I really don’t remember when I started giving my tithe to our church. What I do recall is that it was hard for me to comply to its concept. It was difficult for me to let my money off my hands if it wasn’t in exchange for a nice pair of shoes or a fashionable jacket.
No one forced me to tithe – not my parents nor my small group leader back in the day. I learned all I know now in God’s timing.
So, there was a time that I questioned if I should be giving the 10 % of my gross or net income. For quite some time, I was giving the 10 % of my net salary. And so I thought, I was being obedient and “generous” enough. Then God made me realize that since everything comes from Him, my contributions to the government (tax and the likes) are from Him, too. In obedience, I started giving the 10% of my gross income. And from then on, I became more free. Free from depending on how much I have and working for money that is.
Before I became more free though, I thought that tithing was like giving money to a security group to make sure that my “properties” would be taken care of. Funny. Right.
Until I started giving faithfully, I lost a lot of mobile phones and wallets to snatchers or due to carelessness. Then, I learned about Malachi 3: 11 – “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops…” And I interpreted it the wrong way.
Thinking that it was like giving money as, in a way, insurance so that I wouldn’t ever lose valuables again was totally wrong. It didn’t reflect acknowledging God to be the owner and source of all the blessings that I have been receiving ever since.
I thank God for enlightening me on this subject. And to those who have just started learning about tithing, just believe that God will help you understand it. Keep in mind that the most important thing about it is knowing your wealth (material or not) is His.
