You may be reading this and you know exactly what it means to tithe, or maybe you’re reading this asking, what did you just say? You may have read the title and been tempted to move on, but I encourage you, KEEP READING!
The Bible lays out tithing as giving back to God. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” Okay great, so the Bible says you’re suppose to give God the first part of your wealth, but you’re a college student and you make close to nothing. You use every part of your paycheck for gas, ramen noodles, and random adventures with your friends. You may have heard this before or you’re just hearing it now and thinking, “I hardly make anything as it is, why would I give God a whole 10% of MY money?”
Well Proverbs doesn’t just stop there. It continues on saying, “then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with wine.” My first reaction (and maybe yours too) is to think, "Okay, that's awesome, but I don’t drink wine and I don’t have a barn." However, I encourage you to think deeper. People at the time of the writing of Proverbs would have been overjoyed with an overflowing barn and vats full of wine. So how does this translate today?
What if you gave God the first portion of your earnings? Do you think he would make sure your cupboards were full of food? Could he make sure your car is full of gas? Would he even bless you to be able to go out and have fun with your friends?
I have no doubt in my mind he can do so, and does it already for those who are faithful.
Growing up, my parents encouraged me from a young age to tithe on every penny I made. If I got $10 from turning in pop cans, I would give $1 in tithe. If I sold some old clothes and toys in our summer garage sale and made a whopping $5, I would give 50¢. As I got older and worked a couple random jobs in high school this translated to tithing on my paychecks.
As I moved to college (10 hours away), I had to decide if I wanted to continue to be faithful in my tithing without the pressure and encouragement from my parents. I was able to get a job on campus and made minimum wage working 10 hours a week. Every time my two-week paycheck came I had already planned out what I wanted to do with the money: buy certain groceries for the week, splurge and go out to Chick-fil-a, put some gas in my car, or buy the latest makeup items I have been wanted to try. But, above all this, I decided my first 10% would go to God. This wasn’t always an easy decision because sometimes it meant putting off my wants to the next paycheck. However, for the last year and a half, I have been mostly faithful to giving 10%. Don’t be fooled, sometimes I gave after putting my wants first, or I skipped giving $3 from my babysitting check.
I say none of this to brag or say I’m worthy of any blessings from God, but to prove that you can do it! You can set aside a mere 10% and give it back to God. He doesn’t deserve just a tiny portion but he deserves everything we have! He deserves all our praise, desires, and wealth.
So if you already tithe, great! Keep going, and I even encourage you to go beyond that. Can you give 12%? 15%? Maybe 20%? See how much more you can bless others and how much more God will bless you when you sacrifice for Him.
And, if you're a person who doesn’t tithe, or maybe you do it when its convenient, I implore you to do it faithfully! Try it out and see what happens. Start at 10% and do it every time you babysit, get a paycheck, or receive some kind of payment. Set a goal and stick to it!
Be faithful to God, for He deserves it all.
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
