The Question

Okay, I tithed $120 this pay check and then next week I don’t get paid yet I have to pay several bills so I charged them all on my credit card because I had no cash to cover them. Is this a cheerful giver? NO. I keep getting further in debt because I never have enough until the next pay. This has been 7 years and I have never received a financial blessing. Why should I keep tithing and going further in debt and never receive anything in return?

J from Unknown Location

Become a cheerful giver (Part 1)

I agree with you that you are not a cheerful giver and I’m not saying that to reproach you. I can sense your deep frustration because as you look at your situation it seems that God promises and does not deliver. Malachi 3:10 says, “’Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of host, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”

You wonder why you should keep tithing so I have a question: Why do you? After all, it’s been seven years with none of the results you were expecting. Do you tithe because your church requires it? Because someone told you it would bring financial blessings? Because you are afraid not to, afraid God will punish you? If you tithe for any of those reasons you are not alone but you are also not right. While they are popular (usually unexpressed reasons), they produce cheerless giving like you are now experiencing.

Start by realizing this: God does not need your money. Tithing is for YOU, not for HIM. What benefit is he looking for you to have by tithing? Giving loosens our grasp on material things so we can keep our priorities straight. We are to hold God first in our life and giving the tithe and beyond helps us do that. Giving also helps us take on God’s character because he is a giver and in fact, nothing we can give will ever outmatch all that he has given us.

I’ll be honest with you: there are no brownie points for tithing out of a spirit of obligation or the give-to-get mentality. Your current condition is therefore not doing you any good. Something needs to change. How can you have a better attitude and change of perspective so you can receive the fullness of blessing God has for you?

The first step might be what you have already done by admitting your attitude is not a “cheerful giver” and that something is clearly wrong. Why not get before the Lord and confess that officially and ask for his grace to make a new start? Begin to pray daily, not for financial blessing, but for a right heart.

Practically speaking, perhaps you need some help in financial management and planning. I’m not assuming you are doing anything wrong regarding money but it is worth looking at. Perhaps a Christian based financial service could help you budget differently and get on better financial footing. If so, that takes some time so be patient while things get turned around.

Have as your goal to become a cheerful giver regardless of what you receive in return. That way you follow the Lord’s command: “Make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33-34)