Shortly after my daughter was born I had been at church and frustrated over a sermon about tithing. It just wasn’t something I had ever felt able to do and I was a bit offended how many needs they wanted us to support in recent history. There seemed to be this constant need for me to give. Food, presents and church repairs to name a few. It was never ending. Maybe I should put my own name in for needing a little extra cash. The sermon on this day, however, peeked my interest when the preacher said something that set me to thinking. It was, “If you are gainfully employed in the united States then you are rich.” I actually didn’t believe the statement as I certainly was not as rich as my neighbor and he was definitely not a rich man. It was true, however, that I always had clothes, food and shelter, which many people could not boast. The sermon did hoever set me to do a little research. What I found astounded me. Not only were we making above average but we were in the upper 4 percent of the population of the world! It was at that point I realized how “rich” I was. But that set me to wondering. If I am rich then why do I struggle so much with finances. We were literally living paycheck to paycheck and practically crippled financially for a time whenever emergencies like car repairs happened. I always felt like we were one emergency away from drowning financially. My new job allowed me time and resources to study our situation and I realized a number of things but the main one was … I needed to tithe!

Lev 27:30-33 “Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of this tithe, he shall add to I one-fifth of it. For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. He is not to be concened whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.

Have you wondered why billionaires are giving money away? Hundreds of billionaires are pledging to give away over 50% of their wealth. No, it’s not just a tax break. They are realizing that they just don’t need any more wealth (How many boats does one person need?) and giving it away gives them a freedom and joy that money can’t buy. Granted they are giving out of an abundance but the ability to give something away grants us an ability to detach ourselves from that thing. Heb 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have: for He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” The problem is that as Americans we have become too attached to money and the things it buys. We don’t think we can tithe because there is no ability to differentiate between want and need. Consider this … I am a big coffee drinker. My family and friends know this about me and they also know what I am like without it. They would all submit that coffee is a need for me. OK fine, I’m addicted and need an intervention but there are many like me and it serves a purpose. Let’s say I buy coffee at Starbucks every day for a month. At $3 a cup that is about $90 every month I spend on coffee. Probably money well spent honestly but hear is what I am getting at. If I were to make the coffee at home it only costs about 30 cents a cup. That is only $9 a month for a savings of $81 a month! That is $972 a year! See my point? I need coffee but I don’t need to buy it at Starbucks.

Consider an actual need. Imagine your car breaks down and is going to cost you $1500 to fix. For most people this is an overwhelming number so they decide to buy a new car. You trade in your old car and get a new car along with $300 payments. Great! Problem solved. However, can you really afford that? Those payments add up to $3600 over the course of a year. Fixing the old car only costs $1500 for a savings of $2100. Even if your old car breaks down again at a cost of another $1500 you still have saved yourself $600. For some people that is their tithe right there. The old car works just fine but we get distracted by the shiny new car and never consider how much we could save. Are you following my process here? We all nickel and dime ourselves for things that are needs but what can we do without or how can we change our expectations to spend less.

Read Mal 3:8-9 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, How have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!” and Deut 10:14 “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.” What we need to figure out is that it all belongs to God and He will get what is His one way or another so why not give it up as an act of obedience? When I committed my family to tithing something very cool happened. Not only did God bless us abundantly but so much that we were able to make up the difference we had not tithed previously. Boy! God is good!

Do this:

A. If you are not tithing or not enough then pray for forgiveness then prayerfully consider ways you can spend less until you get to 10 percent. If you already tithe then consider giving more.

B. Commit to giving this amount out of the first fruits. When you get your next paycheck, pay your tithe as your most important bill. Before rent, power and food! Set it up as auto pay if you are able.

C. Share your plan with a friend, mentor or spouse. If you are married share what you have learned and get their buy in. If you do not have your spouses agreement the do nothing but prayerfully seek the holy spirit to move in them to tithe joyfully.

Giving God out of our first fruits showed me something I had not anticipated and it was just a simple act of obedience. At first it seemd like this huge burden. We gave up what seemed like a lot. What I did not anticipate is that it was actually a burden lifted. Not that I worry about money but I had never realized my attachment to it. Giving God his due actually freed me from that attachment. So not only did I experience a freedom but God used that act of faith to bless us abundantly in other areas of our lives. I now experience joy in worshipfully doing what God had commanded.

My prayer for you is that the holy spirit give you guidance in identifying those things that keep you from experiencing freedom in you finances and a joyful heart in tithing. If you still cannot find a way to do this, seek advice from someone you trust like a relative, minister or counselor to give you spiritual help in figuring out how to make this a priority. It may require a lifestyle change so go at this with prayer and wise advice from those who are faithful servants as well.