Tithing Report

As a result of a request from one of my readers I asked for people to send me information about their experiences associated with tithing. Tithing is the practice of giving 10% of your income away.

Here are a selection of the responses I received last week in response to the e-mail I sent out requesting feedback. You will see that most apply the principle of tithing as part of their Christian beliefs. I think you will find them interesting.

 

David,
My husband and I started tithing about 17 or 18 years ago. We were a young family with three young children and there never seemed to be enough money for anything. We couldn't even pay our own bills. We had

to let my husband's parents pay our bills. The house we lived in belonged to them also. For some reason, money, the little bit there was, would just disappear before we could get our bills paid. 

After hearing a teaching on tithing, we decided to give it a try. It sounded crazy, but we were desperate. After watching for a couple of years, we realized that if we paid our tithes first, there was always enough to pay bills. If we didn't, we'd be bouncing checks before the next payday--every time.

Within a couple of years, we were paying our own bills and we even bought the house from my in-laws that we had been living in--all with the same amount of money.

I don't think it is a formula: pay tithes = affluence, but I do believe there is an underlying spiritual law that just works, whether you are a Christian or not. I have read financial books by Christians and non-Christians and they ALL agreed that there is a law to paying tithes and giving, that the part you have left will simply go further.

Sam.

 

David,
My husband and I have four children and had been struggling for a while until we came across Simply Budgets. Now we are able to keep track of everything and stay in the black with a little to spare!!

We already tithe through our local Church and recently decided as a family to sponsor a little Indian girl through World Vision. We were completely amazed when my husband was approached and offered a higher paying position as the Boss of a competitor within a month of sponsoring a child! We truly believe now that the more you give the more you are blessed.

Deborah.
 

Dear David,

I would like to tell you my story of tithing, it really does work, the more you give the more it returns to you, and it does not matter whether it is money or your time.

Over the past 12 months I have been without a position due to ill health, so finances have been tight as my Husband is a pensioner with a part time position, but we have never given up on our tithing to our Church, and every month we have enough to meet our bills. 

Sometimes it surprises us as to where the money comes from, but I always believe that it our needs will be met, and they are.

Tithing does work as I have seen many instances of it, just to mention another, a lady in our Church wanted a Pink Bike for her daughter for Christmas but finances did not allow for it.

She tithed her money on her small amount of income, then on Christmas Eve a bike shop brought the very bike that she wanted to our Church to donate it to someone less fortunate.

When our Pastor handed it to her what a great surprise for her and her daughter that Christmas.

Regards
Sandra.

 

David,
I love to share with you and those Simply Budgets friends how my financial status changed since I recognised the power of giving and tithing.  In 2001 I finished study and got the first full time job as a teacher. I did not have much saving at that time.  All I had was the strong desire to have my own house one day since I had been renting for the past 11 years.  But to reach this dream seemed so far away from me at that time. 

In those days I had been attending a church which kept teaching about the power of tithing.  I started to take it serious about what the Bible says about prosperity.

- Malachi 3:10:  'Bring the whole tithes into the storehouse, so there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'  Wow, God asks me to test Him in this!

So I started the journey of tithing and offering.  Amazingly, from then to now, I have bought a new home in Sydney in 2001 which gave me some equity 2 years later to buy an investment house and sold it a year later with good capital gain.  Many financial miracles just happened to me.   When I recognised the sowing principle works, I sow even more.  Of course, at the same time I also learn how to be responsible with my finances.

I hope my story can be helpful to others.

Helen.

 

David,
My wife and I have tithed all our lives (now mid-fifties), even when as a young father I was working two jobs just to pay the rent and put food on the table. 

But we do not associate tithing with the 'wealth theology', ie, the more you give, the much, much more you will absolutely certainly get 'success and abundance'.

We tithe because theologically Jesus said to love your neighbour, and realistically because we have relatively lots more 'wealth' than many other people in the world.  Jesus made that directive in total isolation from anything else he said about money or wealth. 

So, are we wealthy now? By third world standards, very rich. By Hans Jakobi standards, probably not - we almost own our own home, a car and an old dog.  However, interestingly, we have always seemed to have just enough money, just in time, to pay our way.  Maybe that's because we responded to another of Jesus' directives, "Ask and you will receive" with a question; "How much should we ask for?"

The answer had the impact of a lightning strike - Proverbs 30:7-9.

Having said all that, for reasons known only to God, one size does not fit all. To some he gives much, to some he gives relatively little. To all, he says, love your neighbour.

Cheers,
Max.

 

Dave,

Tithing has been a principle in my life that I have adhered to since I have come to know my lord and savior Jesus Christ, I have learnt tithing is a principle of faith, (Tithing =90% Faith and 10% Increase) the lord doesn’t need our money, but we need the law of tithing, tithing is a commandment not a suggestion, as I have been obedient to this law, my life has been truly blessed, not just with monetary needs, but my wisdom with financial matters has increased also, as I have been honest with the lord in my payments of tithing I have felt a reassurance that all will be OK, even as my faith is tested. My tithing money is not part of my simply budgets program as I see this money as not mine but the lords so therefore I base my budget figures on post tithing increase. 

Tithing is a principle that is fundamental to the personal happiness and well-being of all people worldwide, both rich and poor. Tithing is a principle of sacrifice and a key to the opening of the windows of heaven. In Sunday school I memorized the tithing poem: “What is tithing? I will tell you every time. “Ten cents from a dollar, and a penny from a dime.”. 

The law of tithing is simple: we pay one-tenth of our individual increase annually. Increase has been interpreted by the lord to mean income. What amounts to 10 percent of our individual income is between each of us and our Maker. There are no legalistic rules. As a convert to this law in Korea once said: “With tithing, it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor. You pay 10 percent, and you don’t have to be ashamed if you haven’t earned very much. If you make lots of money, you pay 10 percent. If you make very little, you still pay 10 percent. Heavenly Father will love you for it. You can hold your head up proud.”

Some may feel that they cannot afford to pay tithing, but the Lord has promised that He would prepare a way for us to keep all of His commandments. To pay tithing takes a leap of faith in the beginning, but as Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” We learn about tithing by paying it. Indeed, I believe it is possible to break out of poverty by having the faith to give back to the Lord part of what little we have.

Through Malachi the Lord asks: “Will a man rob God? … But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”.  If we will trust in the Lord, He will open the windows of heaven to us as we give back to Him the one-tenth He asks of us. His promise is sure: “I will … pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Although tithing carries with it both temporal and spiritual blessings, the only absolute promise to the faithful is “ye shall have the riches of eternity.” See (Malachi 3:8–10).

Steve.

 

Hi
I grew up from a little girl with the knowledge of tithing and giving brings blessings. For example we had chooks and we used to tithe on the eggs.  We had so many eggs coming out of our ears after tithing.  I told someone about this they tried it and they said it works...

Recently my washing machine broke down.  I was tithing on the income I earned even if it was $20 as I earned $200 that fortnight.  I did not know how I was going to pay $125 to the washing machine man.  Money came to me from everywhere to pay the bill.

So I try to step in faith every time and tithe on everything I earn.

I had my beloved 15 year push bike stolen today.  I hope and pray for the individual who stole my bike and bless them.  I forgive them.  I have prayed that my bike will be returned to me in my hands as I can't afford to buy another bike.

Trudy.

 

David 

Happy to share my experience of living the principle of tithing with you and your readers.

When I was a young man, 18 years of age, living in a country town in NSW with no job and no prospects. I had finished school the previous year and despite my best efforts, was not able to gain employment. 

A concerned church leader visited with me to discuss my situation. During our conversation he asked me "are you living the law of tithing?"

I proceeded to explain that I was on government unemployment benefits and wasn't paying tithing.  I expressed my desire to pay tithing once I got a job.  He told me that I had it the wrong way around! He issued me a challenge to pay my tithing from that day forward, and that very soon the Lord would bless me with the righteous desire of my heart (which was to get a job and pay my own way in life).

With a little trepidation, I accepted the challenge.  I made my first tithing payment that next week.  It is at this point my life took a dramatic turn for the positive.

Within two months of accepting the challenge and faithfully paying my tithing, I found a job working in Canberra for the public service.  From that day to this, 13 years later I have never missed paying my tithing.   I am now blessed with a wonderful wife and three great kids.  I have an executive position with a commonwealth government department, am paying off our modest home in the suburbs and have enough left to keep the wife and kids fed and clothed and drive a reasonable car.

I have been blessed to always make the remaining 90% of my income get me and my family by.   Of course we have occasional financial struggles like all people do, but this principle has blessed my life immensely.

David I invite all your newsletter subscribers to reserve 10% of their income if they are Christians to pay tithing, or if they are not Christians to donate to charity. The changes in your life that come from this may not be immediate or obvious, but they will definitely happen and be for the good.

Good luck and God bless!

Cheers
Bruce R :-)

 

David,
I just wanted to tell you my story that I became a Christian 3 years ago.

In that time I have tithed relatively consistently and my income has doubled during this time, and through no effort of my own.

I have never asked for a pay rise or worked for the purpose of additional income.

I ran into an old school friend who is a financial planner and he worked out a plan for me free of charge which is making more money for me.

One thing also is that each time I have donated an additional sum of money there is always a circumstance where I get that money back, in the form of an unexpected saving or bonus.

It is important to remember that tithing is about the responsibility we have to give back and not always take. It is not about giving to get something in return or for people to be impressed by our actions.

That's my 2 cents worth anyway! 

Cheers,
Richard.

 

David,

I felt I would like to take the opportunity to share a story of giving and return (or sowing and reaping) 

My wife and I have tithed for as long as we have been Christians. We live in Melbourne and traveled to Wodonga to visit a cousin  of my wife. The cousin and her husband were going through a very tough time due to medical bills from 2 bouts of cancer.

As we drove we felt impressed to give an amount of money to the cousin to help them out. We gave them a substantial amount, and thought no more about it.

Six months later, from a totally unrelated source, we received a cheque for exactly ten times the amount we had given.

Some people would say it is a coincidence, but those who know about tithing and giving know differently.

Kevin.

 

Hi David
I've heard of tithing - and do practice it - but you don't just have to give it to a church, you can give to anyone or anything you believe in....It basically asks for 10% of your income as a thank you for all that you have currently received.  

However, there is a second principle which I also use, and that is "seed money"....this is monies (or goods) that you give to someone; in return you receive 10 fold back. But you have to believe in the "system" otherwise it doesn't come back to you...similarly you should never put a timeframe on it because that too can cause blocks.

To give you an example of what worked for me, I once gave a box of glasses to a friend who was always breaking them. The following weekend I was offered the glass top of a coffee table!!!!  I have also given away clothes to a charity shop, and then my children were given a bag full of clothes by a friend whose kids had grown out of theirs....

Now it doesn't always come back in the same manner in which you gave. You can give time, money, or whatever else you have an abundance of....and you will set in motion a set of events that simply astounds you. Well it does me at any rate. I think you have it dead on when you say, “if you hang on to it all you will always need it”. Give it away and more will come to you. And when the unexpected comes, I always say a very big thank you...because the last part of these processes is to be grateful for what it is you have.

I don't know why it works; I just know that it does.

Lorraine.

 

Dear David,

I would like to answer Annette's question on tithing.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints we are what we call full tithe payers.  We pay 10% of our gross income to the church.  On a 'financial' point of view as a tithe payer we MUST budget.  You can't take 10% out of a GROSS income each week and not budget. 

At the end of each financial year we receive a statement that we then use for tax.  Last financial year we paid over $8000 in tithing which was totally tax deductible. When I did the tax return I took the tithing out to see what a difference it made to our return (we have HECS debt as well) and we would have owed the government over $4000 but thanks to tithing the govt. paid us. This was only possible because of tithing. 

On a personal point of view, we have 7 children and have always been blessed.  Miracles happen when you pay tithing.  Money stretches to lengths that would not be possible otherwise.  When we need new clothes I will go to the store and get them at ridiculously cheap prices.  I went to the store once with a list and only a small amount of money.  I got everything on the list, said a prayer and went to the checkout. It came to exactly the amount I had.

That does happen. In the scriptures it says the windows of heaven will be open and there will not be room enough to receive it.  This is true and I see it everyday in our life.

Annette, pay tithing and put it to the test.  You will be blessed and the money you give to the church will be used to bless the lives of others.  It doesn't get better than that!

Donna.

 

I am a full tithe payer and I pay offerings on top of that.   I have a very (very) large credit card debt that I am trying to dwindle down.  Due to this as well as paying my rent etc I generally have no money left to buy anything, some times even food.  However I always seem to have enough money to pay my bills have food in my stomach, and drive my car where I want when I want.  If I did not pay tithe & offering I would be able to get out of debt a lot faster and things wouldn’t be so tight.  It is a "miracle" that I do not get further and further behind paying tithe & offering but I just never do. It defies logic if you like!

Greg.

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