Whats the Hulabaloo about Tithing?

It's interesting--the only time in the Bible that we are encouraged to test God is regarding tithing, somewhere in Malachi (I think). The Israelites had not been trusting God with their tithe, and His response is "Test me in this, and see if I do not throw open the floodgates of heaven".
My wife and I tithed (10%) at first in our marrige, but I suppose it's time to review our income vs. giving ratio, since our income has increased each year and we haven't always raised our tithe proportionately. We do budget in the tithe, but I haven't updated our budgeted amount recently.
Concerning the low income family, the classic Bible example is the widow's "two mites" that represented all she had (one of Jesus' parables). In theory, God will provide if we honor Him with our resources and so we can trust Him; in practice it's a lot harder than it sounds and I'm not sure I could do it.

I'm not sure we should ever be "satisfied" with where we are; I think of the movie "Schindler's List" and Schindler's despair when he realized how many more lives he could have saved by sacrificing just a little more. My wife and I give a lot by some people's standards, yet we also have a lot of nice things. The balance is something about which we question ourselves sometimes; e.g., are our priorities messed up when we buy those new blinds, a computer memory upgrade, etc. instead of donating more to Christian causes?

I know what you're talking about, in reference to the widow & her two mites....but bringing it to reality, to the forefront of things today...

what do you SAY to the individual that is faithfully tithing and on a continual basis, having things financially cut off b/c of lack of funds. Say their income is what it is, it doesn't vary. give their 10% each pay period. uh oh....light bill comes - more than normal. can't pay the entire bill...lights get cut off for paying the bill less $50 (hmmmm tithe is $100) what do you say to that person? You can't take "Sorry TECO, I couldn't pay YOU b/c I had to pay my tithes" to the electric company and expect them to turn your stuff back on.

I tithe fully of myself - as I belong to Christ\God. So in other wods everthing I am and have belongs to God's glory pretty much.

okay...but in answer to my question? is it God's will that his people be in darkness, or unable to pay this bill or that bill for the lack of an amount that could have been met had they not paid tithes?

The way I see that, onyx, is if you have been convinced that you owe the church 10% of everything that comes your way, you give it off the top.

You may have to realign priorities (not get your nails done, spend a little less on yourself, eat out less) but it can be done, I think, in MOST cases. I will say I went through a period of time when the money was LOW around our house. I tithed for a while in this predicament--and when I had NO luxuries, nowhere I could cut expenses--and STILL the 10% really hurt our household, I stopped tithing for a while.

There was also a time in our marriage when my husband disagreed with tithing.

My mother and I have a disagreement about tithing. She is a widow, and on SS--and also makes a little on the side substitute teaching.

I feel that widows and those who can't earn, but are dependent on the govt (SS, disability...) should not tithe. They didn't earn that money, and had to get it from another source. She still tithes from the gross of all of it.

I guess somepeople take their tithe from everything that comes in to the house--and others, only earned money.

I also think tithing of your time and talents is a legitimate tithe--but I could be wrong...

cause a lot of our tithe goes to the food bank and we're on the board - when people come to get food (in a suppossed crisis)we've had to learn to error on the side of compassion - it's really hard to walk in someone's shoes and know the circumstances that drive them there. you should support 2ndharvest and national day of hunger on June 3rd I think.

Hello all, Thanks for letting me "in", by the way...not sure if someone had to scan all of my previous posts, or what! Anyway, glad I'm here...
When I was growing up in the church, my dad always tithed 10%. In fact, to be a deacon in our church, he had to. I remember being quite upset that he had to step away from being a deacon when he could no longer give the full 10%.

Good point that Sofia brings up about offering help in other areas to make up for not tithing the full 10%. I think that working the church is important and could be a way for someone of little means to "give."

My parents always served...and worked hard in the church...and they raised us to do the same. I'm not implying that our time was worth money, because it was where we wanted to be...helping. I do not see any justification to make someone feel badly for not giving monetarily. I think it is between that person and God.

Pam :-) someone did indeed check you out and you were alright :-)

I've considered the same possiblity myself - giving of time and effort - but the problem, or rather the difficulty in that - lies in the quantification of the thing. How do you know when you've given 10%..is it 10% of 24 hrs or 10% of your waking hours?

Am I making this all too complicated? Eek!

do your best on the money and follow your heart on the time - remember you won't be given more than you canmot handle.

I don't know if any of you guys have read Larry Burkett's series on finances. When I did--and when I listened to some of his tapes, I realized one of the reasons tithing had become difficult is we really were bad stewards of our money.

Getting in to debt and living beyond one's means can lead to problems tithing.

It is so great to get out from under credit card debt, and stupid financial obligations. (They don't seem stupid when we're getting into it--but a backwards glance is usually eye-opening.)

I realize not everyone has this problem--but I think more of us do, than don't. Realigning our finances is one way to breathe easier. Most of us don't save--and are paying crazy credit charges.

I really recommend Burkett's series.