My “Give & Take” on Tithing

I’ve been in church my whole life.  Literally, I think I was around 10 days old at my first church service.

First here…

Then here

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Now here

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At these churches, I’ve had some amazing pastors.  But they all have the one thing in common.

They hate talking about tithing!

Once in a blue moon, I’ll hear them throw it in a sermon, but I think I’ve only heard one sermon actually dedicated to tithing.

Between you & me, I think it makes them uncomfortable.  Maybe because they know our tithes are their livelihood. 

(On a side note, one of my pet peeves is pastors who believe the church needs to pay their family.  The Bible does not command us to support your father, great uncle, wife, kids, 2^nd cousin twice removed, to do nothing.  But don’t even get me started on that soapbox.  That’s another post for another day.)

But I got a question the other day.  It’s a common question for those of us who are taking a hard look at our finances while trying to squeeze every last drop out of our budget. 

“Should I tithe while paying down my debt?”

Simple answer: “YES!”

It is so hard.  My husband often would say, “How the heck are so-n-so able to spend so much money?  They make less than we do!”  And I’d remind him, “They probably don’t pay tithes.” 

10% doesn’t seem like much, but it can be a huge chunk of money.  I’ll be honest.  I have a hard time with it. 

Extremely hard time with it. 

There have been times where it’s been harder than others.  (See soapbox above.)

I wish I could say that we faithfully tithed since day one.  But when we first began our debt-free journey, I saw that *EXTRA* money.  I thought about how much “faster” we could get out of debt if we used that money towards debt. 

Don’t try it; it doesn’t work.

I figured out that if you don’t give it to God, He will probably take it from you.  Unexpected car repairs, dental bill, an abnormally large utility bill.  I’ve had it happen to me several times.  Just two weeks ago, we were out of town when our check was “due.”  I totally forgot about it and didn’t realize we didn’t tithe till I balanced our checkbook on Saturday.  Yeah…we just had a $680 heat pump repair bill.  (You’d think I’d learn by now!)

I’ve found splitting it up into smaller checks seems to help me. A lot of pastors would probably scold me for giving with the “wrong” attitude.  (I think that stems from my soapbox.)  But we’re doing it.  I can say it does get easier when you’re debt-free.  Finding ministries you’re passionate about and giving to them, make it easier.  But I don’t know if I’ll ever master tithing with a grateful heart.

We could get into the “sin” and all that, but I’m not here to judge or cast stones.  I could list half a dozen Bible verses, but it all boils down to this: It’s commanded.  Period.  Right up there with the “Big Ten.” 

If you don’t believe me, try it.  Just one month.  God will abundantly bless.  You will be able to do more with 90% than you could ever have done with 100%.