I wish for two things: 1 that I had more detailed information about your financial picture and 2 that more people had your same concern! Regardless, I will give you a principle-based response and trust that it will guide your decision.
I am sorry to hear that you are having difficulty making your mortgage payments. It is not clear to me if you have other income in addition to your Social Security benefits. God knows your circumstances and your heart. Abraham gave because he loved God and was convicted that the tithe belonged to Him. Abraham was a faithful steward, willing to surrender everything, even his precious son, Isaac. When convicted by God, Abraham obediently surrendered a tithe because he understood its significance.
The amount of the tithe is important to us when we acknowledge that God already owns all that we are given, we are just returning a portion to honor Him. At Crown, giving is an essential part of our map to finding financial freedom. Please understand that the exact amount you give is not important to God. God wants a surrendered heart that willingly shares out of love and obedience to Him without expecting something back. His first steps are not his last, neither are they his best, but they are a fine beginning.
My husband and I were newly Christian and in seminary when a friend told us about tithing. She stressed the importance of giving a full 10 percent before taxes, before anything else, so that we would be giving God the first fruits of our labor.
We recoiled at the thought, but she said this practice had given God room to work miracles in her life. She and her husband had once put their last dollar in the offering plate, only to have the pastor turn around and give them the whole collection. My husband and I began this plan right away and never even considered making our tithe after taxes. It seemed petty to make such calculations when giving to a God who gave us everything, including his Son. Soon, we had settled into a pattern of giving 5 percent to our local church and 5 percent to charity.
But one year, when it was time to renew our annual pledge to the church, I was convicted that a radical increase was necessary. For our family, that means the local church. So the full 10 percent should go to our church, while charitable gifts alms were to be an additional offering.
When I began sharing this with my husband, we were in for a surprise. He had separately come to the same conviction.
The problem was that we had just promised 5 percent of our income to a missionary. Overnight, we went from giving 10 percent of our income to giving 15 percent. Yet we never suffered. We saw God meet our needs in ways that bordered on the miraculous. Over the years, our total giving including alms has ranged from 15 to 20 percent. We found, like others before us, that once we determined to make our tithe the first payment each month and this habit became routine, all other expenses fell into place.
God uses strong language about tithing Mal. We live in a time that is offended by that strong language, and resents any implication that we ought to do or not do something. We regard ourselves as customers, even in church, and expect to be treated with deference, for the customer is always right. This kind of exhortation has a way of backfiring. So the best I can say is: At least try.
Aim to give a percentage of your income. Start with whatever percentage you give now, and raise it a little each year. Rosalyn Windham We should not pour new wine into old wine skins. Jesus did not come to abolish the law. Because there was no reason to. You can knock yourself out following the old law if you want to like the Pharisees insisted on doing.
That's why Jesus didn't bother to take them by the hand and teach them about the things to come. None of the 12 were Pharisees. Jesus didn't have time for their daily challenge. They clearly wanted to follow the Old Testament--so be it. Or you can die or divorce yourself from the law and be completely free from it by doing what Jesus commanded saying, "Repent and be baptized.
That was tithing. It was never designed to be given by the poor to the well off in hopes that they would someday be well off as they see other people. It was designed for the well off to share their blessings with others who also have been blessed and to the poor.
You see, blessings go out to the world, not into the church. We are the light of the world. Light shines out.
We are The Salt of the earth. People should benefit from us. Not we benefit from them. We are rich. Heirs of a God who owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills.
Our riches are in heaven and they are accessed as needed for the unfortunate. Jesus gave, not collected. As He is, so are we. We are not collectors. We are givers to the needy. We do not worry about tomorrow because day by day God richly supplies us as needed if walk with him in that way. Malachi is a standing law til this day but to the Pharisee.
Not to the Believer. Which are you? Aurel Gheorghe Paying tithe is an important matter. It's an acknowledgment that God owns everything, including our finances. I started paying tithe off my net income. Later on I felt convicted to pay from my gross income also. Furthermore, now I even tithe out of my benefits; the money my employer deposits in my k, and bonuses. Quite a bit. Its purpose was originally to take care of those running the church and upkeep the church itself.
Both the Old and New Testament references tithing. One of the most commonly known passages from the Old Testament that talks about tithing is Malachi :. Yet you rob me. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. This passage is about priests withholding the tithes required by the Law of Moses Leviticus An important passage from the New Testament that speaks on tithing is Matthew , where Jesus condemns the Pharisees for tithing and ignoring the more important issues of justice, mercy, and faith:. You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
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