tithing?

[Tenshi no Ai]

I have a little question concerning tithing...

I'm REALLY bad when it comes to remembering scripture, but I'm pretty sure it paraphrases to "give 10% of your EARNINGS to the church". But the word "earnings" is what makes me question...

Being a person who's currently unemployed, and the only money I get at the moment is through say, Christmas, birthdays etc. and if I have a load of pop bottles to go in and recylce when they pile up (cause having an extra $10+ can be good), and even in annual family garage sales, would these technically count as "earnings"? I know, by all means you can give an offering of however much you want, but is it only if you have a job that is the specific 10% you have to give? Currently I've been tithing almost any amoutn of money I get and it's not that I want to save money and not continue to tithe, but I was never made clear if "earnings" was a job, money-making specific thing.

[Nate]

Tithing is under the Old Law, from what I understand, and we're not under the Old Law anymore.

Now before I get attacked by everyone on this site, let me say that I think it is GOOD to give money to the church and that you SHOULD. "For with the measure you use, it shall be measured unto you."

God wants to see you give from the HEART rather than sit down with a calculator and figure out what 10% of your earnings is. Remember the rich people who gave so much in the temple, and the widow who put in two coins? And Jesus said she gave more than anyone else there. Because she gave from the HEART.

Just give what you are able to, and if you need to save up money for say, tuition or something, I think God will honor that. Don't begrudgingly give because you think you're obligated to, though. That's not what giving is about.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I'm in the same sort of situation. I don't think it means only money but can include time spent helping people among other things.

[shooraijin]

I think kae is right -- the idea is to give back to God out of your own desire, not of a requirement.

Myself, I have always tried to give "off the top" based on my gross income, not net, but I'm not going to say whether this is right or wrong; it is my own personal conviction. Someone like yourself with a less steady income or even without a job may have other ways of giving back to God what is His that are not necessarily monetary.

[Tenshi no Ai]

I know my church has been in needs of funds lately, and recently they have been reading scripture dealing with tithing. It's almost as a sort of nudge, but what else can they really do if they've been in dire need or else not havign a church there anymore?

I dunno... sometimes I think if I don't give the "required" amount, it's almost as if I'm going cheap on God in a sense. Giving $5 instead of $20 for example. Also probably because I really don't have anythign better to spend my money on either than anime/manga/etc. Well, it IS a hobby but I'm also like a library to people sometimes :/ It's not that I want to be selfish with the money or anything, but I also wanted to know more about the tithing "rules". But to keep in mind the idea of "what's in your heart" is most important ^^ I know my parents still go by 10% of income, and as for me, I think maybe I'll look into it when I get some sort of part-time job.

...just thought I'd check in here to read some comments from others first

[meboeck]

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 2 Corinthians 9:7

Based on that, I would say Kae and the others are right on target. If you really feel like giving more, do. If deep down you think what you've been giving is fine, there's no reason to change. It all comes from the heart.

[Silent Hunter]

I think God wants us to give. If the church receives no tithing, it cannot support itself. I think that God blesses us when we give from our heart, and since I don't know all of the specifics, I try to give about ten percent, which is the ammount which was specified in the Bible. If it isn't out of a desire to give, then don't give at all. As far as earnings. I think that talks about any money that you gain, whether you have a full time career or you are bringing in 15 dollars from pop cans, I think it applies to any money gaining situation. Gift Cards? Birthday money? I'm not sure what to say about those.

[Chainchump]

Tithing is an act of worpship to God, also have you ever heard of overflow, God does not fill your cup He runneth it over so tithe and then give offering and youll be receiving 4 to 5000x more sooner or later

oh and also give with a generous heart so God can bless you.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Don't tithe because you want to be blessed but because you love God. Like people have said, it doesn't matter so much the amount but that you give it generously and fully to God.

[Slater]

Tithing? Heck yeah, 10%? We owe it to God... We owe more than 10% (as a matter of fact, we are told to give God our 100% in the New Testament... Everything we do for Him.).

I've been thinking of this a lot lately since I got a job. I can't wait to set up my checking account. Finally I can tithe with that which is earned through hard, honest work. I may not have much from it, but... Hey, I hope that which is God's goes a long, long way for His glory.

Chainchump is right... in a sense. But so is W4J. There can be blessing in tithing... but not if that's all we're focused on. Jesus said that if we do works for earthly glory that we will get that glory, and that will be all... and we all know how long earthly things last. But if we tithe in order to truly help God's will, not letting our left hand know what our right hand does, then will we recieve the blessing...

[Ratrace]

Tithing gos like this, from the old testament:

God gave you everything. You earned some of it withyour own strenth, but God gave you that too, and the chance. The first ten% is Gods, and not giving Him it is stealing. David refused a free sheep from a friend to sacrifice to God, "I will not offer God that which costs me nothing."

New testament:

Jesus rebuked the pharaseas for tithing but not loving God or man. He said "You should have done the latter, without forgeting the former" (from memory,NIV)
The idea of blessing is if you give God his 10% the 90% will go further. If you love God youll follow his commands, and if you love humanity youll bless people. You get a greater blessing if its hard for you to give and you do it happily to help, of your own free will.
Check Malachi on tithes and offerings.

Edit: Oh.. I forgot, we're not under the law, but many of the principales from it are still valid. Espesialy if you want .

[Kaligraphic]

You have a choice between the old and the new law. If you choose the obligation of the old law, then, in order to be sure of receiving the promised blessings, you have to a: do every single thing without fail that is in the law - forget one turtledove and you're out - and b: be a descendant of Abraham.

If you choose the new covenant, then Jesus did everything you ever needed in the past, need now, or will ever need for righteousness - and you can rely on blessing from that. Now, because of the nature of God, which He puts inside of you, you will automatically and inevitably come to desire to give more and more - but it is not an obligation. If anyone tells you to give for righteousness, then they are preaching the law, but in the covenant, we give from righteousness. That is, because of what God did for us, we give in thanks - i.e. thanksgiving (slight pun, but not really) - and it's just a matter of finding out what God wants you to give.

Essentially, just go to God and ask him what you should give - he'll put an amount on your heart, and you should give the amount he wants you to. Not out of fear of any curse, but because that's what he wants. He may want one amount from Shooby, another amount from Kae, a different amount from me, and yet another amount from you - that doesn't mean that God loves any of us more than another.

[kaiser]

I'm studying for becoming a pastor, and from my experience with God i'd say that you do have to give the 10% and some offerings, yet God is not blind meaning that if you cannot pay this, it isn't going to expect it from you.

I noticed this since once I had how to do it, and I didn't because I didn't want to, and my finances began to sour.... I asked the Lord why was this and He reminded of the time i didn't tithe on purpose....

Also, a girl in my church decided to give an offering of 500 dollars (which was a real effort for her in the time, she needed the money) and a week later she recieved 500 dollars back, from 3 different people (total: 1500).

God has told me also told me specifically (a couple of times) how much to give as an offering.... and this was usually right before he gave me something great (last time, it was 20 dollars and a week later an uncle of mine gave me a car as a gift).

God is Awesome
Kaiser_Eleazar

[shooraijin]

I don't think we should be in the "giving to get" mode with tithing, however, and any blessings there are to be reaped are not necessarily tangible or even noticible. In my case, it's simply remembering that all things in my life come ultimately from God, and it's a responsibility of mine to be a good steward with it.

[Nate]

What shooby said. I mean, if you wanna get technical, we owe God EVERYTHING, so 10% is certainly not enough, we should be giving Him all we own. As others have said, it's about giving to God, not saying "If I give this much God will bless me with more stuff." Store up treasures in Heaven, not on Earth where thieves steal and rust decays and moths eat.

[uc pseudonym]

I think that the important part of this is what has already been expressed by many. Kaligraphic said much of what I feel well. However, I do have some interesting historical notes regarding tithing that I believe are not wholly out of place.

The 10% that the Israelites would have given to the temples mostly served to pay for the key feasts every year (the Levites received a portion of standard offerings, I believe). Most "citizens" would likely have eaten at these feasts, so it wasn't as if they were really giving this money away.

When we look at what concerns all the prophets of the Old Testament, time and time again the people are accused of not using their money for purposes that God considers good. As one oft-quoted verse states, God despises their tithes and offerings when the people continue an unjust system that continues to trod upon the lowest members of society. I say all of this only to point out that while there aren't bad reasons to give 10% to good causes, the historical precedent is actually quite different.

[Slater]

My pastor just said something really kewl a few minutes ago. "You can't take it with you, but you can send it ahead."

Everything that we have when we die will stay on earth, but God remembers what we do with our money and resources, and He will bless us in heaven for it. Whether you give big or small doesn't matter; Big and Small in God's eyes are much different in our own... Think, if Epaphroditus didn't spend a little bit of money to get Paul some writing utensils for when he was in prision, we wouldn't have a lot of the NT books that we are blessed with today.

We as Christians need to have that spirit of giving; how we spend our money definitly has an impact on our Spiritual lives. If we are willing to give, it can go a long way towards making our walks with Christ even better. If not, then our spiritual selves aren't going to do much growing. Doesn't matter who you are or what your income is, because Christ promised that we will always have enough in our lives.

Be willing to freely give; it's part of what being a Christian is truly about. Love involves giving all that we have, and our God is the God of Love.

How you give depends on who you are, really. Maybe you only give to your church, and that's alright. Still, don't think that tithing is limitted to that. Perhaps you could spend your money to help those in need or give to another Christian organization that you may not be intimately associated with. Think for a minute, and I'm sure God will show you a place where your money would well bless His name. There may be areas that God will show you that only you will know about; I know that I've found one.

But really, don't think that it's acceptable to get away without giving. If you have the ability to read this forum, God has blessed you enough to give more than a lot of Christians in the world. Whether the ammount you give is 5%, 10%, or 90%, it really is a spiritual duty for every Christian. Paul didn't have a lot of money; as a matter of fact, he was so poor that he needed to be on the recieving end of tithing. Maybe you are in such a position that you don't have money to give (but again I say that should not be the case if you're reading this), but remember the old saying, "Time is money." If you can't give God a dime, then what better thing to do than give Him an hour? He gave you time as well.

[Rjdreamer]

2 Corinthians 8;3 Says about the Macedonian Churches,

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

Tithing I think is more the spirit of giving, the spirit of generousity that causes chirstians to give. For the Macedonian Churches, they were in extreme poverty but still went so far to plead with Paul for, as the Bible says their words are, the priviledge of sharing. Verse 5 says,

And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.