...tithing

While blogging around today I learned something new, tithe does not mean what I think it means, what tipped me off? Those who listed tithe as an interest also listed xxxholic and faeries. I am leaving tithe on my blogring so when they go looking for each other they find me......

Tithing may not seem like much of an interest, but it fascinates me. There is the whole old/new testament debate as to whether or not the tithe applies to us today. Of course we all pick out the "rules that apply to us" and defend them wholeheartedly. Tithe/not, tattoo/not, pork/not, adultery/not, just kidding(kind of). As someone who has done all of the above, I know that it is not a salvation issue, Thank God!!!! Yet, wonder why tithing is included in the things that one should do.

I, of my own accord, would not tithe, it's just not good math. But in Malachi who doesn't want that? We as a family have been incredibly blessed since we began to tithe. In fact, some of our blessings were up at 5 this morning reminding us just how blessed we were. We also just refinanced our house cutting 9 years off of our mortgage and only raising our payment $7.00 per month. In the last year we have gone on some fabulous vacations, and have paid cash for our summer vacations to Vegas and Montana. (We're flying with six kids, and have you seen the gas prices?) I would say we are blessed, just don't look at our furniture, that is a conscious choice, we have six kids.

I think tithing is included in the should do's, not because God needs money, but because it changes who we are. We spend a lot of time worrying about money, when we should be contemplating God. Satan can do a lot with money, he can cause us to work so much we alienate our friends and family so that we can buy stuff to impress strangers. He can give us a free t-shirt for signing up for his 27% credit card. If we can make the payments it takes our money from things we find worthy and gives it to the credit card company, if we cannot make the payments we end up doing even more stupid stuff. Bringing a tithe tells God that we trust him to take care of our needs.

On another tithing note, I give mine online because I know that it saves our church a lot of processing time, but I haven't signed up for autodraft. I don't know whether it's a big deal or not, but for me I need to consciously do it everytime. To me it is beyond the realm of my mortgage or cable payment which are autodrafted. I need to remind myself that God is my priority when it comes to money. I try to make it my first payment, but like I said before none of this is a salvation issue. It is just how God is changing my heart, and how he changes yours might be totally different.