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You shall not delay to make offerings from the
fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of
your presses.
Exodus 22:29
One of the common responses to discussions about
tithing, or even just giving in the church, flies
in contradiction to the reality of God's abundant
supply: "I would love to, but I can't afford to
because ...(plug in a reason here)." How, then,
can one say "I believe" if at a very fundamental
level their behavior says "I'm not sure?"
God proclaims, and demonstrates continually, that
he will provide abundantly for our needs. The only
catch is that we cannot claim our abundance in
Christ if we do not believe in it. That's not a
law from God. It's just common sense. How can a
person claim something they don't believe exists?
We proclaim our belief in God's gracious abundance
by giving back generously from the first of what
we receive. Waiting until there is extra from
which we can "afford" to give often results in
that extra never coming. Our waiting is tantamount
to doubting that we will ever see the abundance.
And that brings us back to not being able to claim
something that we don't believe exists.
The solution is to follow the Biblical principal
of tithing, giving 10 percent, from our first
fruits. That is a statement of belief that God
would not call on us to tithe unless
he intended
to provide for all of our needs in addition to our
tithe. It is important to remember, also, that it
is we who need to give, not God who needs our
tithes. The creator of all existence can create
whatever he needs.
It can be
helpful in overcoming our doubt to adopt a
commitment to proportional giving that increases
yearly over the course of a few years. Rather
than deciding upon an amount that you think you
can afford to give, you, instead, determine what
percentage of your income you are giving
currently. Then you commit to increasing that
percentage each year.
I know many
people who have taken this approach. None have
missed the amount by which they have increased
their giving. Indeed, they all feel that they
have been richly blessed as a result of it. God
does not reward us for our increased giving, but
in God's economy we align ourselves better with
God's abundance when we give freely. |
