Just work to get there, okay?

I was very very blessed to grow up in a family that taught me to tithe. I never really remember a time when I didn’t tithe my money. Not because I was forced to, but because it was grown into me. I understood the importance of it, and I did it.

A tithe, if you don’t know, is 10%. Often it is referred to as 10% of the money you make, but it can also mean time and resources. In this sense, we are talking about money.

I think it’s very important to tithe money. For me, the ideal tithe is to take 10% out of my check before I do anything else — even pay my bills. Work check, graduation money, gifts: 10%. It’s doesn’t really matter to me. I strive to tithe it all.

That raises a question: must you tithe to be a good Christian?

I believe (NOTE THE WORDS “I BELIEVE”, PLEASE) that you can tithe and be a bad Christian. A horrible one, in fact. Because if you tithe just because you have to, well, why are you tithing? Because you have to! God, I think, would rather have us tithe because we want to. He would rather have us not submit to him at all (by not tithing) rather than have us not submit but say we are (by tithing with an unworthy heart).

This doesn’t mean that I believe a person shouldn’t tithe; quite the contrary. I think a person should STRIVE to be able to tithe with a wanting heart. One of the authors of “Every Man’s Battle” (Fred, I think), says that he was once in the position of not tithing. He didn’t feel that he was financially stable enough to tithe a full10%. So he tithed 1%. After that he strove to tithe 2%, then 4%, so on and so forth. Now, he says, he tithes more than 10 %.

I think you will find in your walk with God that it’s not necessarily what you do, but what kind of heart you do it with. It’s this way with tithing. If you aren’t willing to do it, don’t! And don’t feel guilty about it; it’s wasted energy.

Just work to get there, okay?