Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

This is something that I was thinking about the other day. On AFF, we talk about not tithing if that is sin or not. There is a lot of talk on her whether tithe is a 'candy stick' that preachers use inorder to line their own pockets or carpet their houses. The thought I was pondering the other day is this-would God rather you not pay your debts (bad stewardship) so you can make your tithe payment?

I know that God wants us to be good stewards with our time and money. Often times nowadays with the housing issues, credit crunches, high energy costs and job cuts it becomes very, very tough. I have not experienced this issues a whole lot in my life. But I wonder what God would rather have from us the tithe or us to pay our debt?

What do you think?

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

What do I think?

I think "tithe" as it is practiced by many today is a bogus doctrine. It is not a required "payment" to be a Christian nor to win Gods' favor.

Having said that, I think anyone can give a tenth. It may not be to a "pastor" or even a church, but people are changed when they help others expecting nothing in return. This is very true when the "giving" is to help sustain and further the cause of the gospel.
Giving is a good thing, and even when it hurts, it is a character building discipline.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Good thought. I never thought of it that way. Makes sense to me.

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I guess that all depends on your viewpoint. To me the tithe is every bit as much one of my debts as anything else. I view my church as just as much my responsibility as my light bill, my phone bill, etc etc. It is MY church, and MY responsibility to support it and fund it as I fund my own home and car.

I do see the tithe as applying to the new covenant believer. Others dont. But since I do I feel it is in some ways even MORE of a faith matter than just a bill to pay. In fact, I do believe it is one way of putting God first, ahead of my personal needs, and as a result I can truly say I have NEVER been unable to pay my bills.

In fact the Lord said The Tithe Is MINE therefore its not really a question of paying it, rather a question of this, God has entrusted it to my hands. He is watching me to see do I put it where it belongs or do my own personal needs cause me to cast my eye on it, and slowly but surely appropriate it or actually STEAL it from God rather than faithfully give it to the Store house.

He did speak in the prophets and say YOU HAVE ROBBED ME (stolen the tithe)
I would imagine that the thought process was just the same three thousand years ago as it is today. Anyway that is my opinion

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

I think your point is valid if that is the way one feels about tithe. I am not of the same mind about tithe as it being 'my bill' so to say. Nothing about tithe suggests in the NT age that it is manditory to give. I never felt bad for not tithing if I did not have it. I don't see how God is or could be happy with us not having the electricity on, all the food spoils and it is hot and uncomfortable. I don't see how that is ok, but you are still a good steward IF you are paying your tithe, but not the other debts. To me that don't make a lick of sense. **please don't think I am arguing just stating how I feel**

I do pay tithe and I do give though not out of someone telling me it is manditory but cause I want to help get the gospel around the world. I have gone through times where I did pay my tithe and didn't have money for bills and the eletricity got turned off or whatever. It hit me that God could not be happy with me giving the church money instead of me paying my debts. Like I said to me it didn't make sense to do that, when that was the case.

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I agree. Do you think that a person should pay tithe even if their bills were going unpaid? SH you have a good family, wife and kids. If it came between paying the electric bill and not being able to pay the tithe or pay the tithe and you all are without electricity for a week or so with all the food going bad?

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God wants you to pay your tithes and not over extend yourself, but rather live within your means.

Now if a saint over-extends himself for whatever reason, is that God's fault or the Pastor's fault? No!

The OT clearly shows that if a man does not pay his tithes, he is robbing God; the tithe is the Lord's.

Heb 7:8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Bro. I would definetly pay the electric bill first - even if they were not cutting it off. Personally I only make contribution to the church about 10 times a year. This is in part due to the fact my own salary is not exactly a weekly one.

If someone finds they cannot make significant contributions to others including, the place where believers assemble, they should re-evaluate their lifestyle (something I have done before myself).

There are other ways than money to contribute by the way. I give to several worthy causes financially, but also give several hundred hours in community service each year.

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Look. When you finally realize that everything you own is God's anyhow, and that tithing is recognizing that fact, tithing is going to start looking a lot more important. All God has asked for is 10%. I think God deserves that considering He is not required to give us anything. It is a good thing God didnt put His needs first when it came to Calvary.

Put it in this perspective. Which comes first, electric bill or what is rightfully God's? When you put the Lord first, you will NEVER EVER EVER go wrong and you can count on that. I would stake my very life on that!! God blesses those who keep Him first. The principle of keeping God first is all throughout the scripture. Case and point Matthew 6:33.

(Matthew 6:33 KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Seek God first and put His things first, and God will add what you need to you. It reminds me of that scripture, Psalms 37:25.

(Psalm 37:25 KJV) I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

1 Kings 17 is an awesome example. The woman gave Elijah her last food and probably expected to die. But she put God first and because of that God blessed her and provided for her all through out that 3 and 1/2 years of no rain and provided for her and her son to live..........all because she put God first. She didnt know God was going to bless her when she gave Elijah the cake. Like I said, she probably resigned herself to die, but you need to get it through your head (not saying this in a mean manner btw), you can NEVER outgive the Lord. The Lord wont allow it.


(Malachi 3:10 KJV) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.


That looks like God is challenging us to try Him out. I am living proof. I dont give just to recieve, but there was once I did. I am NOT saying this to make myself look good, I just want to make my point. I challenged the Lord, not in a bad way, but just to try and prove Him. I had read Malachi 3:10 and decided to take that verse to heart and put it into practice. I started paying 25% of my paycheck instead of 10% in my tithes. And you know what? I couldnt afford that. I have bills. The first month, I was really wondering where and how I was gonna pay my bills. It was getting scary. I thought I was gonna lose my car, phone, insurance, etc, etc. I was really worried.

But wouldnt you know, that month, my grandparents just "felt" to send me a paycheck unannounced. Then I got a tax refund I wasnt expecting. Then I got a raise in pay. And that was just financially. God began blessing me in other ways. God gave me a fresh dose of the Holy Ghost. My prayer life blossomed like a flower. Bible reading once again became exciting. God actually spoke to me in His word. I remember praying about a need I had one day and that night when I read my bible, the first verse my eyes fell on was the answer I had been needing. Ever since then, I have continued paying 25% of my paycheck and God hasnt let me down once!!! Like I said, I do not give just to recieve it back, I love giving God what is His. I just continue this, because I love watching God continue to fulfill His promise. God is GOOD!!!

I will reiterate! YOU CAN NEVER OUTGIVE THE LORD NOR WILL YOU EVER GO WRONG PUTTING THE LORD FIRST!!!!!

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

If you don't mind me asking, what institution (or cause) are you giving to? I only ask because I feel I have an obligation to give where the need is.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Praise the Lord!

Such a good teaching - good word!

God bless.

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I believe that tithing is a personal choice. Every person is to give as they have determined in their heart. If one finds themselves in a tight situation that they had no control over they need to pray and find God's will for them and what God desires that they give until they get back to stability where they can give what they previously gave. I attended an ultra conservative church at one time and there was a period when things rose above our ability and the Pastor essentially turned around and gave us our tithe back to help us.

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I give to the church where God put me. Your first priority is to your church. Organizations are extra, Tithing is not......

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Thanks. I appreciate that. God is good isnt He?

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I understand what you are saying though it is a bit confusing.

I think you are in fact giving to an organization... or do you actually mean you are giving this $$ to the needy orphans and widows you worship with?

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Tithing is given to run the church. Pay the bills, pay the pastor, pay for improvements, put into the building fund, etc. That is your reasonable service. Giving to widows does not replace your tithes. That is on top of your tithes. I mean organizations like you were talking. Charitable works, etc.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

How do you arrive at these intended usages of the funds?

Would it not stand to reason that we accept not only the Old Testament commands to tithe, but also the accompaying definitions for it's purpose and usage?

Really, I am just asking... not wanting to debate.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Yes He is.

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One should support their home church with their finances,and pay their bills as well.
I have made some money mistakes in times past,one must be careful about getting into too much debt.
If one sows sparingly,then one will reap sparingly,if one sows bountifully,then one will reap bountifully.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

I know your just asking. Buut I guess I dont understand what you mean in your second sentence. What do you mean?

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Isn't the local church an organization?

Wouldn't giving that money to someone in direct need have a higher priority than to the local tax-exempt organization known as the local congregation?

What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income?

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Have always paid my tithes and always will. Tighes have always been paid and God has always made a way for the bills to be paid also.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

[QUOTE=RandyWayne;561330]Isn't the local church an organization?

Wouldn't giving that money to someone in direct need have a higher priority than to the local tax-exempt organization known as the local congregation?

What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income?[/QUOTE]

Randy, I was taught that once I gave my tithe, it was out of my hands. I did what the bible told me to do and that was give my 10%. Where it went from there was out of my hands also.

There have been many times in my life, both married and single, that I paid my tithe and God has blessed me in return.

Once comes vividly to my mind. My husband was teaching school and only got paid once a month. Well, we got paid and first thing we always did was take out tithes out first. Well, we did and we only had about $100 to get us through the whole month. We also had a 6 month old baby who needed diapers and formula. Well one day we had a family in our church call and tell us that they were having a really tough time financially and we decided to have them over for supper. (I always kept extra food around) Anyway, during the day the Lord began to deal with me about giving money to our friends who needed help and so I prayed and asked God that if it was HIM and not me, who is a sucker for a sad story, to also deal with my husband. So, I prayed and went about my day. Came home began preparing supper and my husband came home and said he needed to talk to me, and told me what the Lord had dealt with him about and it was what HE had been dealing with me about. So we wrote them a check for 1/2 of what we had left, leaving us with $50 for the rest of the month.

When they came over and ate, we gave them the money. WE went to bed that night thanking God for blessing us with the ability to help someone else.

The next morning I got up and got dressed for work and was running out the door and it wouldn't open very easy, like it usually did. I pushed pretty hard and got it only partially open and looked down and there sitting my porch was was a case of diapers and a case of formula. I sat down in the door way and began to cry. My husband heard me and came running, and then when he saw what was going on, he sat down and cried too.

Brothers and Sisters, you cannot outgive God.

I know you are probably thinking, "Oh yeah, she's a pastor's wife, of course she's gonna think that way." I thought that way LOOOOONNNNNGGGG before I was ever in the ministry.

God will bless you if you obey HIS word. He says 10%, so I give at least 10%. I know that it belongs to HIM anyway. He gave it to me, and He can take it away. He gave me the job in the first place and He can take it away. All that I have belongs to Him. God is a Good God.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

AMEN!!!!! :bliss

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

And yet ANOTHER example of God fulfilling His promise to those who put Him first. You cannot ever go wrong with putting God first.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Oh. In another post you mentioned "Tithing is given to run the church. Pay the bills, pay the pastor, pay for improvements, put into the building fund, etc. That is your reasonable service. Giving to widows does not replace your tithes."

While this sounds reasonable (if you can verify it's dispersal) is there a biblical precedent for it's use as you describe? I believe we have precedent for it's use to assist widows, and our support of the same is identified as true religion in the New Testament.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

"What if you don't agree with how your local church is spending its income"
RW

"Randy, I was taught that once I gave my tithe, it was out of my hands. I did what the bible told me to do and that was give my 10%. Where it went from there was out of my hands also." LCS


I watched as my sister and her husband put thousands of dollars into a church where the pastor abused the money. They finally left and went elsewhere to church but for me the damage was done. I started to become skeptical. I was still a teenager. I asked my sister once how they could do that. She told me that we are taught by example to pay tithes. That once it is in the storehouse it is the ministries problem then. If the ministry abuses the money God will take of them. As long as they did what they were supposed to do that was what God looked at. It was not their job to police the ministry that was up to God. Once they got tired of it they finally went someplace else. (I think it has more to do with once they finally realized they could go elsewhere and still be saved)
God has always taken care of their needs and much more. They one a home, travel the country with his job, pay their bills, help their children with college, families, help others, etc. God even brought my sister through a battle with cancer and she is now 4 yrs plus cancer free. God is good but more than that He is FAITHFUL.
I learned from them and my mother that if I paid my tithes and gave in offerings that God would take care my needs. He always has. Not always the way I want but he always meets my needs and then some.
If there are widows in need, or orphans, or homeless people and you think your church is not doing enough then start something in your church to do more. If no one else wants to join you do it yourself. But that is not your tithe in my opinion that is offerings and sacrifices, even seeds that you are sowing. Stop policing your ministry, if you are not happy with them then move on.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

I have had times where I have paid tithes and God has blessed me and met every single one of my needs even when things seemed impossible.

AND

I have had times where I have NOT paid tithes and God has blessed me and met every single one of my needs even when things seemed impossible.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

I don't know that I have an opinion in regards to the original question, but I will say that I believe in tithing and I think it is something that we should do as Christians.

However, that being said, trying to explain the rewards to a new convert who is already broke financially, has to pay child support, has to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe because now they are being taught they should (it's a lady) and this person is already stretched beyond their means anyway...that's a tough job.

Not saying we shouldn't tithe, just that it's hard to explain.

We give faithfully...and some weeks it's hard, but we give and then God gives! We can never seem to outgive him! :)

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My family had been faithful tithers for many years. Then things went absolutely nuts financially. We kept tithing....we drained all our savings and almost lost our house. It wasn't until the pastor himself told us not to tithe and to take care of our needs. Had he not done this...we'd be under a bridge today.

I've since gone through periods of being able to tithe and not being able to tithe. God has blessed us tremendously regardless. There isn't any such thing as a magic percentage. It's about a relationship with the Lord.

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I guess because I was raised in a family where you just tithed without question, I am a very strong believer in tithing. When I was a kid and got a quarter each week for allowance (the good ol' days), we were required to put three cents in a tithing envelope and turn it in.

I would not withhold tithe because I do believe it's a requirement in scripture. However, I think every person should live within their means, pay off credit cards monthly, etc. Eddie and I have never, in 30 years, failed to tithe and God has blessed us abundantly! I don't know anyone who tithes faithfully and has ever regretted it.

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I too have been blessed by paying tithes.

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i firmly believe if one is faithful to god then god will be faithful to us i say pay your tithes put god first and he will make sure that electric bill gets paid and anotherthinghe loves a cheerful giver:bliss

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I like that thought.

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For the record it was the priest that were robbing God.


What does heb 7:8 prove?

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

Just relaized this thread is like 2 yrs old.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

God Knows the heart, In my life time I have always stuggled with finances. Because of this I know stewardship is the key. If you are a good steward you will get the bills paid and God will get his share and he will bless you. If you are not a good steward the lights might get turned off and the bills not paid. It all goes to being a good steward. A good steward will not get in a position that his debt overpowers him to the point he can't stay on top of it.

You can beleive this or not this is from 51 years of experiance. Good economy and bad. Good times and bad.

Now God knows the heart, I have never been with out a roof, heat, food or clothing. Why? because I love God and always gave of my finances and my self to the work of God in whatever way I could. Whether tithes, or just giving.

For me it all comes down to the heart, God will bless the cheerful giver everytime. And when you put God first in your life it has been my experiance that God never lets you down.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

This is generally true.

But there are occasions when people lose their job, or have their pay drastically cut. Sometimes we can find ourselves in situations that are out of our control.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

AquietPlace

Did I not say good time and bad good economy and bad. My life experiances included losing jobs pay cuts and situations beyond my control. The fact is if we are good stewards we will never get into debt beyond anything we cannot take care of should we lose job etc.

I take lituraly the passages that speak that we should not owe any man anything. We then become servant to the debt. God never gives us garentees of jobs ect he does promise we will have those things we need. Roof, food and clothing.

Re: Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills
 

sadly most do not want to be taught by church leaders finacial decisions . sad because there are many leaders who by good teaching to them by others got them where they are.

to many people buy things ,things they dont have to have anyhow ,,we all do that some i am sure. but they do it if they can afford the monthly payment ,,,do look at it can i afford the product..

if you cant save a few dollars each week,,pay tithes ,give some kind of offering ,your either going through a very bad situation or have been very neglectful in your finace prepreation. ..

saveing for the rainy day as it is called is very good sense cause something is gona tear up ,your gonna get sick sometime ,,,miss a few days of work,.

its a blessing to give ,i been both ways ,so broke you cant afford to change your mind ,and blessed so i can bless others. i like blessed much better.

gfiving keeps me blessed ,,so to not be to the bad situation preperation is the key. you cant be lazy either ,,nobody owes you anything ,you must make your own way . if you want to work you can find it , it may not be what you want , but it is there.

i love blessing others ,but i always start by blessing god ,with my 1st fruits ,,,it has always paid off ,, i am 51 now and i can say god is surely good. i just went thru a bad time ,hurt my knee ,, but because of good preperation ,i didnt have to sweat it . just the pain lol,,which god gave me a miralce on that so ,,i am a happy man..