{Giving} Thankul to God for His Provision

I don't know if any of my readers do not already give 10% to their local church as a tithe of their increase, and don't need a reminder, but maybe you need some encouragement about your giving.

Today's sermon from I Corinthians 16 got me thinking about giving and it was a good encouragement. The sermon was mainly about the Corinthian church giving to Jewish believers (purpose) because out of solidarity and indebtedness they wanted to give back. Pastor reviewed some principles of giving and pointed out that if you think giving a tithe (10%) is legalistic, then you should compare Jesus' teaching on giving - to give all you have.

I had a hard time catching the rest of Pastor's main points because I started thinking and reflecting again over the past 14 1/2 years of paying off my student loan. Once the topic of tithe came up in the message, I thought about how I believe I had been most successful in paying down my loan when I was regularly giving to God.

I do believe my paying off my student loan (as of Monday!!) is a direct result of God's faithfulness to me. And I think that is the point - that I would recognize God's role and give him the glory. It's not about me and how much I make, or even about when this debt gets paid off, but it's about God and God working in and through me.

I'm grateful for my godly heritage - grandparents, parents, church leaders, bosses, friends... - who set a good example for me to follow in this area, but I had to come to the decision/practice on my own as an adult. I don't recall when I determined how much I would give, but I'm thankful for God providing for me and enabling me to give money back to him.

There's a lot to be said about Biblical giving and I'm pretty sure that I'll touch this topic again and again here on my blog. I think a future topic to discuss would be generosity. One of my favorite people in the world is also the most generous person you will meet - and by generous I don't just mean with money, but time, kindness, and much more.

For some reason God seems to use money to teach me things about Himself and about living Christ-like...I sure hope I've learned my lesson about debt. I'm ready to work on lessons about saving!

What is God using to teach you about Himself?

 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  –Jeremiah 29:11