"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'" Malachi 3:10
Come this October, my husband and I will have been married for thirty-one years. The first half of our marriage we were not serving the Lord, so needless to say we never tithed or gave anything at all that did not benefit our own needs and family. We were also in significant debt… money was always tight. We literally lived paycheck to paycheck and were it not for the grace of God, things could’ve turned badly. The stress this caused, not only personally, but in our marriage, was not fun!
Then in 2004, God led me to Financial Peace University (FPU)– a class in improving personal finances God’s way that we offer here at Lincoln today. This class was truly life changing for us. You see, I knew the Lord from age 12 on, but then I married, had children, lived life… and placed God squarely on the shelf. I always knew He was there, but I was busy and distracted, so I just left Him there.
Then came FPU. By the end of the series, I knew we would eventually be free financially, but more importantly, I knew I needed God back in my life. I earnestly sought a church and drug Bruce with me. At first he went for me, but God did a mighty work and Bruce accepted Jesus. The transformation in the second half of our marriage has been miraculous.
One of principles taught in the class is that we are called to give. We are to give, because God is the ultimate giver and we are created in His image. He gave us everything- He gave us His son so we might not perish! Although our gifts cannot compare, what a joy to give back even a fraction of all He has given us!
When I explained tithing to Bruce – that we are to give the first fruits of our labor – a tenth – to the Lord, he was skeptical. I believe it was fear. After all, money had always been tight, we were still digging ourselves out of debt, and now I wanted to give the first tenth to God?! He agreed we should give a fifth – 5%, and so we did. I reasoned that 5% of our combined income was close to 10% of mine, so I was honoring God and honoring my husband.
The miracles that happened! From little to big – finding an extra $20 in a pocket to selling a piece of property we could not give away only 2 years prior! God was working and as we lived out God’s way of handling money we watched our debt melt and I began to relax and not worry about money as I always had. Bruce watched… when I would say to him, “Look! Look at what God is doing! We are being faithful and He is more so!” Bruce then said, “Okay… we can give 7%.” Okay! I was thrilled… as we both watched what God did in our lives – as He threw open the floodgates of heaven and kept pouring out blessings, Bruce finally, and happily, understood and agreed we should give a full tithe. We have kept this practice ever since and God has never failed us. We are debt-free today except for our mortgage, which is nearly finished. More importantly, we both serve the Lord with all our hearts, we give because it is the ultimate joy and privilege to do so, and our marriage is stronger than ever. God is good!