Dear Friends,
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing to you about instructions from Proverbs 3 on how to find peace. Today, I’m going to write about the peace that comes from having a healthy relationship with money. Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV) reads,
Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
When it comes to money, first honor God. Then attend to other things. And you will find you have more than enough. Under the Old Testament law, the Israelites were to give a tenth of all they produced, that is their crops, livestock, etc., to God by presenting it at the temple. On a practical level, this provided for the upkeep of the temple and for the needs of the priests who worked at the temple. On a personal level, it also promoted healthy priorities and personal peace. The act of giving the tenth or the “tithe” was a way of always putting God first, before meeting any other needs, either real or imagined.
As those redeemed through Jesus, Christians are not obligated to follow the laws given to Israel. Instead, we attempt to live a life of love as we are led along by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we can often learn about healthy life practices from Israel’s laws and from the behavior of people like Abraham, who gave a tithe even before the law was given. Many Christians today keep the tradition of tithing by giving a tenth of all their earnings to their church. This pays for the facilities and activities of the church community and provides for the families of any paid pastors or other church staff. And, just as it did in ancient times, it promotes healthy priorities and personal peace.
Tithing is something I have practiced continually since I first met Jesus in 1991, both in seasons of abundance and seasons of difficulty. Though I am not under the law, this is something the Spirit has impressed upon me that I must do. Even though my paycheck comes from the church, the first tenth goes right back where it came from. And we give the first tenth of Jamie’s pay as well as any other income we receive as well. It’s not something we think about a great deal because we do it automatically and without question. And yet, I have found that ordering our financial priorities in this way has helped me to grow in self-discipline, inner peace, and trust.
Tithing is a way of choosing to live each day out of my values and not out of anxiety or desire. Tithing is a way of trusting God to provide for my needs. And, as stated in Proverbs 3, God is faithful to meet us and care for us as we act in faith toward him. This doesn’t work the way some charlatans would like you to believe. You don’t give a particular sum of money to someone who claims to be doing God’s work and then expect God to miraculously give you double or triple or ten times that amount back in the near future. Don’t give money to anyone who tells you something like that. The financial benefits of honoring God with our money are more like the physical and emotional health benefits of honoring God in the rest of our lives that I have been writing to you about for the past few weeks. In the same way that overall obedience to God leads to a healthy lifestyle, a disciplined and submitted approach to money leads to healthy spending and saving patterns. And, in the same way that pursuing the God who is life has direct and supernatural health benefits, submitting our finances to God invites God’s active blessing on our financial situation. This doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to be rich any more than obedience in other areas guarantees we won’t get cancer. What it means instead is that, when we decide, in submission to the teaching of Jesus, that being or becoming rich is not one of our goals, we will find that God watches over us and provides for us in greater abundance than we would otherwise have imagined possible.
As we come into the holiday season and then the new year, I encourage you to submit your finances to God. Ask the Spirit to speak to you about whether you should be tithing or giving another specific amount or percentage to Coast (or to your own church if you are not a member at Coast). Also ask the Spirit to speak to you about giving toward the needs of others around you both in the holiday season and in the coming year.
A prayer for today,
Lord, thank you for all the ways you have cared for me and provided for me. I acknowledge right now that all I have belongs to you. And I submit myself, my stuff, and my money to you to do with as you choose. Speak to me and lead me. Enable me to put my trust in you, and cause me to grow in peace as I walk in faith. Amen.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
