Give and it shall be given unto you; we have all heard that spoken in church before. People give, quote a confession and then expectantly wait on God to show up.
My husband and I have always been givers. I grew up in church and learned the principles of giving. So naturally out of habit, you could say we always gave our 10% to God.
As a result, we felt no guilt about doing whatever we wanted to do with our money, because we gave God His and now the rest is ours!
Don’t get me wrong, I have a financial background, and we applied other principles to the way we handled our money. We tithed; paid our taxes, put money aside for retirement, college funds and emergency funds. We did all of that! It’s easy to trust God for finances when you have money coming in.
Well when the real estate market crashed, so did our entire financial world. We had enough money on hand to keep ourselves a float for about a year. Then, we got down to the wire. We had ZERO, and it was hard to trust God for our finances.
Our Tithing Story
I remember getting in the mail one day our contribution statement from our church. We had given over $32,000 for the year. That seemed impressive, but we didn’t have $32,000 in our bank account. Yes, we were floating over a year, and that was a blessing, but we were struggling for several years even while we were tithing.
I couldn’t understand why this giving and receiving thing wasn’t working for us. Seemingly we applied all the “natural” ways the world defines as financials principles. In my former career of banking I read many financial books: The Millionaire Next Store, Rich Dad Poor Dad, 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, and The Courage to Be Rich. You name it, I read it.
One day, I was really frustrated and kept asking God: “Why?” I applied all the principles I knew. Then one day, at church I was in the bookstore, and noticed a book titled: Becoming A Millionaire God’s Way.
At first I thought not another financial book; I have already heard it all. But I felt led to purchase the book, and began reading it right away. I must say it was by far, the best financial book I ever read.
I literally threw away every other financial book I had because in my heart, I really believed this one book combined both financial principles I knew in the natural, but also combined spiritual principles that I was lacking.
You see, I had more faith in my knowledge of what I knew in the financial world, than I did in kingdom finances. No wonder things weren’t working for us.
The biggest lesson we learned in this book was that tithing alone doesn’t work. We’re going to have to do more than just bring your tithe to church and quote a confession.
Tithing According To The Bible
I know there are debates about whether or not one is obligated to tithe under the New Testament. So we won’t get into to that. My only encouragement would be for you to seek the scriptures and allow God to show you His Word and follow His leading.
Let me explain for a moment the principles of God regarding our giving and receiving. There are two principles required of us when we tithe: investment and giving.
Investment is referred to as sowing and reaping. Giving is referred to as planting a harvest.
Now this can be difficult to do when we can’t even give God what belongs to Him. Part of the problem is that as a church (meaning the entire body of Christ) we have done a poor job of teaching the financial principles beyond just tithing, resulting in an unbalanced approach to giving.
What’s mostly taught from the pulpit is that God wants you to give to His church. But, we don’t take the initiative to communicate how God wants you to sow and reap by investing and giving to plant a harvest on your investment.
I’m not trying to discredit any pastors, I’m just trying to explain that, as a “church” we have to do a better job explaining God’s financial principles, so that as a church body we can ALL be financially stable.
Malachi 3:10-11 (AMPC) says…”Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer [insects and plagues] for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.”
We were under the impression like many, that our tithe was enough for provision and blessing. However, tithing is like salvation: fire insurance. Salvation will keep us from hell, but salvation alone won’t allow us to live a life full of God’s promises, unless we learn who we are in Christ and develop our faith.
Well tithing alone, will protect what you have. Tithing protects your stuff (your job, house, etc.) and rebukes the devour for your sake. But to receive over and above, you will have to give over and above.
2 Corinthians 9 tells us that God provides seed to the sower and bread for eating. That means He provides our daily bread or we can say our daily bills and seed to sow. Which means, God is going to provide so we can sow or invest. However, we would have to first prove ourselves to be a sower.
In the Old Testament, people would bring their offerings, heave offerings, burnt offerings, and freewill offerings to the altar, then go plant their crops. They would wait for a harvest to come, only to go back to the altar to bring more offerings.
Well, this is where it gets tricky for us. Churches will encourage you to give an offering, give to a building fund, and give to other needs in the church. Some may outright call out a figure for you to give. And if you’re feeling emotional in service, you may even go for that.
Nevertheless, let’s say the church asked for a special offering of a $1,000, and you give that $1,000 and don’t invest something else in the natural ground for God to bless. Your blessing on that $1,000 will be zero. $1,000 times Zero is still Zero!
You have to invest something in the natural for God to multiply.
Yes, there are times of supernatural provision. However, too many of us give our tithe, pay our bills and spend all our money (our seed) and expect God to show up.
You see, when you give (planting a harvest) God places a blessing on that seed. But, you will have to go plant something in the natural ground to reap a harvest. If you feel led to give to your church no problem, now go plant in an investment (a natural seed) and watch God multiply your investments.
Effective Participants In The Kingdom
You may be sitting here reading this thinking: I can’t tithe, give, invest, and pay my bills. And we would say to you; this is where we as believers need to learn biblical financial principles.
We cannot be an effective participant in the Kingdom if we eat all our seeds. Too many of us get our paycheck, pay our taxes, (only because it comes out of our check. Let’s face it, if it didn’t come out automatically, you probably wouldn’t pay them either.) give our tithes (some of us), and pay our bills, buy clothes, go to dinner and have nothing left; waiting for the next paycheck only to do it all over again. Then we wonder why God hasn’t shown up and blessed us!
No wonder we always had just enough with nothing left over, because that is all we were giving God; just enough – our 10% and spending everything else!
Therefore, we decided to put this principle to the test.
When we first read about this, we decided in addition to our tithing we were going to give and put some money aside in our savings account. Remember, we read this book at the time when we had lost everything and no longer had any money coming in.
So for instance, we would get a check for $500, we tithed $50, gave a $5 offering, put $10 in our savings account, and then paid our bills out of what was left. Although this didn’t seem like a lot, we were consistent in doing this with any amount that came into our hands.
Before we knew it, we had about $250 in our savings account and desperately needed a new office desk. Well the week we decided to purchase the desk we got a phone call from a friend whose husband no longer needed a desk that was brand new, and asked if we wanted it.
That was God blessing our investment. The $250 we saved for the desk essentially became $500. We received a brand-new desk without having to pay and the $250 remained in our savings account.
In The End
It wasn’t until we read and understood this principle from this book, Becoming a Millionaire God’s Way: Getting Money to You, Not from You where we began to see true changes in our finances.
Although we were faithful tithers, we really didn’t understand or apply the principles of giving and receiving. Since doing so, we became bigger givers than we were then, and God had definitely multiplied our investments.
We live on less money now, but we’re able to tithe, give, invest, pay our bills and see God’s blessings!
That fresh revelation not only changed our personal way of dealing with Kingdom Finances; it changed the way we teach kingdom financial principles to others.
If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, paying your tithe and not seeing any blessings, we would encourage you to read this book along with your Bible and learn how to become an effective participant in the body of Christ and for your family.
~Timberley Gray
You didn’t give your tithing to the Church, You gave it to God and whatever you release it will come back to you ten thousand fold. I said this because God blessed me more than what I gave to Him. Trust in His perfect timing. If the Pastor or Minister took your tithing and put it in their pocket its their problem. They will reap what they sow. Just keep doing what your doing and be faithful to God for He is faithful and He knows all your sacrifices. He will deliver you, help you and up hold you in His righteous right hand.
That’s not what he’s saying.?You’re right, but also there’s a whole lot of things that people do not know unless thecHoly Spirit is at the center of anything that we are doing, Only the Holy Spirit and not idiotic emotionalism.
It is all about the Holy Spirit(JESUS) leading and guiding your every footstep.
Amen!
What he said is the truth. I was taught by the Lord as a child to give my offering in Sunday School. It was not a principle that was adhered to in the home. At boarding school I would give every Sunday. I would spend the rest of my pocket money on lunch etc but when the others in the home who never gave as much as I did had nothing I would always have something because I would sow a seed in the home. I lacked nothing. I practiced the same principle after I accepted the Lord by giving tithes and offering and as he mentioned plant something as God says he will give seed to the sower and I have seen harvests. His explanation made me understand the biblical principle much clearer. Thank you.
I think that if God wants you to become a millionaire then He will give you the wisdom for it. Also, you can never ever outgive God. Seek His kingdom and all His righteousness and everything else will be added unto you. The gifts or talents that He gave us need to be used and that’s how you become successful.
Amen
Hey, one question I have in regards to this tithing thing, if you give to the church, do you get a say in how the pastor ministers to you. Pastor’s today are more like university professors, they give their sermon and don’t have time to minister to you and your needs. I know they say your tithe goes to God, but when the pastor starts the manipulation that God won’t protect you if you don’t tithe, it feels like the salvation certificates they use to give in the middle ages. I feel tithing should give the church member some value for money in regards to how the pastor cares for their congregation. If a pastor refuses to meet the spiritual needs of their congregation, they should not expect the plate to be full on Sunday.
Hi Allan – great question and one we can’t relate too only because that is not how our church operates. Our encouragement to you would be to seek God about your giving, including where you fellowship. Thank you for stopping by to read. ~ Andre & Timberley
If you can, scroll back and read Arceli Schulz’s comment, he explains a tither’s heart & mindset in a nutshell. …I’d add that tithing is not about the preacher or where your dollars and cents will go, but rather your relationship with God and obedience to Hs Word. It is written at Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” That is saying “nothing belongs to us… our finances, children, houses, cars, even we ourselves … the air God allows us to breathe Etc..it ALL belongs to God! BUT because He loves us as Our heavenly Father, in turn we should love Him enough to give without worrying about who’ll do this or that with it. By the way, if a Pastor ministers to you 5 minutes, or an hour… He is not your employee nor your property; He has been gifted and called by God, not people. If you have a problem with a Pastor, pray for Him, and thank God for Him; not try and control him.
Wow… Let me practice it
First,Are you saying saving your money is an investment?
When you talk about natural investment, I use to believe that God can bless you through your Job, that is after you must have paid you tithe. God blesses the work of your hands which is your Job not neccessarily your natural investment like you said
Great questions. First and foremost, we don’t want people to misunderstand the blog. We know this is a debatable topic, but an important one. We have always been tithers, and yes we believe that God will honor your tithe. In fact, that is the very heart of not only this blog, but our website! Each blog we share a portion of our experience of receiving God’s provision, lacking nothing and always having what we need. Our 8 year journal documents our journey during a financial crisis and how through our continued tithing, even in the struggle, God provided. God does bless the work of our hands and when we give God what belongs to Him, He blesses us.
Sunday’s blog however, was designed to share our revelation about moving from just having enough, to more than enough. The insight we received from reading: Becoming a Millionaire God’s Way, opened our eyes and answered financial questions we had. If this interest you or if you have questions about what constitutes an investment or a natural seed, we encourage you to consider reading the book.
~ Blessings Andre and Timberley Gray
I am a 66 year old white male and just retired from the Federal Government and now on a fixed income “SS” but still tithe 10% of my check every month to the CBN to help people around the word and also give every month to the Humane Society and the ASPSA because I am an animal lover and am so devastated by the people who are cruel and evil to even hurt these creatures of God. I also help over the holidays giving to missions to help feed people and would give to anyone who needs help. I know I don’t deserve Gods love and attention but I tithe cheerfully I just don’t know why I have to struggle so much.
Howie I’m an African American 30 year old female and I may be wrong but I hope you find some clarity in your last statement. You are not alone. Many people ask this question and various questions just like this.. For example, I was an awesome child just like you are an awesome man who shows the love of God and I had a beautiful mother inside and out who loved God so much. She even prayed for a lady with stage 4 cancer and the lady lived and was declared cancer free as a miracle (I believe) however, then there’s my mother who died for no clear good reason to me. I say that to say I asked why many of times but the answer lies in God’s sovereignty meaning He knows best and why things are allowed to happen to us such as struggling etc. and the other part of the answer is we live in a fallen world that has sin in it. Everything isn’t always going to be perfect no matter how great we are. Lastly, “The Secrets to Deliverance” by Alexander Pagani discusses doors we aren’t aware of that gives an open door for our enemy. For example unforgiveness scientifically and spiritually can make you sick. So can many other things happen like struggles for many other open doors. God is awesome though and if you humbly go before Him and allow Him to explain, teach, and reveal to you what’s going in realms you don’t see or aren’t aware of He will guide you and free you of the torment. God bless you abundantly sir, thank you for being the example of God’s love!!!!!
Hello. Hardships does not mean God has forgotten us. It’s through hardships that we are pushed to seek God more and His will. If we hard it all in life we would forget to seek and search Him in depth. Your mum passing on doesn’t mean God doesn’t love her. Some He takes because He loves them, being alive or dead does not necessarily show how much God loves you. When He creates us He has what He wants you to do and once it’s done you rest.
The Welcome I give is to the needy, to the food banks, the shelters, and helping others! When they talk about tithing they don’t necessarily mean that you have to give a monetary gift. A lot of people live below the poverty level and there are actually creatures out there they prey on those type of people to give their last dime . Our God is everywhere not just at somebody’s church that tells them to give over And above so you’ll get over and above blessings – that is BS! On the other hand, if those people are stupid enough to believe that then they don’t know The real truth in what real tithing is. Yes, the houses of worship, do you need to pay their bills but they do not need to see if their pastor has a posse with 20 people in it and , security with their wives wearing full length mink coats! Come on! How dare them ask to give them more money! They can absolutely give their time, their love, volunteer in the shelters and the soup kitchens they do not have to give over and above so you can wear a full-length mink coat
Thank you Jennifer for your feedback. You make a good point regarding how some in the church handle the tithes. That is very true, and very disappointing to see within the body of Christ. However, the heart of this blog post is to bring awareness to the body of Christ that we can’t just expect to tithe, and not give, or sow a seed in the natural and expect to receive a harvest. There are financial principles to follow and we aren’t talking about worldly principles, we are referring to kingdom finances. In which we stated in the blog that the church has been teaching to give to the church but they have missed teaching how a believer needs to handle their finances outside of the church at the same time. The over and above giving doesn’t have to be in the church it can be to whoever and however God leads you to give. Although I have a financial background, learning kingdom principles was a life changer for us, and if you haven’t read Becoming A Millionaire God’s Way, we encourage you to consider reading it, as it may shed some light on this principle we are sharing. ~ Blessings
I honestly don’t believe that it has anything to do with your 10% higher than five dollars here and there and then putting money in savings. I think that is just a coincidence. I completely agree that we need to give. I don’t know that temper cent is something that we have to do. But like you said that’s for another day. I do believe we need to give and I believe and in my opinion you were blast and are being blessed because your hearts are willing to give I don’t believe it has anything to do with the amount. You’re willing to give above and beyond and more and God is blessing you because of your heart of giving . Just my opinion.
Its so sad, everything is
My parents are a great example for tithing in church. They always said give and you will receive. They raised 12 kids and they gave more than 10% percent to church and they weren’t rich but we were never hungry and we had everything we needed. They tought us to be grateful for everything we have. And they have sooo many testimonies about how God literally blessed them when they didn’t had a bread on the table. God would send some random people to our house with bread and more food. I totally look up to them. It doesn’t mean that if we give money to church that God will give money back, no I don’t think so but when you will be in need you won’t be on the streets begging for food and shelter God will give you enough to survive that crisis that I think every family go through once in their life time. Another testimony my mom said that when there was time for us to go to school she didn’t had enough money to buy school supplies and she prayed to God to bless her with that and in few days there was a man that she didn’t know knocked on the door and said I heard you have a big family and we were buying lots of school supplies for our grandson but his parents were rich and bought him school supplies so he said we don’t need them I will sell them to you for low price and she definitely agreed because it was an answer from God. I say all this things when we weren’t living in America where we have privileges in many things, it was in middle east where our parents had to live in and think how to survive and thank God for everything they have. Even in America my parents are very serious about tithing and they don’t get paid much but they have everything they need. There is always food on the table and we do gather every week and there is a lot of us. So for me tithing is not to get rich but to receive blessings when you are in need.
Yelena what a blessing that your parents set the example. We trust our kids will feel the same way when they get older. We agree tithing isn’t about getting rich; it’s about honoring God and giving Him what belongs to Him! Thank you for reading and sharing your testimony. ~ Blessings ;
Great comments. Giving is to me ever quite defined properly. Should members just give in actually dollar amounts and not take part in management of funds given, then all churches would be in the red. Those who have expertise in financial
Matters need to be involved in giving their time as well funds.
Stewardship is not always money. Churches need physical as well a mental help.
What would happen if everyone came to church gave and went home?
Who is really caring ?
Look around you church, what can I do? Paint, Repair, or Be a Leader???
Yes Floscene our giving to the Lord includes our time, our tithes, our prayers, and most importantly our worship to Him. Thank you for stopping by to read. ~ Blessings
Money is a sensitive issue for many people I see so many negative comments here but for myself this article was God speaking to me because I was just praying the other day seeking guidance on how I should manage the money God has trusted me with, I earn so much but every two weeks it seems I’m always scrambling and now I can see the problem started when I stopped tithing, when I earned $30000 a year I tithed every paycheck now I earn 6 figures I tithe here and there and that’s the problem. I have no problems with giving I know the doctrine and going forward I will Tithe, I have seen the benefits with my own eyes. Thank you for the reminder that I needed.
Thank you Dee for being transparent I know that is not easy to do. It’s amazing how gentle God is to allow us to come to KNOW HIM through His word, no matter how long it takes or what we have to go through to get there. What you experienced was purposeful so that you would come to know what God wants for you! ~ Blessings
Thank you for such an eye opening article. Now I know, as a couple, we missed Gods best by not investing as we should have. Yes we tithe but we missed out on so much that God wanted for us by not following basic biblical principles of sowing or investing, get still presuming God will shelter us on a rainy day. The rainy day came and it’s been close to 2 years and we had to move in with my parents house. What maybe was supposed to a lesson now feels like a severe unending punishment. We need this to be over, I can’t bear it. Please pray for us. We have 3 children and we lost almost everything. I don’t understand. Ive cried out to God, looking for work for almost 3 years so we can start rebuilding over lives. Please help.
Lusanda thank you for being so transparent with your situation. I can only imagine the heartache you’ve had over the years. What a great blessing it is however, that your parents are able to open their home for such a time as this. We have prayed over your situation the moment we read it, but we do want to encourage you to meditate on Romans 8:25 “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
God does not find pleasure in punishing His children, and He does promise to turn what is meant for evil to be used for our good. You may not be able to see it right now but there God always has a purpose. We hope this scripture encourages your heart while you wait upon Him. ~ Blessings
As I just found out what tithing was I came across this post. It confuses me as someone who is not religious to think that people in debt or struggling to pay their bills would give money to their church. If you didn’t tithe then you would have all that extra money to put in your bank account and save for an emergency or to actually invest in stocks or just be more financially secure. Don’t get me wrong I am a believer in helping others and I think donations are important but I don’t think god is going to be mad at you if you don’t pay your church. God doesnt need money he isn’t a person living on this planet. Why would he need money? The only thing that needs money is the church.
You aren’t a better person for tithing all your doing is putting money into a system that doesn’t give you any money back. All I’m saying is that if you don’t have money to pay for your essentials then you shouldn’t put yourself in a worse situation. If you stop tithing then you could always volunteer your time to help charity or your church instead and get your financial situation in order.
I know this is a lot later and you’ve probably forgotten about this comment, but I just wanted to reply to explain why tithing is so important to us. It’s not about God needing our money, it’s about our willingness to give it up to Him. God needs nothings from us, but He has given everything to us as a blessing. He gave us our lives, our families, our material and financial wealth. The thing is though is that it’s not ours, it’s still His. We acknowledge that by being willing to give it up to Him, and we show that we trust in Him when we give our worldly wealth up to Him, even if it doesn’t make sense financially. Tithing is not about supporting the institution of the church, it’s about the state of the heart of the person who is tithing. Yes it does support the church or the mission we give it to, but even if they were to waste it or burn it for fun it wouldn’t matter, because the person who gave it was seeking to honor God by giving it. I hope you understand better our motivations, I know it really doesn’t make sense from an atheistic point for view.
Douglas you’re right brother! We agree tithing is about our heart and honoring God with what He has given us. Sometimes the emphasis is so much on the tithing that people lose sight of the heart behind it, and the fact that you can’t just tithe and mis-managing money in the natural. God expects us to honor Him with our money and be good stewards of what He has given us. Thank you for sharing.
I have in the last year had a falling out with my church more specifically my pastor. So I have been giving more to charities such as my tithing. Is this the same as giving to the church and what did you mean by giving a natural giving?
Hi Anna, I’m sorry to hear about what the falling out with your church, and we trust that God will restore your heart. God looks at the heart of your giving, so giving to other charities or people God has placed on your heart that has a need is good too. However it is important to find a church home and when you do the Bible talks about bringing your tithes to the storehouse which would be your church. Hope that helps. ~ Blessings
I want to know what you mean by natural giving. I had a falling out with my pastor in my church. So I have been taking my money and giving to other charities, all Christian. Is the same or different than tithing? I also give in a few other ways instead of money.
Are we supposed to pay our tithe on our gross or net pay? Im just managing to pay on my net, if I pay on my gross then i wont have enough to live on for the 2 weeks. Also, when you say give an offering, is that also to the church?
Tina that is really up to you. I know many may see that differently so just go with your heart. I will add however if you decide to go with your net, when you file your taxes and get a refund, tithe on your refund. As that was income earned that came back to you, so you want to give back to God. Hope that brings you some clarity.
Jesus Christ did not proclaim the prosperity gospel as today’s fake pastors preach . They want to enrich themselves according to their lifestyles and compare the church to modern day businesses.
Jesus came to preach salvation to the poor and about the kingdom of God not how much you must give to the church. The church has lost the message of Christ by becoming part of the world and the many gospels proclaimed by these wolves in sheep clothing. There is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ in that He came to save sinners not pay for salvation to enter the Kingdom of God.
Thank you for sharing the information regarding this book. Otherwise, I would have never heard about it. I ordered mine yesterday and I am anxious to receive. We have tithed for years as well. We know that all that we have is God’s anyway. Your work is a blessing to many.
Thanks, your friend in Christ.
Bless you sister for those kind words and thank you for stopping by to read. We hope the book will be a blessing to you. ~ Blessings
Thank you! This was a blessing!
Thank you Antonia for stopping by to read. ~ Blessings
Great insightful experience.
This is basically the 10:10:80 Principle .
Tithe 10%
Invest 10%
Depend on the 80%
Shalom to everyone
I just read an article on biblical financial principles. The article says that we have to give above and beyond our tithe. While the article has good advice, it doesn’t answer how to do that when you don’t have enough to even to get to church, let alone pay tithes and more. I have to rely on food banks now, or starve. I’m on a disability income that is way lower than the poverty level. Each month I am lucky to have $50 for groceries for a month. Can you please tell me how to pay tithes+ when you are barely staying alive. Poor people can’t afford to pay these things without starving or ending up homeless (then starving). Thanks and may God Bless You, in Jesus name, Amen.
Great question Kenneth – in fact many people have this question, and that is why we wrote – What If I seriously can’t afford to tithe? You can read that here:https://livingourpriorities.com/seriously-cant-afford-tithe/
i just want to know is a prophet supposed to have a church?
My husband and i gave more than the 10 % ,actually 50% and the prophet and his wife were still expecting more because we have a business even though we still fed him and the whole staff and his family?
I’m sorry that happened to you sister. The message of giving has been an area the church as a whole needs to do better. Our prayer is that people will seek God not just about their giving but also their living so that they learn to give and pay their bills.
I think tithing, if you can make it work, is great but if you can’t, then maybe it’s not the time to. It is whatever you CAN give, as Jesus once said “a cheerful giver”. You can be giving 20% but if you are constantly grumpy about it, what’s the point? Give what you can and be happy to give to God to honor him. It’s a journey that we each learn, to give up material importance and place focus on God. I only give about 5% now but i look forward to the opportunity one day when i can indeed give 10%. I hear about greedy churches and pastors, it may deter others from giving but this is separate to what we do. If you don’t trust your church, then go find a church that you can.
Thank you Mr and Mrs Gray.
Your message was very informative and helpful. It brought spiritual insight and wisdom and understanding. God has been faithful in supplying my needs and I trust him in the area of my finances. The article you wrote has given me tool to continue to obedient in giving and tithes and offering.I am on disability but my faith is in God’s provision and promises. Please continue to bless us with your wisdom.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—when you already have it with you. — Proverbs 3:27-28
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. — Proverbs 28:27
These are the scriptures in the bible pastors should preach on when speaking on giving, not telling you giving a $1,000 seed then God will bless them. God does not sell blessings and put a price tag on one. Many people would give to a rich pastor but walked out of the church and looked the other way when they see a homeless person. And you wonder why you are not blessed, well the bible says give to the poor and you will lack nothing, plain and simple!
Amen sister.
I totally agree with you about that. We are to follow GOD’s way not man’s way.
It may seem off topic? I’m starting a ministry of sorts, https://www.comfortmusic.org/
Is it appropriate to use some of my tithe to plant (seeds) in my new ministry. There are many things I can do if I hire someone with experience to help me develop and promote. If I do most of this work, I will get bogged down in learning useless programming etc, that I will never use later. Plus promoting on facebook can reach a lot of viewers that can involved in this needed ministry of preforming for hospice and senior residents.
That’s something you will need to seek God about. We can only direct you to what the Word says. The bible tells us that the tithe belongs to the storehouse this is where you are spiritual fed, offerings are over and above your tithes and you can give those anywhere you feel God is leading including your ministry. Either way seek God and ask Him to lead and direct you. ~ Andre and Timberley
I’m not here for blessing.
Jesus, you don’t owe me any-thing.
More than anything you can do…
I.
Just.
Want.
You.
Thanks for sharing this. I do just want to pray that every one be prosperous and be blessed by God always. Our black preaching pastor, Keion, https://www.keionhenderson.com/about-us/ always preaches about how we should keep our faith strong, specially during times of financial crisis.