Tithing

To say that Andy and I have not been good at tithing would be an understatement. It is just one of those things that we've known we should be doing, but have somehow always talked ourselves out of. We had great intentions when we first got married. While we were engaged we prepared our budget and included that 10% into the plans. We even spoke to our pastor who did our pre-marital counseling about tithing. At the time we were looking for a new church home and so we asked if we should hold off on tithing until we found one. He response was, "if you want to hold out on the blessings." He encouraged us to find a Christian ministry to give our tithe to in the meantime. Well, needless to say that never happened. We've always given something, but nothing substantial.

The past 6-9 months God has really started laying it heavy on my heart to tithe. It started when some friends of our talked about the blessings they have received since they started tithing. Then this year in BSF we've been studying Acts and the letters of Paul. He speaks a lot to the churches about giving. In fact a whole chapter in 2 Corinthians is dedicated to giving.

Back in the fall I spoke to Andy about what I had been feeling. How I really felt that God was putting it on my heart to tithe, but how the numbers just don't work out. We don't have that much extra in our budget. We decided to give more, but not the full 10%. Well, as you know, God does not accept second best. I still felt a lump in my stomach each week at church. I still felt God telling me to trust. What it had come down to was not a financial issue, but a trust issue. By not giving 10%, I wasn't trusting that God could make my finances work. He made it very clear that if I can trust Him in the small things, then I need to trust Him in the big things. I handle our money/budget in the house. I manage paying bills, paying the babysitter, budgeting, etc. This was between me and God, and I had to learn to let go and trust. So driving home one day I said it.....Okay God, I've done the numbers and they just don't work out, but I'm going to trust you. You're just going to have to make it work. And sure enough, for the past 2 months he has been making it work. Each pay check I give 10% and each month there has been enough...more than enough. It's very clear that if God can feed 5,000 with a few fish and a loaf of bread, he can manage my budget.

So my pastor was right. I held out on my tithe for so long and thus I have missed out on a lot of blessings. But no more of that! From here on out we are trusting God and allowing Him to be in control of the finances in this house!