Tithe Your Way Out of Debt
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If you’re struggling with debt, changes are good you probably aren’t tithing. You probably just don’t know how you could possibly come up with another 10 percent when you are already broke and living paycheck to paycheck in order to tithe. You are probably wondering how you are just going to pay the rent and feed your family this month, so tithing is out of the question. Am I right? I know because I’ve been there. But, what I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt is that tithing is part of the Christian’s walk of faith, and tithing is the cornerstone of Christian finance.
God has some pretty strong words for those who don’t tithe. He calls them thieves and robbers (Malachi 3:8-9) when you don’t give your tithes and offerings. In fact, God told the children of Israel that robbing him had brought a curse on the whole nation. Curious about what the curse entails? Read Deuteronomy 28. I can tell you the curse isn’t fun, and you don’t want to go there.
The truth is, God wants to pour his blessings out on you. And he is very clear about how to make that happen.
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,”If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.”- Malachi 3:10
In fact, he asks us to prove him. The problem is, many people “try” tithing, and then give up because “it doesn’t work”, instead of giving this spiritual principle time to work in their lives and finances. God says that he will not only pour out his blessing on you, but that he will rebuke the devourer for your sake and not allow your hard work to be in vain! (Malachi 3:11)
Do you have any idea how helpful it is to have the almighty God fighting your battles for you instead of you trying to fight them on your own?
Now, I know you are probably saying, “This sounds good, but I still don’t know how I’m supposed to pay my tithe when I can’t even pay my bills.”
Well, you have to start by making sure your budget isn’t upside down. What you DON’T do is pay your creditors and bills, and feed your family and then see if there’s enough left to tithe. If you handle your budget this way, I can guarantee you there will never be enough to tithe.
What you have to do is tithe first. Yep, that 10% comes right off the top. You are giving God your first fruits, the first 10%, you give him his portion before you do anything else. Here’s the proper order for a budget: Tithe, pay yourself, take care of your family, pay your bills and creditors.
If you can’t pay all of your creditors this month, send letters to the ones you can’t pay. Or, you can pay each a percentage of what’s left over based on the total amount of the bill. You will also have to learn to do without some of your “I wants”.
But, here’s the interesting thing: get ready, because a financial miracle is about to happen to you. How does it work? I don’t know and honestly, I don’t care. I just know that it does work. When I was struggling in debt, I wasn’t a faithful tither. I simply ran out of money before I got around to my tithe. When I realized how important tithing is, I decided that I was going to tithe no matter what. When I got paid, I wrote out my tithe check before I did anything else. If I was gifted some money, I wrote out a tithe check. If I did a side job and earned a little extra, I wrote out a tithe check. I decided that no matter what — if I didn’t eat, if I didn’t have electricity, if my water got shut off — I was going to tithe. And I never had to worry about any of that. I always ate, I paid my bills, I even paid off my debt.
God blessed me beyond anything I could imagine. When emergencies happened, they were covered. People walked up out of the blue and handed me money. Someone contacted me unexpectedly and asked me to do some freelance work for them. I never lacked for anything I needed. (The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!) Oh, I did without some of the fluff, and extras that I really didn’t need. But, I had everything I needed and more.
If you aren’t tithing, start now. But, watch your motives. God loves a cheerful giver. Don’t tithe out of obligation. Tithe because you love God and because you are thankful for all of the blessings you have received. God wants to pour out his blessings on you. You give him permission to do that when you tithe.
