Saturday, February 16, 2008

On Giving.

I have come to the conclusion that the most spiritual thing I do is giving. It's not praying, or reading the Bible, witnessing or anything else. Giving, for me, encompasses so much more.

When my wife and I were first married, money was very tight. To be honest, we didn't have enough to cover the basics. Unfortunately, we had to buy groceries and pay some bills on credit. It wasn't the best financial policy, but when one's other option is going without food and shelter, well, them's the breaks. As you can imagine, paying the bills was not a pleasant experience, and we were remiss to part with our money. In the middle of this, of course, I felt that we needed to tithe. I reasoned that being faithful to God was more important than amassing more debt. I was putting obedience over the basic needs of life, potentially. It was not an easy decision for us to make, but it was something I felt we needed to do.

What happened next was a truly spiritual event. I wrote the first tithe check. Even as I wrote it out, I felt all of the financial pressure I had been under melt away. I had effectively removed myself from the driver's seat; I was telling God that He was now in control of my finances. I was free. Free from worry, free from doubt. I knew that God would provide.

I wish I could say that we got a check in the mail for thrice the amount we gave the next day, but we didn't. (This did happen to us recently, though.) We didn't magically get out of debt through a clerical error in our favor. We still had to struggle to pay the bills. The act of giving up control, though, changed everything for me. No longer did I live under the tyranny of the present. No longer did I have to white-knuckle every last dollar before sending it to a creditor. I simply paid the bills as best as I could, and trusted God.

In the long run, God has provided. I do not tithe, have not tithed and will not tithe so that I will be blessed; I tithe because I want to be obedient to God. God, however, out of His mercy, has blessed us. Since beginning tithing, we have both become gainfully employed, we have implemented and maintained successfully an aggressive debt-reduction plan, and we have even been able to afford decent transportation and a roof over our head, all without having used a credit card in well over a year. This is much more than we expected or deserved. Every day, I see God blessing us financially, and I must assume it is at least in part because we have been obedient to Him.

Even if He chooses henceforth not to bless us materially, though, I will still give faithfully. "Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him." For me, giving is about submitting to His Lordship. If in His wisdom, He allows us to lose everything, I will submit. If He allows us material riches beyond imagination, I will submit. If He just gives me joy living in a regular house with my family, I will submit.

All because of writing one check.

7 comments:

Craig & Priscilla Coe said...

I couldn't agree with you more. There is definitely freedom in giving to God what is God's. Craig and I have experienced this same weight being lifted when we surrendered our finances to God. It's not always been easy but God has been faithful to provide our true needs and sometimes a few of our wants. ;)

Anonymous said...

Jon,
I applaud the distinction you are making: God may choose to bless you because you are obedient, but to obey in order to be blessed would short-circuit the system. It would, I think, reduce God to a genie rather than a King.

Kristi said...

I love this post. And agree wholeheartedly.

Jon said...

Thanks for visiting, Kristi!

Priscilla and Josh: Thanks for your comments as well.

Danny Wright said...

I just did a post as a comment, check it out and let me know what you think. Good to be back.

Josh said...

Jon,

Thanks for publishing this. Money is as tight as it has even been for us right now. Thanks in large part your blog article, we tithed anyway this month. It was the right thing to do even if it means having to do a little "improvising" in the coming weeks.

Spherical said...

Can I add a twist to your thought? I think the issue is much wider than just giving, and it is not just giving that is the ultimate act for a Christian, it is surrender, which is exactly what you did when you decided to tithe. God honors those who bow at his feet! (Prov. 1:7 The first step in learning is bowing down to God. The Message version). I am an addict, my addiction is food. I find that when I surrender to God, He lifts me up. When I think I can do it on my own, He sets me straight by letting me fall on my face! No matter if the isue is money, food, or other, the primary objective for the Christian must be reverence for God, bowing at his feet, placing ourselves before him and getting rid of our idols. You have illustrated this point well! Thanks.