Remember to Tithe

Tithe. My first memory of the word is as a little girl in church. Whenever we would visit our family in the south, we would go to church. I loved going to church in the south. It's so lively. There's lots of singing and praising. The minister is very enthusiastic. It was from his mouth that I heard "tithe". After he would say it, the collection basket would come around, and I would dutifully put my tithe (probably 25 cents) in the basket.

Although I am constrained by the debt shackles, I still contribute my tithe. It's not actually a tithe, but I do have a budget for giving. I think it's less than 1 percent right now, which is pitiful. What's even worse is that (and I'm ashamed to say this) sometimes when I'm reviewing my budget I look at it and think, if I cut that out of the budget I can put it towards my debt. Then I come to my senses and think, "NO WAY"! There are still people who are much worse off than I am. And giving needs to be a habit so that when I am debt free I can increase my tithe to 10-15 percent of my income.

There is a bible story. I don't know where it is exactly in the bible, but Jim Rohn talks about it on one of his tapes (cds). It's about a time when Jesus was in town and people were doing the tithe thing. A rich man came up and gave a boat load of money. Then a poor woman came up and gave two pennies. I believe the story goes that Jesus was eternally grateful to the woman for giving two pennies. When she left, one of the disciples asked Jesus why he was so grateful to the poor woman when she only gave two pennies and the man before her gave a bunch of money. Jesus told the disciples, "You don't understand. She gave all that she had."

My point is that it doesn't matter the how much you give. Even though you are bound by the shackles of debt, please remember to tithe.