, ‘Lumberjacks, and etc. (ook a all the people & professions that built the Tabernacle and the Temple) (Question #6: tithing i so important, why is there no record of JESUS tithing? Malachi chapter 3is used as the other promoter of tithing Ifyou read the ENTIRE book of Malachi you will see that GOD is talking fo the Levites and the High Priest NOT the tribes of Israel. Israelites gave the tithes (animals and agriculture) tothe Levites - who were not allowed to own anything - who then gave a tithe from the tithes. They were the ones that had stopped tithing! As leaders they were leading the people astray! GOD. was rebuking them for thelr actions and the lack there oft Flease read the ENTIRE book Also, “storehouse” comes ftom the word owtsar, This word is used for: treasure, storehouse, treasury. _magarine of weapons (GOD's armory) store - supplies of food or drink. and storehouses - of GOD for rain, snow, hail, wind. or sea Please also read Acts 151-29,(28) This frees all gentiles: For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us. to lay ‘upon you no greater burden than these necessary things (29) That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and ftom blood, and from things strangled, and fromfornication: from which ifye keep yourselves, ye shall do well Fare ye well. Notice no mention of tithing! Forall of those that have been misinformed and told that animals and agriculture represented money Luge you ta do some personal research throughout the bible. Just remember, currency existed as a measurement (Temple Shekeb, the prodigal son's inheritance was not snanimals and agriculture, ESUS'story ofthe talents, (currency) was not about agriculture and animals, the ‘woman that gave the most when she gave the mite, the _money changers in the Temple, Joseph and Potiphar Judas sold JESUS for 40 pieces of Silver, Peter and the fish, no money to buy food to feed the 5000, and there are more that YOU are familiar with but just didiit make the connection. mention ALL of thisnot to be ANTI-GIVING but show that we are not bound to give a CERTAIN amount, GOD has given us freedom to give less or MORE than the tenth (which by the way actualy means ane of every ten, therefore ifa person has anything other than a muhiple of 10 they don give or ONLY give 1per10:Le.1 =19 = 1,20 -29 = 2,30 - 293, ete) Weare NOT cursed, comunitting a sn, or any other iisinterpretation that Is an oratorical exercise in twisting GOD's Word! The word currency come from. the word current. This shows movernent! We should allow money to “‘move" through us as GOD moves ‘money tous. This should include our local church and other good causes, which show good stewardship in their finances, to further the Works of GOD, Most importantly we should not only be open to giving butis seek GOD as to the amount, when, where, and how! have struggled with this issue of tithing. Ihave always tithed and never experienced much financial prosperity When asked God about tis, he sald to me, “Are you trying to live under the law or by grace?” I was tithing out, offear. Although, 1am a natural giver. believe that 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 ina strong, ‘way in regard to this love God somuch and I want to be obedient. tied of pastors putting fear into people about tithing Hi Jjague, Thad revelation about thing ~ after a message at church, [realised that it \was about opening my hand as an ac of ERS rusting Father God with all the detals. Pretty PIB amacing things happened - but Thavest been able to shake the fear of poverty andl the wolves are back atthe door.I choked and didnt go with it Tm a single paren ofa single patent. have my reasons/excuses. Anyway, even though He has been faithful and have enjoyed His ‘economy’ while struggling through, Ihave not got ths ground beneath my feet. Ihave come round again - some years later to sec that Ihave to stop controling my financial conditions and let the Rwver low! have experienced the same. We cannot out give God God has Super Bank and will provide all that ask andae para believe I pray that God shows you the light, 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 tha 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 todo, God gave cach and everyone of usa choice to either want tobe like him or not and he gave us the Bible (our manual), He has actually made our lives easy by giving us, “manual to live by and we have chosen to make it difficult by trying todo itby ourselves. its lke buyinga new gadget, I takes you longer to get it working you try puttingit together yourself but i 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 isno element of fear that you might be dotng 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 silllnot working’. and so to get to the point. yourbible willtellyou what you have todo in order for your life on earth to be easy and have a guarantee that you willbe \with God at the end and in the Bible God makes promises and you and He even said test me, and see f shant keep my promise to you’ thisis ike him saying. if this doesnt work wil give yous 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Marcha ‘you todo things that you realy dont want todo, the things that pastors jobs are really hard as they dont ‘want to accountable for your sinsat the end, they are just like parents teaching their children about life Thave afixed income and ism going to be paying $385 dollars in rent starting in May and would lke to have my ‘own computer if tthe 10% of my total income {ll be lucky to even pay my bill, Hey john Tunderstand the fear when you look at your bank account and see the limits. Can] challenge you to not be limited by what you see but instead strengthened by who God Is and says. Pay your rent and tithe the proper amount ‘Ask God to provide a computer or the money for one and forthe remainder of your bills. Put Hi first. 1 is aout promise you your faith will he strengthened by the experience, Trust Him He is worthy. Uiked 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 1096 (plus a further 10% + 10% each three years) BUT if we are under srace, saved by grace & empowered by grace, shouldnt ‘we be giving more? Ifthe law was our traning wheels before grace should not tithing be our training wheels before giving more than 10%? lest right with me,‘totally agree with tithing your ‘ist’ even more: our ‘most precious thing, TIME!! Do you realize for most people they would rather give you money than thelr time? Istarted tithing my time to God. This means, FIRST thing when my feet hit the floor. Igo staight to my chair and read my bible study that chapter and pray for him to Jead me through that day. Everything falls in place from there! Tm very confused about tithing and how It relates to my financial situation, fam trying to get cut of debt, which 1 also feels a biblical directive. Talso help my elderly parents out with $250 each month. If tithe the fll 10% ‘each month plus provide offerings on nonpay weeks. 1 dorit have enough to pay the debts that lam trying to pay off. can't make the minium payments and fm charged late fees and verlimit fees which only increase the amount of debt that Ihave. want to give the Lord. myall! to Dee: things have been pretty hopeless to me too, notin the financial side, but my personal Ife purpose, think itis. ‘more damaging. [am depressed, but I read that “God is not interested in fixing your problems, but in bullding your character.” When I pray and nothing improved, 1 convince myself by the above quote. ‘My bishop instructed me in the tithing law about 6‘months ago, and I began to tthe each month. Imust admit twepedation at fst of handing over 10 percent of my earnings tothe bishop, but I felt t was God's will. Alter reading Numbers 1, Tknew it was the right thing t0 do. The way I see it. tithing has been a win-win situation for everybody. 1 For me, Ive 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 ay spiritual walk greatly, Numbers 18 tells us that God desires only the best for those who submit themselves to his service, Theu his members tithes, my bishop has the finest of ust about everything at his fingertips, and T now God has blessed him for a reason, and 1am happy for him. Again, itis God's will for the priest to enjoy the best as their just due for serving him. Dear Converted Tithe. ‘Why isitthat your Bishop “has the finest of just about everythingat his fingertips” Are ‘oakZG_ you speaking of matcral things such s cars, #91 houses, clothes, ect? Isyour Bishop a true Bishop? Is all members covered under hisblessings or is there significant ack in your church amongst the ‘members? Research the bible and know what and how to recognize a true bishop for yourself. Pilar,ly.2000 aly 25 2008 While thinkits important not to get legalistic - we started from our take home pay amount and then moved upto our earnings before taxes, My logic was that hefore the goverrument started pulling taxes out of our paychecks people would have been tithing fist on the ‘amount they made and then paying axes ater: Aqquick shout out for tithing, My wife and Itithe and are prompt in providing offerings to individuals within our Chistian family too, We do so because ofthe “tet” God proposes tous and we do so with love-not just because ‘we are told our income will be protected. Yes, we have seen tthing as apart of the fence around us that protects usand family, Weare mindful that enemies those jealous of or cavetous of what we possess) are very capable of attacking usin 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 ance problems arse Isto late, Tithing ‘puts God tothe test” and He is faithful to protect us Hallelujah! ‘Well, mentioned this in the forum area, but lam currently unemployed, and have been for about 2 months. My wife and Italked about tithing when L was firstlet go (my wife sa stay at home mom. sono additional income there Jand we agreed to continue to supporta missionary family and our Compassion Internationa child as our tthe, But heyond that, we dont give any more.ao, ‘November, {just qualified for unemployment insurance, which isn't much, buts helps. My question forall of you is... should {person tithe when they are unemployed? Does that even matter (I think of the "widow's mite")? ifyou tthe God will se that your bills get paid Oooh 1 justlove him so much.Try him Great testimony. [want to start thing as well Right now I don' have the money to tithe as per our earnings we should tithe AED 100770 being 10% of our total earnings, But this month fam left with only 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 {have borrowed from frlends who are asking thelr ‘money back everyday and I don't know what to do? Do ‘ive everything to God or should Iuse this money to buy ‘groceries and settle atleast a few debts that Ihave Check out bishopjordan.com Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan and his son Manasseh Jordan are simply amazing. They have live streaming services on Tuesday and Friday nights along with one on Sunday afternoon, Also, ive conference calls are held throughout the week {am different Rich tothe previous Rich but need to ask. Master Prophet? Huh Ididnt now there were levels @Every bit helps to keep things going in the right rection! 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 Through, individual. companies and so on examples, Weelso could use some help in getting the word “Tithing” in all Religions, or the equivalents, Forexample:in English Christians say 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 valeclacbiz, ‘tithing Tm going to be the only detractor here it seems. 1 decided to stat tithing and I did, FAITHFULLY, fo a litle over a year. God sald, "Test Me now in this and see” So, 1 did, And. And. No significant difference that either my husband or I could see. Tmunota shopper, nota spender, but little by litle my bank account went down, down, down. In fact itwasJust this past week ater a lot of anguish that 'decided to discontinue tithing, It was ahard decision. but on God's directive, tested Him, How longis the test supposed to last? I dont know, but I would think that I would have noticed SOMETHING different during this time. [feel sad about this, Itis wrongto pick and choose which Mosaic laws to enforce in achurch A tenth must be given, butts okay tonot be under the rest? Didn't Pal ay ifwe are under BRSERR thelaw. we are under the curse if we break even one, but weare now under the law of race through Chis. Ps this was tenth to suppor the Levies, sor ofl taxation. Our government already atest, soadd te een te eee ee ees eae eae ee Se tee tae eee ee eee Bd torrie ecrrrcice nese Fo ce eats ete reer eee ee ae eee ee ete ee Fee crearieirreanee aviator Revco eoreaeg ue Ree a eat eemoney doesn't make sense to me since as [sald many wicked are rich So basically I cannot believe that a born again Christian ‘MUST give tobe blessed YET a wicked sinner can have money without being saved and have billions ‘Why do Christians have to give and sinners dont to get money? It doesnt make sense Linda, Thanks for your honest post. Infact [rejoice that you have some problems with tithing and have the nerve to ‘aopaih_ express them with examples here, Don't forget that God's 2018 blessings are not just monetary and that many people ‘without money problems are just as unable to buy the joy that s missing in the lives ofthe Christians who have ‘expressed their delight in tithing above, You confirm God's word when you bring forth the example of Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan possessing all the kingdom of Babylon. It would seem that God's sunshine and rain falls as abundantly on the wicked asit does on the just, but follow the story of King Neb and remember that he lost his mind in spite of a word from God to repent from his arrogance (comething that often accompanies an abundance of cash. Apostle Paul vigorously fought the Jews who were trying to preach that new Christians be clrcumeised because It wasn't the skin that counted, but the hear. Thing is the demonstration of our falth (see James-faith without acts is vain) pastor I know likes to think of our good acts as the ‘exhaust’ we emit as Christians who understand that we were saved by the blood of Chuist. So you dont have to tthe, but refraining from It, consider the opportunity you lose to express.{alth in He in whom you now bellevel You say it doesnt make sense that a sinner can have money without being saved, but even Gods foolishness’ is more wise than ‘wisdom as perceived by men, May God bless you and may Jesus save those pagans whose wealth he has allowed, but who do not yet confess his blood! (Like he did for us before we knew Him) Suz, Dorit be sad, When God accepted to deliver the Telit Hebrews out of Egypt va Moss, ist things got worse Mai for them. (They were told to make bricks without stra, and complained to Mose who was certainly put to the test) Apostle Paul commands us to be joyful, even in {nibulation Ifyou have only begun tithing itis a walkin the direction of God and will be opposed by evil forces. Consider your total life in Christ and dont give up the battle. Watch your heart too-as apostle Paul says, God loves a joyful giver. Stay the course because God doesn't forget like we do, He always delivers! totithe ornotto tithe thatthe question? we christians get so caught up in trivalites, do you not see God deals with al differently for some itis needed to = tithe forothersit snot but the one thing we as Jif christians cannot escape is the commands to GIVE. 50 give what you can. when you can, where you can and dont worry regarding pastors some are proffesing what they feel is the gospel and so are exhorting you, others are pushingguilt for greed? but no this all of them if not i falth ae using agit to god to pay there mortgage by Also what about the 3rd year tithe when all the tithe was given to the poor and widow's does your pastor/church, practice and promote this? we canall take part of GODs word and sult our own agenda The question istt what do you think? Do? or Practice? ‘or what daes pastor say (doesn't he have a name, i mean do you say to evangelist hi Reinhard or hi evangelist? or hiprophet?theseare titles and pastorisa tit, like father?) The question Is take it to God read the word study the history of tithing et, realise that we a called to give but. freely, and those who don't care for family are worst than, Infedels etc so give as the lord leads why be lead by the spirit in every area of your life but giving. you may keep it allone week give loads away the next So toall of you relax what you do is personal, bu for me the bible says he's my rock high tower redeemer, saaviout, lord, and surrounds me like a shield and afterall didnt come with tithes when twas saved did {came just as iam a bum with nothing of worth and he was there forme, as he's there forall of yous have peace none tthers and tthers alike your giving doesn't increase or decrease blessing, your saved afterall through him nat your works, So to finish give give give. but dont give to your own destruction. or so you cart pay bills feed kids, look after self basic needs) ifyou need to slim down your needlessia or spending do that to give more, seperate need from greed, and then be free dont let the enemy or the word taken out of context strike you with fear Also try reading the bible yourself, twill change your Ife xinlove paul Tithing, Thave to say that it has opened the doors for God tobless us, Is something that my husband and Ihave started doing consistantly since about august/octaber. Wearein the middle ofa storm in our marriage and with our finances. Weave moved from a2 bedroom apartment to 1 bedroom efficency studio. felt the need to tithe to trust God, My husband agreed. think for him i was more out ‘of knowing it was the right thing to do, Thad been very scared to do so because many weeks we were hucky to have gas for our cars, let alone food for the week, God didn’t give usa bonus, we didn‘ see gifts of money. ‘What we have seen is that we always have food now, be st family sending us home with food or familly meals, ‘wednesday nights is youth and we serve them dinner so wee taken care of there Thad to go tothe doctors and they said that [had a credit, and the other one it was $10 less than I thought Just the amount that [had to squeeze from elsewhere. ‘A.creditor called, the amount we owed was dropped from $90 to $25, This month Iwas put in a postition at ‘work that has the potiential to bring in promotion/aise, But most ofall, He has given me a clarity of mind, Iam able to see more of where all the money needs to go.ae rau remember when my baby gal was horn i was confused cofhow i will manage to tithe and atthe same time open ‘an account for my baby to be saving every month for her education but God is faithull out ofknow where i got a raise in my salary wow am excited and encouraged to see this response In the christian community on giving am so glad to see am glad to see thatthe truths waiten, here - giving snot equal to accepting salvation nor does the lack of it keep you from Gods love nor heaven, ‘That verse about shaken flowing over was primarly about FORGIVENESS, UT COULD AND CAN BE TAKEN IN OTHER METHODS OF REAPING AND SOWING, Butit should not be primarily for a prosperity message nor for filling church treasuries only while taking families broke! Hove the comments on we are called to.a higher place ~ weneed to understand that allf everything we have comes from God and itis HIS and we need to honor Him, with everything fo include or intelligence and strength not just money. Also we should not be limited to 1096 if God calls you to bless someone walking down the street ora ministry and tis greater than 10% and we dont do it that is disobedience l God blesses obediencell ‘The tthe should not condemn nor oppress anyone. As ‘an accountant [understand many cannot give but about 43360 their income. Remember the widow that gave two ites moved the heart of Jesus! ‘With about 30% taken from most paychks for taxes and other deductions as needed for most families close to 25% used for shelter and for mos itis close to20% Most have car payments and thats equal many times 10- 2 RIGHT THERE WE HAVE CLOSE TO 80% ‘withthe average household income in USA at 43000 ifyou do the math that gives that household $716 per month Understand they have not purchased car insurance, fue. food, nor ules, NO clothes, No vacations, No birthdays, No repairs, NO furniture, No ‘other debt payments a monthly tthe on 49a yr income is roughly $358, think about condemist - a person tithing on that income Is incurring unnecessary debt or doesnt have a house payment or maybe they are living ina neighborhood that. isnot worthy of raising family Think we need the mind of Christ and stop condeming people of tithing or nat - maybe God is calling some to help those that need the help and get up off our HIGH HORSES of I TITHE AND IAM BLESSED YOU DON'T YOU ARE CURSED GET AWAY FROM ME. God hates a boastful spirit and loves a cheerful giver l! Nt ane that does so they can boast tama born again Christian, and my love for God and ‘others is unquestionable, [am in debt, and Ilive only ‘withthe bare necessities, and my wife and 4kids suffer from my debts. Ihave tested God with my giving over and over, and lend up further and further in debt If salve half the time the check bounces, or fl give cash, ‘other bills go unpaid and I get more late fees and go further into debt. finaly have stopped trying to give money to the church and lam barely able to meet my monthly expenses. give my tine and use my gifts tohelp others in the church when I can, That is all Thave and its allt can do, IE give financially, my family literally goes hungry or suffers some other way. I have a good paying full time job and a not so good paying part time job. I work at ast, 70 hoursa week to try and keep up. Itsilis not enough toppay forall the debt have incurred, lam so tired all the time and this debt is so heavy. Ihave been crying out to God andall get is silence in this matter. Ipray for others and he answers almost immediately. don't understand, am oppressed, and I dant see how to get over this lay it at God's feet, and then the phone rings, i's another debt collector wanting paid now and [have to take ital hack again. only have 7500.00 in credit card debt, but between the house, ca, utilities and the everyday living expenses [just don't make enough My house roof leaks and its literally rotting away. [have ‘mold all over the ceilings, most of the windows are cracked and it gets very cold at night. Icanttafford to live ina cheaper house, because my house is about the cheapest there is, Most of my faucets leak. I might be able to fix ther, but I don't have the money to fix them. Half of my electrical wring is unplugged because of shorts in the wiring The vehicle that my wife drives is. falling apart and Ican barely keep itrunning.IfGod were tohand me a 100k tomorrow, I might be able to fx up the place to make it livable, 1am eventually going to have togetaloanto fix some ofthese things, buthow am I suppose to pay fori” And yet, God commands me to tithe, how am Ito ever give cheerfully when Lam literally taking food out of my children's mouth and giving it away? My faith sso stretched when it comes to myfinances, and yet [know my Jesus lives from my past experiences. I donot understand why he wants to keep me so oppressed, what good am Ito him this way? Ryan, youve been through a lot - and continue to go through alot, Youll be in my thoughts and prayers. 1don'thaveell the Suaaky, aliswers, but [believe God will give you the answers you seek with time. God bless! Read battlefield of the mind by joyce meyer it may have answers to your questions thas helped me and my falth is being tested and piydit the building of my charactest HiRyan. God loves you. Just to share wath you Tam. ‘aig close to understanding the pain you fel. My Zeti_dad was an baby that was sold to another family for good luck. He was never ina loving environment and joined secret soclety which landed ‘min jall. twas hard for him to get a Job after that. My mum was from a broken home with alot of internal tnle, My parents got together but never had a proper weddling ceremony. just a registration of marriage with 4 fren as witness. My dad's foster family jeered at them, and never want to fund the marriage ceremony. This. happened in Singapore in 1970-, alittle country which Js booming economically. My mum was emotionally wrecked and tried committing suicide by drinkingsome polson while pregnant with me, She was admitted to hospital and doc say she might lose me. My dad being a avid gambler was guilty and kneel down at the hospital and prayed for hoth our safety. He wasnt a Cristian then but he knew how to pray froma pastor while in ja, My mum and I was saved. That became the Ist miracle, But after Iwas born she doesnt have the ‘money to pay delivery fee and the doc threw away my file and she walked out of the hospital w/o paying a cent, 2nd miracle. But even after that we were not allowed to stay in my patemal grandparents house as they hated us then and insulted us and tried to get us ut ofthe house, We slept out in streets in bus interchange , with me asa baby in my parents arms. Lots of borrowing of money from everyone they knew Just to get by another day, My mum was froma ‘wealthier family and she took her treasured pearl powder ofthe thing left in her possession and ‘wanted to sll o my father's aunt (to get some money) who accused her of having stolen this tem as there is no way she can gether hands on such an expensive item. Later they managed to rent a loom apartment. when they ran out of milk powder they tried to feed me porridge when Iwas | month old and Inearly choked. They cried, My dad cried even today when he told me hhow it ear his heart to see me choked then, After staying there for some time, theres a catholic nun that ‘went door to door to give out daly necessities. she chanced upon our door and immediately ook note and give us more , was given and fed the best milk powder that was in the supermarket. Miracle again, she also gave alitle money every time she replenish our food supplies. Hearing that retrospectively that Is when T know God will not abandon anyone ofus. Afterreceiving so many blessing inform of food and money ‘my parents decided to leave and they thanked the nun there, My mum also got to know Roman Catholics are quite loving She didnt kiow who the Lord isthen loll ‘we moved and shifted many places. most of the time due to eviction as not able to pay rent, Sometimes, they would carry bags of clothes and stn park til morning while was toddler, My parents also engaged the help of nannies. had 8, but Ithink some of them are not paid. My dad worked odd jobs but it was stil hard to have a permeant roof aver out head, One day my dad saw anewspaper which a church is employing a caretaker. He went for the interview and was employed The pastor mentioned a year later he chose my dad out ‘of many candidates as the Holy spirit moved him. Life gotbetter, I enrolled into the kindergarten in the church and got free education, We stayed fora year and ‘when I completed my pre school. the principle spoke tomy dad as she wanted to refer me toa good primary school and with the recommendation letter she wrote | walk into one of the top school in Singapore. My parent then got an apartment and they had may younger brother. My dad started his business and it was falling and there are lots of trouble and my parents quarrel dally. allthese were compelling reasons for me to drop school and be rebellious, But ironically studying became my solace and Imade in to the university During my critical years in u versity it was the Aslan financial crisis and my dad lostlots af money , my mum Keep wanting divorce and my brother was rebellious I was the only breadwinner ofthe house earning from tuition and had to support my tution fee, the housing Joan of family and have to appear everything is normal ‘while lam in campus. Going home to se my electricity get terminate and we have to.consume evrything im thefridge quickly and getting wierd eyefl fiom neighbours Sometimes justo get the electricy get restored 1 would used upall saved from my work toypay offthe debt. after graduation I couldn't finda job for abouta year asi was the SARS period, debt mount infamy Later gota debt collecting ob in a bank through help from a fren and our financial situation tummed around. Yet wasnt happy inthe job as Izeally wanted to do something more meaningful utin the financial lin. prepare mysefallthe time an take courses, Guess what, God had arranged forajob for me and! ended up working ina tp ter investment hank. 1 ‘moved further away from God during that time in my success but now I began to understand that I cat built God around me, need to built my ie around God. God gave me all the wiscom to know how to make alivingand to live a life abundant. So why am! ‘writing my life sory here 7 just want to say no matter how hard God is there with you. Fear not. By not having fear you are having faith Keep praying nd in times lke this draw closes to God then ever before even cos from my litle understanding - He is only what all of wushave. Work with what you have. lam not a seasoned tither (and has no right fo ay anything about tithing) but Ifyou give os you love God. think theres Joy in your hearts that wil shout and ge you peace. Go about Your work the bestyou can. Praise and worship Himall the more. And goabout your work the best you can and snall your ways consider him hhis opinion and pray to him. Ifyou tthe or give it shows that Gd co owns what youhave hence your estate be taken care of My experiences that God loves us so much and cant walt to give usall the provision and more. Be patient. Big ‘mbulation big glory, small ablation small gory andHis strength is made perfect in your weakness Thoped ny long winded sharing can help in anyway, feel free to drop me an email anytime. Isaiah 4110 Ryan, Be strong! You look like a real locomotive and your family is blessed to have you asa dad when so many others give up under the same oddsas you have been. facing. Still others have no jobs. Iive outside ofthe US. right now so have difficulty keeping track with the typical American lifestyle though I was born and raised in the US. heard the podcast for 60 Minutes last week and .was struck by the ‘new homeless’ who are living in motels or with neighbors because they were kicked out of their houses (Florida). So 'm not going to say that you should be satisfied that you have 2 jobs while others have none. Itis also too easy for me to say simply for you to“hang in there’ though Ido wish you only victory in your struggle.1 would rather remind you of something Apostle Paul was tld by God when he complained to God about an infirmity, Paul sald that three times he prayed to God to take away that thorn and God. responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness So Paul decided to boast in his infirmities so thatthe power of Christ would rest upon him, (2 Cor 127-10)re wars 1 do not know how long your financial challenges wil last Ryan, but believe that because of your own testimony about Jesus living that you will quickly he delivered from the weight ofthat burden. I hope these words may give you some consolation in the meantime, With Love! Thave to totally agree that giving is very important. 1 recently started increasing my giving ard immediately started noticing increase in all arcas of my life. now give 10% from the increase after my taxes (federal, state and Soc sec only) use Luke 20:25 as my guide “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God What is God's However I always end up giving a litle more 109% Since then [have never heen short on a bill orlack for anything I usually end up with more at the end of the ‘month than anticipated. Sometimes blessings come so in, abundance It’s overwheming and exciting! In a very short time Istarted getting bonuses on my job, extra hours , unexpected increase on my tax refund and good sales savings at stores. The bottom line i. f you give from yourheart love others, GOD and yoursel, then your lif will change for the better! Just remember if you reap sparingly you will eap sparingly and if you sow ountifully you will also sow bountiful yan’ ‘My husband and Thave been where you are now. My husband lost his job In eatly 2007, He finally found another job, but it paid less than half of what he'd been ‘making before. By Jane 2008 our house was foreclosedcon. We moved to another state where cost of living was much lower and we would be closer to family. We were both able to find jobs there even though they didn't pay much. We just rented very tiny old house about 1/4 the size of what weld had before, We thought it would be temporary until we got back on our feet. However, the factory where my husband had gotten ajob soon closed after being there 50+ yrs. and Talso ended up geting ald off, Neither of us could even qualify for unemployment benefits. My husband ended up doing some contracting work & I found a waitressing job at a small cafe & we were just barely scraping by. Then the cafe closed & much of the contracting work he had been doing was being put off because of people not having the money to pay for stuff In Oct, 2009 we sold his truck that was paid forin order to catch up with the payments on my car that we had fallen behind on. But that ended up being a poor decision, as we soon fll behind agaln fe my car ended up getting repossessed in Feb. 2010. So now we hhad no vehicle at all and barely any money coming in. Now my husband and I considered ourselves Christians, but we were not real good about regular church attendance, We went once ina while & took the kids to ‘VBS & stuff ike that, but did not faithfully attend, During allof this, there was an older couple that we had gotten to know & always invited us to church, but we only went cocassionally. When the church started doing Free dinners on Friday nights in order to help out the community_well, we were barely eating as it was so of course we took advantage of any opportunity fora free ‘meal! The alder couple that could see we were having a rough time, usually set aside any leftovers fe gave them. tome to take home which would feed us for another 2-3 days, Once they realized we'd lost the car they startedoffering to give us rides ifwe would come to church with them on Sundays. So we started going regularly, and 1 started going toa weekly womens bible study, I started spending all my time ‘stuck at home’ praying and reading. my bible. We gota small tax refund and was able to buy an old car for $600. Of course it was always breaking down & costing us money for repatts. By June we couldnt even pay aur rent. Fortunately our landlord was a very understanding Christian couple that did not evict us but gave us some opportunites ta do some work on. the house in exchange for some ofthe rent & patiently waited for my husband to find more work. The last ume the carbroke down, we hada yard sale to come up with the money to fix what weil been told the problem was. ‘Wehad the money in two days & paid for the repair, but the car sill wouldn't stay running. By this time my husband had gotten in touch with an old oss from a job hed left 2yrs earlier in another town, They told him they would be happy to give him a job ifhe could just get there, We didnt know what to do when the car repair didn't work, we were counting on him geting to that job. We had no food in the house & electric was due to be shut offin4 days, We had $18 to our name and had already sold everything we could possibly find to get ‘money for the car repair. was just praying day and night, Ireally didn't sce any other option, knew God ‘was the only one that could help us a that point. The next morning the older couple came down to our house tocheck on us & told us they had another friend that had 1a carhe needed ta sell & they wanted to buy itfor us. This was completely out ofthe blue, we had not even. talked to anyone since we found out about the problems. with the car. All weld done was pray & Itotally believe that God sent them & put thelr other friend intheposition of needing to sell his cat: When they told us ‘what they wanted todo, my husband & both practically burst into tears & couldn't believe it They bought the car forus, pald for us to get the tags oni & fo the Ist month ‘of insurance. They filled it up with gas fe bought us some sraceries. My husband left the next morning to go start Jhis new job about 200 miles away. His hoss paid for him to stayin a motel while the kids & I stayed behind until ‘we could save up enough money to move. It took usa few months, we paid our landlord forthe back rent we still owed, paid the utity hill, & saved up enough for us tobe able to move, We also paid back all the amounts they had paid for the car ete Ryan do you spend every minute thinking of what YOU ‘cando totake care of your family & get yourself out of this debt? My husband really struggled with tis too, always feeling like HE needed to he the one to take care ‘of usand get us out ofthis situation. Always thinking that AFHE just worked harder etc. then things would work out Get those thoughts out of your head! God knows your desires, your wants. & your needs. hee wants us to realize hhow much we need & depend on him. instead try ppittingall your own ideas and thoughts about haw youre goingto take care of your family out of your mind 4 just focus on praising GOD é& trusting that He will provide. God has.a way of taking care of things that's beyond what we can do for ourselves. His ways are Detter than ours. In our situation help ended up coming from other people_offering to do something for us that sve could never have imagined. The day things changed forusts the day we found out the car repair that we just spentall our money on was still not going to get the car running. My husband spent several hours (inthe ran) trying everything he could possibly think of trying to getthat car running. He finally came to me practically in tears & told me there was nothing else he could do, he'd tried everything. We were both so scared knowing we hhad no money for groceries or electric bill He just came tome & took my hands and told me T's in Gods hands now, there is nothing else I can do. All we can do now is hope that God has a plan because Im all out of plans Now my husband is «survivalist type. in Id yrs. of ‘marriage Ive never heard him say he doesnt know what todo, he always has an answer & is always positive that he can handle any situation. He always has a plan & a back up plan always knovis a way to fix just about anything, I can't imagine what it took for him to come & tell me that he couldn't do anything about our situation, toadmit that he was helpless and God was the only one that could do anything for us. But, that is the moment that everything changed. We ended up finding an incredible deal on anew home. Itwas a brand new home that a man had built, bt then tended up passing away after living in it for oly couple ‘months, His kids decided to rent it out. We were amazed.,honestly fr this nice new: home I know that they could be renting it for several hundred dollars more than what they're asking, Even the deposit they requested was only half of what everyone else with old run down homes was asking for. And the really crazy. thing s that had a whole list of houses to golaok a, but my husband ended up having to wark on the day we planned to golook at ther. By the time we actually ot a chance to go look_this house was the only one that was still available I truly fee that thisis where God intented for us tobe, Ibelleve he Tet us struggle through all thesebad situations for the las yrs. just walting for us to turn tom, When we finally realized that HE was our only hope & just puta our effort into praying, reading the Bible & trusting him. it's amazing how quickly he worked things out for us. And even way better than we ever imagined. We maved into our new home? days before Christmas & had a wonderful Christmas. {stil wake up every moming, look around a this beautiful new home, ‘and Im absolutely amazed. in September we were on. the verge of being homeless with absolutely nothing not even able to feed our kids, by Christmas we were moving, inthis beautiful new home! I knew God would help us & provide forus f we just kept praying é belleving in Faith, but never expected all this! We have now joined a church here in our new town which we faithfully attend. cvery Sunday & tithing is absolutely included in our new budget! My husband works in construction so this winter has heen rough. there's been a lot of days that he couldn't work due to the weather & therefore didn't get a full paycheck but we just keep praying and something has always come through so that we somehow end up with enough to pay all the bills & still buy groceries, We are trying out anew budget so that we can start getting lan emergency fund built up, Im stlljust amazed at how the Lord has blessed us after 4 very long dificult years. ‘hope we dont ever again start thinking that we can Just do It our way and take care of ourselves without Gods help, Rhonda- Your testimony & faith has blessed me..thank you for sharing Ryan-you ate in my prayers.Ryan - you and your family are in my prayers. Please remember that itis not always for us to understand God's plan forus. Weare, however, to be obedient to Him and His Word and I feel confident that your “obedience as evidenced in your post will pay huge dividends, lease consider the plight of Jab and how richly God eventually blessed Job fr his faithfulness Rhonda - Your testimony brought tears to my eyes It never fails to amaze me how loving and falthful i our awesome God {was not raised in a Christian family andl most everything Ive learned about God and His Word Ive Jearned as an adult. I spent many years going to church and studying the Word on a sporadic hasis at best. Some ‘months ago, wanting to avoid personally experiencing Revelation 3:16, made the decision to stop paying lip service to my pursuit of God and really begin to “walk the walk’ Pat of that decision was a commitment to tithe and give. also “adopted” a child through World Vision. Admittedly, before this decision was made Iwas doing cok financially, though I never seemed tohave any money left over after bill, tc, Since making the decision to faithfully tithe l havent received any monetary “rewards per se but [have hegun to understand (accept that lam. simply a steward of God's wealth and as such 1am responsible for handling God's wealth in a way thats pleasing to God. I now find that Ihave the honor and blessing of helping to advance God's kingdom theu tithes plus Lam blesssed to be able to help others thru offerings. After giving to God and paying the same old bills Tve always had, Inow find that I have some money left over, praise God.I would like to posea question to any one interested in responding Itemembera time when Iwas very young (5 or 6 years of age ~ Im now almost 40) and Ibelleve God was then trying to teach me the principle of tithing, Thad a dollar bill and I remember having an “urge’ to cover that dollar bill wth some dirt ata litle league baseball. field and just leave it there, Over the next few days. 1 remember finding some money in multiple random places. [found several dollars worth of change in the front yard of my parents’house that no one claimed and remember finding a $10 dollar bill ona shelfin a Richway (way before “Target folks!) store. Igave the money to my mom and she turned it into lost and found butno one claimed itso the store called my mom a few days later and told her to come get the $10 and she gave itto me, lalso seem to remember finding some more change in my pants pockets that appeared from ‘nowhere” Just the fact that Inemember this seemingly insignificant incident from roughly 35 years ago now makes me believe that [received alesson from our wondlerfl Father, Opinions? Blessings to All {wasjust reading hw Jess rebuked the Jewish leaders for teaching people to give to the synagogue instead of helping out ther parents. fm parents need money t oc rightto tithe insted of giving that money to my parents? Iwas pondering on the same thought and was lead that tithing can be many forms tithing to a church, etc and helping othersdune 72011 hy. who need t you mightbe a blessing to them ‘na way youmay never have thought Fray abtit) ee eee ere rece teeter a peer ae cores TyRSRL problem. He rebuked them because they were teaching the people to give for THEIR gain. not for God's kingdom. The money that you do have i aleay His low can you expect Him to give you more money to care of yourils ete when He cant trust you to pt Film fst Anything that comes with no sacrifices worthless to Hm. He sacrificed His Son so we could be saved. What are you wilingt sacrifice. e's saying toyou, Prove me now. Watch me work Mark 7943 1 was on line looking for answers, During different times ny life Ihave been convicted to tithe and Ihave done so and then I dont and I have made lots of money and I have made none and I always give and Igive to beyond my means, Right now Tlive ina house owned by a friend who isa hoarder. filed for bankruptcy, and Ihave heart, disease and lung disease. Ineceive social security and beg borrow where ever to try to ive and tohelp my Goddaughter. God loves me so muuch. I spent some timeseg i sleeping in my car and lost my home and some wonderful people helped me get my dogs from Los Angeles to Boston, no they didn't help the did i.1 would have walked the streets with my dogs alot of people know me and I help a lot of people ..J just can't seem to help myself. anyway. today once again Iwas talking to someone who in answer to my statement said you ‘must tithe. Thave social security and right this minute donit have enough to pay what must be pald right now but lam willing to give a 10th. my next questions. Where. 1am a Christian Idon't have a church home and I donit want one ~. [know one or two pastors who I would give my tithe to.or I could put it in the box of alitle church whose doors are always open and where people g0 to pray at anytime. Icould give to help and rescue animals which is were Lreally want to give It. ‘Ultimately I will ask God but T would like some feedback fon what you guys think. hi thanks alot for this post Bob Thave a question for everyone Can the tithe he gigen to someone in need or to someone God lead us to give or must the tithe be given only to the church or else7777. John, Would you please clarify what the correct tithing is for christian? Is it 10% of your gross salary of 10% of your net salary? Where exactly in the bible isthe truth about tithing and explain why it would be gross versus net orvisa versa, Thanks! Thave a prety similar story: wil start from the beginning of mine. Lama newly saved Christian, previously I was thinking good works would get me there but once was corrected a whole new warld ‘opened up to me and I quickly realized I needed to tithe My boyfriends father always tithed even when making minimum wage with 4 children, and his mother never really approved. Using common sense I believe his father Continued to tithe after their divorce and his mother did not. Their lives are polar opposites; he lives ina huge home and drivesa nice ca. His mom lives in atown house and doesrit seem as happy. That was abig motivator for me, tobe able ta see the rewards not only by the items God had gifted his father with but the level ‘ofhappinese in comparison, ‘Asa completely single mother was a teen mother and have neverreceived any additional support emotionally ‘or financtally) definitely struggle financially. The thought of coming up with 10% of my earnings to give away was frightening, What will my daughter miss out ‘on? How much faster could I get put of my parents ‘house if] DIDNTT tithe? Most ofall, just wherein the ‘world was I going to find this money! did my research and alot of people said you can tithe “whatever God puts itin your hear” to and that there were special ‘exceptions to this rule, my case probably being one of them. However, [have NEVER set myself aside as different from anyone or accepted any charity simply because Iam doing what Ihave to and LOVE to do, being So, Isat down and wrote out my budget when everyone ‘was out ofthe office on lunch [looked at it and justthought “this is never going to work" I wentto the Jitchen to make my lunch and just prayed about it Well as Tdid my manager walked back inthe building out of nowhere to borrow petty cash for lunch the had gotten there and had to come all the way back) and as handed stto him, with my budget of my previous pay stil laying ‘on my desk, he said “we wanted to let you know, we are giving you a raise. Ishould have told you this morning Dut forgot’ The raise was for just $300 weekly shy of wat Thad ‘wanted to tthe. Isce this money that comes into my account every week notas my own, but Gods. know al Thave is His, Thope you understand what Im trying to say) Thave struggled a few times with actually tithing, but when Ido it feels amazing and is rewarding. 1am so Jucky to be witha man who understands, supports and motivates me to not only tthe but fllow Christ any way possible. This last Sunday Itithed and though “man, lim ruts. My 2ist birthday is this week and I could really use this money" but I thought i's OK Ihet those ad's I posted on Craigalist wil get responses. Low and behold, the very next morning they did:o) (That's actualy how I gat here, do Ineed ta tithe on side jobs"?) Tove that you sald if you are nota happy giver to pray about it and God will change this. That's exactly what 1 did Sunday and I realy was happy. Thanks forallowing me to share my story! Ican only hope it wll help someone who Is considering NOT tithing. Hello, ‘wanted to share my short testimony on tithing, AboutJS@ | our months ago Iwas out of work and desperate for Toll even a minimum wage job just to make ends meet I prayed and told the Lord that when he provided me with job would promise to tithe whatever income I brought in. [later got a Job through a frlend, Two months passed and the end of my lease was up. thought my ‘mom and I would end up homeless as we did nat even have money for a deposit for a place to stay. My mom ended up finding a place that she had lived in before and the women who worked atthe lease office offered her a place with no deposit, Not only thatthe rent would be cheaper compared to those who have the same exact apartment. Recently the Lord put it on my heart that [needed to move out ofstae, Ireceived a call out of blue from my aunt who offered for me to move with her for free. Not only that. she bought me a computer and a new bed and Js paying for my ticket to see her. THIS IS FROM JESUS. HIMSELF, He receives all the glory. If your tithing and not seeing anything remember to first obey the Lord in all areas of your life. Give also from a cheerful heart and know the Lord is using the money to bless others. Remember thatthe Lord is working even when you don't SEE IT Thirdly, remember i you are saved then you are Gods child and that HE IS IN CONTROL OF YOUR SITUATION just as he was with Joseph and Job, ANGIE: That was so nice of you to share your heart with Ryan that way Tam sure tgave him some strength, We areal seGZE its from God and we ae tolive off ofeach othersoa strengths. There will always be someone whe can put things in perspective for us asa reminder that ‘thls too shall pass" and that “He wil ge us through with our faith intact’. You have inspired me.You made me cry, but you ‘emerged in the end trimphantly..Thank you. God bless youand yours) Thanks so much for this post, God really doesnt need ‘ourmoney. He ust wants us tobe a demonstration on, his faithfulness to his word. Tithing only enters us into a covenant of blessings that is humanly imposible to understand, WE CANT LOSE. But so many christians act asif they are playing the lottery with God, Why wouldn't we want tolet others see how great our God... Allof you who received financial blessings, Praise God bbutithad nothing to do with tithing. God has promised us that if we seek first the kingdom of God he would take care of you (paraphrased). When Jesus dled and rose again He made all ofthe OT obsolete the sacrifices, concubines. and you guessed it the tthe, Don't you find atpuzzling that preachers teach the tithe but Jesus hlmself never tthed nor recelved a tthe. As Christians \we are to live as Jesus did on the earth. He said be a cheerful giver Your blessing is not in giving to get, but giving because he has blessed you to be able to give back Ifsnot about how much but whether you gave from yourheart Read Luke 183-14. this ought you get you thinking onwhat Jesus felt about today’s emphasis on tithing and the lke. Paul, Peter; Timothy, never adlressed tithing and your local pastor shouldn't either. Butif you believe in what your local church is doing and itis good ground. GIVE but you have an obligation based on God's word to take care of your family and its obligations as well. Use wisdom and dan't et anybody brow beat you into giving based on Malachi 3:10 it no longerin effect. And, lastly. Isnt tinteresting how we are taught to give toget blessed, and Abraham was blessed first thenhe ‘gave. And guess what, there is only one documented account of Abraham giving tthe, According to scripture he tithed only once. Isnt that amazing? Study to show thyself approved. ‘Amen, Amen. Amen. Ce eee eee en and he person or Peene you gta becomes ete ee ee eee peys teste the din the Ble they ust lesen ee et ert eee ae eee eee eee a Fee ee ea ne ee tying to keep the Law. Gal 3910 People! The reason why tithing is not working for you Is probably because you are not thing 0% You are7 ard ‘suppose to tthe exactly 10Klor more) of your INCOME, Not your weekly paycheck. Once you start doing that God will start pouring out the flood gates for youl You need to obey in that regal And trust and believe things vill come together. You will never have to worry about the ills again! just pay that 10% tthe! Does God really just bless based on the tithe alone? Perhaps there's more to it? Ido not believe that tithing is mandatory under the new covenant but giving is! Giving isin our nature. the born ‘again spits diferent to the sprit of satan that we had before we got saved. I take my hat off to people who tithe and yes, there are blessings that go with tithing but i dont think its about the % I think its purely the law of sowing and reaping in action, ‘fe make tithing a law then 1 agree that w ehave to live ‘under the whole aw. the bible says the new covenants ‘much more glorious than the old. If we truly submit to the NT guidelines o giving (aid out in 2 Cor 8 &) then Ibelieve we find oursleves being more gererotis. 1036 is cute but what if God is able to bring us ta place where ‘we are giving 808? If tithingis the “it law” of finances then dost mean im cursed if give 20% of my income Dutrefuse to acknowledge the the fist 10% asa"tithe"? Its true, we could all argue and disagree about tithing all ‘we want but atthe end of the day we should all individually ive as the Holy Spirit directs us and not lay cout “rules” for other people to live by. Yes the word of God should be the final authority and it clearly states thatswe are ta give cheerfully and according to what we have, so that our abundance can supply other believers'lack and when we lack their abundance should supply our Tack So has anyone ever gotten a donation from their Jocal church that they faithfully “tithe” to when they were going through hard times then? Please lets keep our beliefs in line with God's word and not just what makes tus feel good, and if you tithe by choice then great, God is well pleased with you. But when you start telling people the reason they are not prosperingis because they are not “thing” then you are in error. You should encourage them to give a bit more and just trust God will meet their needs ‘Amen Edith agree with you and the Holy Spirit has convicted me ofthe same thing that you are saying Either you are trying to be (EES justified under the aw and you have fallen 201 from grace or you live under the grace covenant Jesus tells us not to give under compulsion but to give what we have purposed in our hearts. always ask the Lore” What shall give Lord and to whom, for everything on the earth belongs to you and 1 ant tobe a blessing and a cheerful giver" Too much ‘manipulation going on inthe Body of Christ with this ‘soue.Talways encourage everyone to just ask the Holy Spirit what you should give. Don't focus onthe reaping. Just do it from your heart and focus on the sowing. God wil fulfill whathe says about reaping thanks everyone for your posts i decided that Tam onceand forall going to get the scivyy on tithing/giving. i used tobelong toa church for Il years, was very faithful then {ell away from the church when my very abusive husband and I brake up and the church seemed to neglect meso walked away. that was 20 years ago, but as oflast year I turned my life back to God 110% fve been giving here and there, God has taught me so much but ‘when I think of tithing: think of how we faithfully tithed every two weeks 10% of our pretax income for It years and we were always poor, in debt, never had a thing and ‘were always struggling with money. so now 4am wondering why that was, = ee ‘one day last week it dawned on me, that Tgave from fear, fear that the church elders would think we were bad if we didn tithe faithfully even though we were hungry and without most ofthe time, Imean tithing becomes the thing to do or everyone on the board will now yout dorit and then you feel gully. thats how it goes it ‘now i want to give from an open heart, realizing God i= providing fo us frst, and we should trust and give back first to whatever way he sees fit. do not belong toa church yet but am starting to give to different ministries since iam self employed and work has been realy awful the past year, due to the economy, think wall tart ving S% regularly as have bills that have to be pald or else! but also ust dunged out our closets and have about $2000 worth of clothes to take to the shelters here, so to me that feels good also.1 gave clothes that fd even rather like to keep but realize I don'tneed them at. allas badly as anyone else-as soon as I can Iwill increase 10 10% because [believe we should tthe fist fruits sincewe aren‘tall farmers and the world runs on money, first fruits now has monetary value instead of literal fults and veggies and animals as inthe old times, oi wont give out of fear ever again i wil give out of joyous heart and when Idonit have ‘enough’ Iwill doit anyway, trusting God is greater than and above all, and does keep his, word. I suppose Iknew I used to give in fear, but never id anything about it. was not a very grown up Christian, then LOL. My point isto NOT give out of fear. God wants us to trustand is something dally have to do myself, believe sme as my human nature says“uh but you need this to pay bill off but I can see God providing and took forward to is blessings for my trust in him. am still, learning the truth about why we should tithe and to whom and all that but just decided that it bothers me ‘more tonot tithe than to tithe. the anxiety I eel of not ‘being falthfl to the one who Is faithful to me, hurts more than the silly money, which T know God doesn't need, but does further his ministry to reach the lost and tohelp those in need. so its not fearing i just know its something on my interior that says, i's the wise thing to do, and it honors God. Seek wisdom and understanding above all else Proverbs says Besides if you think about it, God all through the old testament was furious with his people idolizing man- made gods and he got right rpped about it and was constantly angry withthe people, and now in our day Money is the new god, seriously itis, and i's so sick! so1 don't want tobe part ofthat anymore either. I dont wa money to control me. That's my take on it, hope it helps someone else out there, t