
Fasting Devotional – Day Ten
Title: Shift Your Heart – Blessed by Tithing and Generous Giving
Text: Various
Written by: Wayne Hale
“There are more than 1,000 references to money in the Bible, second only to the subject of love. The Lord himself says that if we are not found faithful in the use of money, we will not be found faithful in other things; so money is that important to God”. (Larry Burkett)
John 3:16: God gave us His most precious possession first, the greatest gift of all, his son Jesus Christ. God is a giver, we are made in His image, and we are made to be generous.
Chronicles 24:14: Everything we have comes from God. He owns it all, we are only managers of what he gives us. God shapes our heart into more like His when we tithe and give generously.
Proverbs 11:25: The more generous you are, the more like God you become.
Romans 12:13: By being generous and showing hospitality, you embody the love of Christ to others.
Malachi 3:8,10: Are you robbing God with your tithes and offerings?
Thoughts
In my first marriage, we were not faithful or obedient to the scriptures about giving a tithe to the church. I realized later that it was because we did not make tithing a higher priority than paying our bills. I only gave money to the church when there was some left after paying the bills, but many times that was nothing. I was truly robbing God and missing out on the blessings that come from giving tithes and offerings.
After my first marriage ended, the Lord began to reveal to me how I was robbing Him by not tithing 10% to the church. One of the best parts of my story was when God brought my current wife of 33 years into my life. She was a fully devoted follower of Christ who loved the Lord. She was also committed and dedicated to tithing 10% of her income to the church. She made it clear to me that tithing was going to be a priority if we got married.
Throughout our marriage, we have been faithfully committed to tithing to the church and providing offerings to multiple missionary ministries. As a result of this commitment, I believe the Lord has honored our obedience to this commitment.
Approximately 20 years ago, God introduced us to the Financial Peace University (FPU) curriculum that includes 7 Baby Step goals: $1,000 in Savings, Get out of debt, Emergency Fund of 3 – 6 of monthly expenses saved, Investing 15% of income, Saving for college, Pay off your home early, and Building wealth to give generously. It took about 15 years to reach the final baby step of the Financial Peace plan. We are now blessed to live in Step 7. It has also been a blessing during those years to teach the FPU class to help others begin their journey to financial peace. Along the way, one of the important lessons we have learned is, we can’t outgive God. The biggest blessing you will ever receive, is by giving offerings and serving others in need. We have also learned the importance of giving offerings properly without enabling those in need.
Shift Challenge & Applications
1. Trust God with your finances and start giving some percentage of your income to the
church.
2. Develop a personal budget that includes the percentage you are giving to the church.
Slowly work your way up to tithing 10% of your income.
3. Develop a personal character of generosity.
4. Develop a Lifegroup culture of generosity.
5. Don’t just talk about it, do it,
6. Identify needs and work together to meet them.
7. Take a Financial Peace University class. There are multiple class options: In-person,
Hybrid, Virtual, or Self-Paced. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/ramseyplus/coordinator
Prayer
Lord, thank you for making us in your image. Thank you for your Word that reflects how important it is to give our tithes and offerings to the church. You gave us the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. Help us develop the Christ-like characteristics of generosity and servanthood.
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