Who Is Your Financial Planner?

I remember signing up for my first credit card. The credit card representatives set up a table in the grass on my college campus. They were giving away t-shirts to those who filled out an application. I thought, "Sure, I'll take a free t-shirt." and signed up. I'm so thankful that I tended to be more on the "thrifty" side, but I just as easily could not have been.  Now that I look back on the situation, it almost seems wrong for a credit card company to target college students who most likely are not able to pay any bills they may accrue with that credit card.  Maybe that's the point...

Financial hardship is so widespread these days. There was a point a few months back where I remember driving through the city in which I live and counting the number of houses I saw up for sheriff's sale. It was incredibly sad. I'm sure that when most of those people moved into their houses, they did not image being forced to move out a few or even several years later.

Do You Tithe?

Tithing is giving 10% of our money back to God. I say "back" to God, because it's His in the first place! Everything that we have is ultimately His. All that we have is on loan from Him. Tithing is giving the first 10% of our income. We are to tithe before we pay our bills, before we go on vacation, etc. God requires that we give Him the first 10% back to Him in the form of a tithe to our local churches. When I think about it, it's absolutely amazing what God can do when you put your faith in Him! When I quit my job while pregnant with Joshua, our income was consequently cut in half. That's a major cut!  God has taken care of us through many circumstances since then.

Malachi 3:10 says, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"

God Wants To Be Your Financial Planner

So many of us live from paycheck to paycheck. The thought of tithing to unbelievers (and often many believers) is considered foolish and terrifying! I became familiar with tithing about 10 years ago. When I started tithing, it was not so scary for me. I lived by myself and did not have any major financial stress in my life. I was glad to have learned about tithing, and it really wasn't much of a financial sacrifice to do so. I trusted that God would come through, because He promised to. At this point in my life, my husband and I have 2 children. I'm a stay-at-home-mom, so Kevin is the only one earning an income right now. Tithing takes on a whole new level of trust now! God has promised to take care of us, even when we don't know how something might be paid for!

He Is Trustworthy!

I am so thankful that we can depend on Jesus to take care of our financial needs! He is our Provider! He has promised to take care of all of our needs. “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  In these days when financial stress is almost considered "normal" to the world, put your trust in Him!  There have been several times when we had an unexpected bill to pay and no known way to pay it. We continued to tithe as we always had, and God provided!

Are You Spending Your Money Wisely?

Our responsibility in all of this, besides tithing, is spending our money wisely. Our family has looked at our expenses over and over again to make sure that we are spending our money responsibly. This has not always been the case, unfortunately! I find that if Kevin and I make it a point to look at the way we spend our money on a regular basis, we can more-easily pinpoint the areas that need re-prioritized. God has promised to take care of all of our needs, which is so much different than our wants! When we take a look at how people in some other countries' live, we quickly see the difference between our wants and needs. God can easily bless you, but you need to do your part by spending your money wisely.

Do you tithe? I would love to receive comments from any of you who have testimonies of how God has provided for you! This will serve as an encouragement to those of us who already tithe, and those who are thinking about it but are still trying to take that step. Please send me your comments, and I know they will be a blessing to all of us!

Picture credit: www.thriftyfun.com