When I started to earn money as an OFW, I am putting aside some
percentage for my family, for my expenses and for my savings. Most of my income
went in supporting my parents and the rest I saved it to prepare myself to come
home for good.
But I understood later on that it shouldn’t be like that. I learned the
proper way when I am became a Christian. I was convicted to give 10 percent of
my total income to God.
Actually, before I embrace the “born again” experience, tithing is the
first reason why I don’t want to “commit” to the “religion” (as what people commonly call it). My thinking is that members
were compelled to give 10% of their salary or else they will be punished. And I
also have this misconception before that money being given to the church is
just being used for personal gain of the people in authority, so why should I give
my hard earn money to them?
But as I continued to listen to exhortations and sermons, hear
testimonies and read the Bible; God opened my spiritual eyes and able to see and
realized that religion will save us but our RELATIONSHIP with our living GOD. Only our intimate relationship
with God will save us. By fearing God and obeying Him, we can achieve a
relationship that will outlast this world. We may have everything here on earth
(wisdom, beauty, riches etc.), but it will be meaningless without God (read Ecclesiastes
1). In the end, we will all leave this world and will not bring anything out
from it.
As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit cynical about tithing but later on I
realized that everything I have belongs to God, He is the source of everything
and that I am only a steward of it. I would like to quote some excerpts from
the book Purpose Driven Life (Day 5:
Thinking about my purpose) by Rick Warren:
“Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and a trust from God. God uses finances to teach us to trust in Him, and for many people, money is the greatest test of all. God watches how we use money to test how trustworthy we are. The Bible says, “If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? (Luke 16:11)”
Tithing is one of the commands of God. It wasn’t the money that God is
concerned about, but the heart of the giver. The Bible says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
So why do we need to tithe?
Giving back our tithes is honoring God and obeying Him. As I said a while ago, I was reluctant to give
because I thought that they will just use my money for their personal interest
or gain, so it is better that I will use it myself. But I was wrong. It doesn’t
matter what they will do with my tithes, it is no longer my money and my responsibility,
the important thing is I obeyed God. And I’ve seen that it is being used to
finance the needs of the church; the church that also provides me with
spiritual nourishment. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor
the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.”
You can help empower the church and its ministry. The
good thing about giving back is that you can empower the church in expanding
the ministry through your financial assistance. When I realized all of that,
from then on, I am 95% positive that I didn’t miss giving my tithes (the 5% is
during my yearly vacation which I think I missed, but I should plan to give it
ahead of time). It was such a great feeling to give back what is due to God,
and as King David said in his psalm, he
never seen any righteous forsaken or begging for food. He supplies all our
needs according to His riches and glory.
You become part of saving lost souls. The money that was given not only expand the
ministry of the church but it will also assist in sending people in remote
areas or funding the needs of the church so that it could conduct missions,
cell groups so that many people will know God, believe in Him and accept Him as
their Lord and Savior. In Luke 15:10 says, “There
is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
What is 10% compare to the 90% we still have, and yet sometimes, it is
difficult to let it go. But how come we could give almost all our salary to our
family? It is because we love them and wants the best for them, right? This is
what God also wants us to do, that our giving is motivated by love not of any
other else.
There was a time that I am tempted not to give my tithes because I come
short during my calculations for my monthly expenses, but at the end of the
month, I prove that I still have a surplus. I have proved that when you remain
faithful in giving back, God is even more faithful in showering his blessings
not only in terms of materials things but on other aspects of your life such as
good relationships, good health, nice career, good boss, promotion, victory in
everything you do. God is testing your faith if you can be trusted in small/temporary
things.
Today, when I receive my salary, I set aside 10 percent for God, 10
percent for my savings, 10 percent for investment and 70 percent for my
expenses. Before my equation when I receive my income is: Income – Savings =
Expenses. Now it becomes, Income – Tithes – Savings – Investment = Expenses. There
are times that I thought that I would not make ends meet, but God is good and
supplies my every need. He is my great provider.
Below are some suggestions when giving
back your tithes:
Set aside your 10 percent. When I receive my salary, the first thing I do is to set aside the 10
percent of God as my tithes. It is a peaceful feeling knowing that parts of
your income will contribute to the growth of the church as well as saving other
souls.
Pray for your tithes. Before I put the money in my tithes bag, I usually
pray for it that it will be used only for His glory and it will be magnified
hundred folds.
Give back to God cheerfully. Not reluctant or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). It will not only free you from financial burden
but it will be the key to abundance (in all aspects of your life). He will
bless the 90% you have.
I pray that the love of God will
be spread all over the world through each one of us. Happy tithing! J
God bless us more!
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
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 there will not be room enough to store it.” - Malachi 3:10
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