I OWE IT ALL TO HIM
As many of you know I am a Christian and my faith is important to me. I am not perfect in fact there are a few things that as a Christian have been a huge struggle for me. One of those struggles is being faithful with tithing and giving back to God.
What is tithing and why do Christians tithe?
Tithing is being faithful in giving back to God from the money that we earn. As a Christian, we are taught in the bible that tithing is very important. However despite being taught that tithing is the right thing to do it has always been a struggle for me. As you already know managing my financial life has always been a challenge and this is just another challenge I have encountered. As a Christian, I knew that this was something I should have been doing but the internal struggle was always stronger.
For many years I would go through periods of tithing and then stop when I felt my finances were out of control. The bible tells us that we should always tithe even when times are tough we still give from a grateful heart and rest knowing that He will always provide for our needs.
My faith was so weak
In the toughest financial times of my life, I failed to tithe. Why? Because I had so little faith and forgot God’s promises to provide. Instead, I chose to struggle and try my best to make it financially on my own. If you have read my blog for very long you already know how things got a lot worse instead of better. Being in control of my finances without tithing and committing my financial life to God was a huge mistake.
What happens when we tithe?
When I focused on myself and controlled my own financial life I failed. Over the years I have learned that when I am faithful at tithing my financial situation improves. It seems hard to believe but I know that when my life is committed to following God’s will amazing things happen. There are always struggles in life and that will never change but when you give God control of your finances He is always faithful to provide for your needs. As I became more faithful in giving God 10% He has shown me that He can provide in so many ways. He has opened a door for new jobs with pay increases I never thought possible. He has brought resources from places I never expected and made money stretch in ways that seemed impossible before. In July of 2023, I received a huge financial blessing from the Lord. My student loans were forgiven in full through public service loan forgiveness. I had been working towards this already but was advised that many apply and never actually receive this loan forgiveness. In my faithfulness to giving and repenting of my former ways, He has indeed poured out blessings.
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! ”
I owe it all to Him
In all the years that I struggled to be faithful with my tithing, I never saw prosperity like I have since my tithing became a regular act of gratitude. Tithing should be done out of a grateful heart and recognizing that we owe it all to Him anyway. The desire to be prosperous should not be the reason that any of us tithe or give to others but we should realize that God is faithful to us financially when we are faithful in giving.How He has provided when I did not tithe
God owes me nothing and yet He has faithfully provided for my needs even when I failed to give back consistently. He has always made sure that I had what I needed even in the times when my finances were a mess. I might have had to struggle more to make a dollar but He still provided me a way. I live with regret today for the days that I failed to recognize His promises and faithfully follow His word. The good news is that whether I tithed before or not my tithing today is a reflection of the condition of my heart today and the Lord forgives my past and continues to bless my future.
If you failed to be faithful in your finances
If you are a Christian and like me struggle with your finances. If you have never consistently tithed and placed your finances in God’s hands I want to encourage you to start. I know that it is tough when money seems so hard to come by and when paying your debt seems more important. Let me encourage you though that I have heard so many stories along with my own of God’s faithfulness when we tithe. Many have experienced what can only be explained as miracles related to their faithfulness in giving. God sees your faithfulness and will bless it no matter how small it is. If you can only give a small amount of money give that at the very least. In the Bible, Jesus tells a story about an older woman who gave all she had. This story is an important one to remember when you don’t have much to give continue to be faithful in giving.
In Mark 12: 41 - 44 Jesus spoke after witnessing a woman’s faithfulness :
41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. 43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
Be faithful in giving from what He has already provided for you and expect Him to keep His promises. As Christians, we know that He will always provide for us because He tells us in the bible that He will. Even when it seems impossible, test Him as He asks and He will show you what He can do with circumstances that seemed impossible to us. Believe in what might seem impossible to us is possible with our great savior Jesus Christ.
