GIVING AND RECEIVING

By Angie Gibson

I was taught about tithing from the time I was a very small child. The most vivid memory I have about it was when my father sat me down to teach me how to use a checkbook. I had started my first real job, summer babysitting for a neighbor. I will never forget how he told me that I was to always give the tithe first, then put money into savings. Spending money was last on the list. So from then on I never questioned whether a tithe would be given; I just always did it.

After I got married God tested us. We made very little money, but we were determined to be faithful. We were definitely making below the “poverty” level. God impressed on us at that time to make our “tithe” more than ten percent. We were being faithful in the little things, so God could give us more to be faithful with. And He did.

Obedience to God brings security. As we had children, we believed I was to stay at home. Once again, we were tested. The tithe was never touched. God always provided. We never missed a bill, even though, strangely, there were a few years where we were operating in the red. We never asked for assistance, but God did provide assistance from others at times.

God is looking for those who love Him more than money. He also wants us to see that everything we have came from Him, so essentially, it is His to do with as He chooses. Even in the years where God began to bless us abundantly, and tithing was just a drop in the bucket, He began to show me that no matter how much we made He knew how to get my heart. He required us to use restraint in spending and also gave us specific assignments as to how He wanted us to use/give His money.

About two years ago, I was sitting in church, and our senior pastor read familiar verses before the offering. Malachi 3:10 says,

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,

That there may be food in My house,

And prove me now in this,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such a blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

During the few years that led up to that day, I felt like God had more than abundantly blessed us. I was surprised that day when God revealed to me, “You have not yet been blessed like this,” meaning to me that day was still coming and He wanted me to have expectation for it.

A holy sacrifice given to the Lord must be one without blemish—it must be our best (Malachi 1:6-14). “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

Angie Gibson is a homemaker in Springfield, Missouri.