Last week during church, our children’s Sunday School teacher was explaining their next service project while assuring the congregation that there would be no fund raising involved. The money would come straight from the children.
Okay…
I was all good with the project and the explanation and the “how to” until she stated what they are teaching the class:
“Ten percent of what we own is God’s.”
Nooooooooooooo!
Ten percent is so… so… limiting. Everything we “own” is God’s!
Why is it in America that we feel entitled to (and will happily pay for!)
- Unlimited minutes.
- All you can eat buffet.
- Unlimited texting.
- Unlimited (free) refills.
- Seemingly unlimited tv channels.
- Internet service anytime, anywhere.
- Unlimited loans and debt.
As a society, we’re good with that. It’s expected. It’s desired. It’s what we want.
But when it comes to giving?
10%
I understand the premise. I know that 10% is a lot for people facing any number of difficult circumstances. But I’m not sure that I want my children to learn that only “ten percent of what we own is God’s.”
Perhaps giving shouldn’t be about the number, but about the heart and the ability. How would the needs of our world be different if we put as much thought and action into giving as we do our home? our landscaping? our vehicles? our vacations? our wardrobe? our flat-screen tv’s?
Ten percent.
So very limiting.
How true!
We owe Him everything but I’m afraid, with most people, He comes last.
Your right 10% isn’t enough. I was always taught that everything we have is God’s he just asks for 10% back.
I understand the religious backing for 10% tithing, but in the New Testament Jesus clearly showed that he’s more concerned with proportion than percentage when he praised the widow, who had just two mites, putting both her coins into the “collection.” So I think that nails it that God requires us to give whatever we can….striving towards 10% as set by example, but not limiting ourselves at 10% since we have so much more to give…and it’s not ours in the first place. Great post!
@Audra Laney, My thoughts exactly.
I heartily agree Amy. The way we think about it in our house is everything we have is God’s. All of the money we earn, all of the things we’ve purchased and been gifted, everything we make. It’s all God’s and he’s given it to us.
In the county we live in the sales tax is 10%. If I can pay 10% on material things, then the very minimum I feel I should do is give God back 10% of what he’s given us. If we’re able to do more, then we do. It’s tough financially sometimes, but we also give in other ways which are so appreciated by our friends and family.
What we’ve begun teaching my almost-4-year old is to put God and family first. He takes his own little offering to his Sunday school class and he learns that giving is a good thing. He is also learning that “giving” does not only encompass birthday and Christmas gifts, it is a lot more than that. We liken in more to sharing to help explain it to him in a different manner than the way he understands presents. I’ve taken him with me when I’ve dropped off meals and care packages to new parents and ill friends. He helped me bring in the food, I showed him the new baby (from a distance) and then explained to him how much it would help these people by us bringing them dinner. He took a lot of pleasure out of those few experiences and talks about them often. Little steps and small gestures with little ones add up to giving on a large scale with an open heart as an adult. Far more than just 10%.
Whoa! 10% sales tax. Ours is currently 5.3%, but is rising next month. Still! That’s a good way to look at it… we don’t blink an eye when paying sales tax.
I don’t have kids, but I still fully agree with you. I actually struggle with this very thing in my own life because I was raised with the concept of ‘owing’ God 10%. Luckily my parents also allotted an additional percent for ‘offerings’ on top of tithe, so my young mind wasn’t completely warped. Now I still tithe each week, but I’ve tried to be more generous with my time and money outside the church as well. I try really hard to make an effort more for people less fortunate than me, because even though the church does need money to do God’s work, Jesus gave directly to the poor. Oh to have a gracious and generously giving heart!
~Aubree Cherie
I don’t think that’s the lesson I’d necessarily want being taught to my children either, Amy… I guess I want my children to realize that everything, all we’ve been given and all that surrounds us, is God’s. We are so blessed to be able to use and enjoy it! The 10%? I always thought that was a tithing guideline, not a statement of God’s ownership…
Yes. I was *miffed* at the wording and what it implied.
Amen Sista! So well said…
So very true! We teach Biblical finance classes, and we share that everything we have is on loan from God; money, possessions, family, etc. It’s ALL His, we are merely stewards of it and of our TIME with it/them.
How does he want us to spend money in our hands? It’s about so much more than the “easy” 10%….
Great post!
I agree that everything we have is Gods! It is through Him that we have all that we own. 10% is a great starting point.
Amen!! I couldn’t agree with you more.
So true! Everything we have is God’s. 10% is miniscule compared to what He has given us. THinking of this I wonder if I give enough to Him. What about my time and talents?
We strive to give 10% straight to the church (boring) but then give extra “fun” money as we see needs arise. This is the fun part, meeting needs without people knowing or just surprising someone with something they need but cannot afford. I love having a little secret story with just our family of how we met someone’s needs, we all know, but no one else does. Watching the person try to figure it out is fun too. We paid a doctor bill for a friend like 16 years ago and they still think it was someone else, it is great! Sometimes the money we are led to give is a reach, but God always takes care of our needs.
What an incredible thing to do together as a family. Kids love secrets and surprises, too!
Amen and amen! I teach a Faith, Family and Finance class at church and the first thing we cover is that ALL belongs to God, our money, our time, our resources. period. We are called to be good stewards of all. In addition, God looks at the heart of the giver, not the amount. So, 10% is so limiting in both regards. The widow with the two mites quietly gave all she had and God honored that above the “generosity” of the Pharisees!
I think this is so true. I also think we are suppose to giving our offerings in many other ways to God also. Even if it is a friendly smile, word, thanks or helping someone out in a hard time or so. It all goes back to ” what you sow you will reap” and I know that God doesn’t want us in debt or broke as the world system is. We are heirs to the most high God and they makes us rich also. We just have to learn how to pray and believe and walk by faith more than what many of us are doing now.
If you get a chance to read (One word from God can change your life) by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and many others that is so worth the money and helps to break it down what it the WORD says we should be doing. I know that I am still reading this book and we give our 10% and many times more in many other areas and God has blessed us in so many ways. We are believing so much more now.
May God bless you all.
ditto! regardless of the percentage, are we giving sacrificially? and it shouldn’t just include our money. are we giving our time? other resources?
What a great post!
Wow, amen!!!! So totally true.
Amen, Amy! I agree 100%!
I don’t at all think it’s a coincidence that I was working on a post about learning some things about money and being taught some lessons by God, while checking my Google reader, reading this post from you and another post from MckMama (check it out here: http://mycharmingkids.net/2010/06/beauty-from-ashes) about how everything in our lives is God’s not just 10%. Some deep lessons I’m learning right now. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this; it’s really impacting me!!
Fabulous post!!
Amen, Amen, Amen! Everything that we have is His!
A better way to look at it is that everything is 100% God’s and he is letting us use it. All we have do is give back 10% of it (of course we can give more back). He lets us use all the rest!
@Trixie,
This is what I was going to say. We’ve explained to the Princess that everything we have is God’s and that He is only asking that at least 10% goes to giving back. We also do the three jars so that she divides everything she earns into Give, Save, Live (on the rest).
This is a great post. And you are so right…it is a matter of the heart, not the numbers. Jesus showed us that in the story of the widdow’s mite. And the 10 percent is what we give back to God of what he has given us. Thanks for such a great post!
Yes, yes! I agreed with your post. In fact there may be times when God asks or leads us to give beyond 10%. As some said above, it’s a good starting point. Never put a limit on the giving because He owns it all.
One of our pastors recently preached a very compelling sermon on this subject. He made a distinction between tithing and stewardship. Everything we have comes from God, he said, and 10% of it is never to be considered “ours,” for any purpose. That’s the tithe, to be returned to God no matter what. The remaining 90% is the talents in Jesus’s parables: God puts it in our care on a provisional basis and will demand an accounting for its use. If we are good stewards, using it to advance his kingdom (e.g., giving to the needy, practicing hospitality), he will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” and give us more. If we hoard it and waste it, he’ll rebuke us and leave us empty-handed. I had never heard such a clear (or convicting) explanation of godly finances!
Well said!
Great post!!!! I agree 100%!!