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As a Financial Coach, one of the most common questions I get from Christians trying to get out of debt is “Should I Tithe while paying off my debt”?
What I think really doesn’t matter
Giving a tithe has more to do with your belief system than your finances. I want you out of debt as bad as anyone, but there is something explainable that happens when people start to give sacrificially.
You can’t calculate the blessings from giving a tithe
I’m always trying to work things into a spreadsheet. One thing I can never forecast accurately are the blessings that people receive when being faithful and giving 10% to their local church. But, I have come up with an algebraic formula:
90%+God > 100%-God
I can’t explain it, but it works!
What should I tithe on
If we do tithe, what do we tithe on? Gross or Net Income? Business and Retirement? Tax Refunds? Gifts or Credit Card Points? I explain each of these items in this episode.
What I believe about giving a tithe
God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). I thought I knew what that meant until my beautiful bride and I got out of debt. Suddenly, I was able to hear what my pastor was trying to say to me and the sermon was no longer about their need for our money to fund the capitol campaign, it was because giving makes us more like Him.
I certainly hope you don’t have to wait until you are debt free to hear the message and experience the joys of giving.
Sheri says
March 3, 2011 at 1:13 pmThis Podcast is SO GOOD!!! Answers some common questions on this great topic!
Steve Stewart says
March 3, 2011 at 5:51 pmThanks Sheri!
Michael "TechTalk" Kastler says
March 7, 2011 at 2:06 pmGreat episode Steve – my wife and I have been asking a lot of those same questions lately!
So one last one … what’s the tithe when your income is 0? I’m assuming 10% of $0 = $0. But … I’m getting unemployment benefits, which just manage to cover COBRA for us. If I take 10% of those bene’s I would have to dig deeper into savings or other resources than we already are to cover mortgage and expenses. Is it OK to defer tithing to better times? Sounds like a copout to me, but better than just not tithing at all … very confusing!
Lisa says
January 30, 2016 at 12:59 pmI enjoyed this topic on “Tithing” I strongly believe what God says in his word!
Gloria says
January 22, 2018 at 8:53 amThis is a great podcast.
Here I am 70 yrs old and I got answers from this podcast that I’ve never known before. This podcast is actually part of a getting out of debt series but it really explains about tithing and what to tithe on and what not to. It is a very informative podcast. I highly recommend it.
Steve Stewart says
January 22, 2018 at 9:00 amThank you Gloria! I’m so glad you found the show. Did it cause you to change how you thought about giving?