I took a huge leap of faith and started my own business 1 year ago. It took our entire savings account to start it up.
However, I knew the Lord would take care of us. I always was amazed at the wonderful tithing success stories on the “700 Club” television show and I wanted to start the business off right, so I began to tithe all income 10% beginning before my shop opened. For the first 3 months, we tithed all the shop sales and my husband’s sales. I prayed that the business would grow quickly as we needed the income. I prayed it would take off in 3 months. Miraculously, the third month open, the newspaper gave us a FREE front page article!! God made it happen, no doubt in my mind, the huge photo and write-up was supposed to have gone out in a magazine, but due to something with the photo, it didn’t work for the magazine—so they put us on the front page of our small-town paper!! Sales and consignors poured in to our shop that month. Sales were a record high. However, the next month I stopped tithing, I was worried other bills would not get paid. Then, sales dropped back down to neutral—we paid the rent and bills and made very little profits for the next 8 months. I considered closing the business. After much stress and many tears. I know the answer to this problem! Get that tithe going and don’t ever stop again! Today we went to our neighbor’s church and I wrote that check fast as I could. I cannot wait to see the blessings God is working on now! I know in my heart that as long as I stay obedient with tithing, the Lord will do amazing things in our lives. And the more you give, the more you will receive–always.
M.J.
I’ve been tithing and seeding for nearly two years now, and keeping a money magnet for about a year.
Over the past few months however, due to some unexpected expenditures and tightness with my funds, I lowered my tithe to 1%, and on one month didn’t tithe at all. I recently got laid off from my job, and have been even more concerned about how I will be able to ‘afford’ to tithe. After re-reading ‘God is Your Partner’, I not only realized that I can’t afford not to tithe, but also became aware of the many many blessings and miracles that have been present in my life since I began tithing, that I hadn’t necessarily equated at the time with tithing. I think the biggest thing that has happened has been a change in my consciousness. I somehow feel lifted, taken care of, and not concerned or all that attached to money when I am tithing. Things seem to flow, I always have enough, and I feel continuously blessed. I am so happy to be reconnected to my faith and to have God as my Partner. It feels very joyous to be tithing and seeding, and I will continue to tithe the full 10%, as this feels right to me, and like it is the magic number!
A.L.
I have been reading many books on prosperity lately, but only one book by Catherine Ponder mentioned tithing.
So I decided I was going to do it with my next paycheck, which just happened to be yesterday. I gave 10% of my gross income to my church. After sending that check I did the rest of my bills, and figured out I would have just enough to cover them with nothing left over until my husband’s check later in the week. I checked my account balance this morning and noticed that an extra check had cleared that I forgot I wrote out. This should have overdrawn my account but after paying my bills and that check there is still extra money left. I had no idea tithing would work this quickly. god is truly miraculous.
As a stay at home mom, I didn’t have income to tithe on. My husband had income and it was my responsibility to pay the bills. We had discussed tithing briefly, but he was more interested in making small contributions to local organizations that did good in the community. Great idea, I know, but not tithing. I felt it was important to respect his wishes.
I was not tithing regularly at that time. Finances were really tight and both of our families were assisting us with money, then I started working – just 4 hours a week – teaching dance to children and teens. I decided since it was my income that I would tithe on it – 10%. Which comes out to about $25 a month… Then I decided I would go ahead and tithe 1% on my husband’s income, which was still less than the total amount of my own monthly income. Then, things started happening. My husband’s bonuses at work started coming in, basically doubling his monthly income. We “remembered” about an investment that we were able to cash in on, and use to pay down our student loans.
Then we found out that our trip to Los Angeles for Liam’s baby blessing that we were saving up for is going to be paid for as well – in fact my father and my sister were “arguing over” who was going to pay for our hotel room! I thought that was pretty funny…
Then I started seeding. Then, I got offered to take over for someone at the dance studio who is retiring, which will triple my hours starting in September, and hopefully include an increase in my hourly rate. Then, my husband’s father shows up with a large check for us from a cashed in insurance plan. Then my mother showed up with a big check for us, that she had been saving up for us. At that point, I decided it was time to tell my husband what I had been doing. I couldn’t NOT tell him. Well, his reaction wasn’t as excited as mine to see the connection between the tithing and the seeding and all of the interesting increases, BUT he didn’t tell me to stop doing it, which I think is a step in the right direction!
As a next step, in the coming months, I’m going to look at increasing the tithe on my husband’s paycheck towards 5%. It’s a risk, but I don’t see how I can NOT risk it. I have been tithing now 10% on the increases/gifts that we’ve seen since we started tithing, whereas before on mutual gifts to our family I was tithing only 1%. It’s scary sometimes – that may sound odd, but it feels that way inside – but then I remind myself, I’m jumping off the cliff, YES and, into the arms of God. Ahh, that feels good!
Now, we’re still in some small debt, but all of that is on 0% interest and we are budgeted and planned to pay it off by the end of 2008. I love paying my bills each month, it excites me knowing that we are heading towards a goal of no debt in the near future, and for next year, 2009, start saving AND of course, doing it all with God as our partner.
S.S.
I recently was laid off from my job of 14 years. Though I was worried about money among other things, I gave a tithe larger than normal. I have always been fighting myself on this matter. In the next week I discovered I received a 26 week severance package and had a new job forthcoming as well making more than I did in the past. God truly has a way of working it all out.
C.W.
I am 27 years old. I have known about tithing for some time but I was always making excuses when it came to tithing. My husband while we were dating would tithe whenever there was a promotion but I never was convicted to do it. I then read an article on tithing while surfing on the internet, and read Malachi 3 vs 8-10 and thought of trying God. I had applied for a job as a Human Resources Manager and was invited for an interview. I was called by the company two days later for a second interview. They called me and told me that they decided to pick two people for the job and they have created a post for me as the second person to be an assistant Human Resources Manager. The offer was over 100% more than the salary I was getting and I saw the hand of God through it all.
I would first like to give infinite thanks to God for having tapped into my heart and for allowing me to live according to His Will. The anecdote I have to share regarding tithing starts when I had a fast-food job with extensive work hours which did not give me time to congregate at my local church. This made me very sad because I was confined to the company’s guidelines and work schedule. One time I made an agreement with God, which was for God to allow me to have a job according to His will, and if He granted me this petition, I would give Him ten percent of my income. A month after making this agreement with God, I got a call from another job and now I am able to enjoy more time with my son; I give more of my time to the church and what is most important is that I offer to God ten percent of my income. My personal advice is that regardless of the current situation you may be facing in your life, the great men of God have always activated God’s hand by offering their tithes. Start today and open the door to the heavens in your favor. God Bless you all!
C.A.B.
I am managing director of a company called www.ten-percent.co.uk, based in the UK and undertaking legal recruitment consultancy work. You may wonder what this has to do with tithing – well since 2000, we have donated 10% of our profits each year to charity, specifically on the tithe principle! It does work – it feels great every time to be donating profits straight to a charitable trust, and to be supporting projects across Africa and the UK. We have paid for cows to go to Kenya, bore holes to be dug in East Africa, and a range of projects in the UK as well. I call upon as many others as possible to do the same thing. Although our company is fairly small (
J.F.
I am in my mid 30’s and have been involved in church since I was 8 years old. I must admit to have had my doubts about tithing. I always felt it was to enrich the pastors. My life changed in 1997 when I got married and changed careers. After years of working in IT I left my job to become an insurance salesman. There was no guarantee of income and having just bought a new home I was really scared. I sold my employee stock and received around $40,000. Ironically the stock was worth half this when I handed in my notice. Miraculously the company I was leaving became the subject of a takeover and the stock price went through the roof. In hindsight God was getting me ready for my new venture.
I am not sure why but due to the unexpected increase in the stock price I felt something in me to tithe 10% ($4,000)to my local church. The results during that year were phenomenal. Sales were popping up everywhere. Never a week went by without me closing a deal. I was top salesman in my branch, runner up for rookie of the year in my company and finished in the top 10 of all sale people in the company. I even qualified for an overseas sales convention to Mexico.
While I was grateful I did not attribute the success at the time to tithing. Being young (25 at the time) I somehow felt I was this great salesman. Invariably the sales dried up and I subsequently migrated. It would take me 10 years later to form my own business. The first year was hell and it seem like I was working 10 hrs a day and reaping nothing. My relationship with God got back to a great place and God spoke to me about the issue of tithing. For the first time I had a full understanding of this divine principle and its effects. I understood that tithing was really not about our money but about our hearts. We can’t say we put God first and refuse to tithe the first fruits of our increase.
When Jesus said seek ye first the kingdom and all things will be added I now understand what He meant. Tithing is a great way to demonstrate we are seeking God first. Invariably when we do all our needs are met by our Heavenly Father. I started tithing every penny that came into either my business or personal accounts. The results have been amazing. One time I had a choice between tithing $1200 or missing an important bill that could affect my business significantly. I put God first and the next day got a letter from my accountants saying the tax man owed me $14,000 (wow).
Doors are opening up all over the place. When I was not tithing I was struggling to get clients. Since I am tithing I have miraculously gotten access to over 20 of the most significant banks and finance houses in my industry.
I encourage anyone to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and don’t hold back the tithe. God does not need our money but requires our hearts. When the heart is right He will gladly release the abundance that He promised. I have set up a number of ministries I support on my online bank account. As soon as the money comes in I can wire the tithe or offering at the click of a button. This avoids any delay and confusion. Now once I know the money is on the way to me, I will tithe it even before it is received. My heart is now to increase my giving as I am seeing the amazing results in both my business and my family life.
D.A.
Yes just like all of us, I was very skeptical about tithing, until about three months ago I decided to take God’s challenge. Ever since that time I have seen God move mightily in my finances. I received two salary increases, first was 5% and the second was 15%. And I now have perfect peace in my life. I will continue tithing until the Lord calls me home.
S.L.
I am 25 years old. When I married at 22, my husband would always say, we need to give our money to God. I never believed it and shrugged him off and ignored the fact. I was in charge of the bill paying and I knew how much money we had and at the time, it was not enough. Then I read several books about tithing and one line really struck me, “God does not want your pocket change.” I always remembered back to when I was a little girl that in church, my family would put about $1.00 each Sunday in the offering. So I grew up thinking this was the way to tithe. It didn’t strike me until I gave my first few tithe offerings that God really does pour his blessings upon you when you give your first fruits. We are in the military and we barely had anything when we moved away. Now I can say, with God’s Help, love, and guidance, we are still tithing and trusting that God will take care of us. Now, every time I do finances, I can see the increase and it is amazing. No debt, only an increasing and growing income and an increase in faith and love towards my God. I try to share my story with others and many shrug off what I have to say now, as I did my husband at the beginning, but I really wish they could feel and see what I have since we have increased. About a month ago, I started to get stingy with my money since I am a teacher and I wasn’t getting a summer paycheck (I was on a 10 month salary pay schedule, not 12) so I stopped tithing. Big mistake and God was disappointed. I noticed that all of my savings and retirement/mutual funds accounts were getting smaller, or staying the same, not increasing like they usually do. Then I went to church, gave my offering, it was a very generous offering, and then later checked my accounts and wow, the increase was unbelievable. It was like I got my tithing back and then some. You have to trust God. Give, Give, Give. You will be miraculously blessed, as my husband and I have been. At the bottom of my checks I send, I write on the memo line: God’s Purpose. He will use your offering to help other people and the feeling you get after giving that check is one of peace and comfort. Just Do It!
B.C.
I wanted to share my story as well as a testimony that God keeps his word in regards to tithing. I have been tithing and giving first fruit and seed offerings for the last four years and during that time, I have been blessed tremendously. I have seen my income increase by 67% within 5 short years. I have found myself living in places and affording and doing things I would’ve never imagined! The best thing about it is that I have true peace!
N.K.
I wouldn’t have believed it if it didn’t happen to me personally, so I want to share my story JUST IN CASE someone is on the fence wondering whether tithing will work for them or not. FOUR DAYS AGO I found your tithing site and decided to donate 10% of what was in my bank account. Mind you, I am unemployed and did not have much in there (and rent due soon, etc.), but I donated $57 anyway…feeling in my heart it was the right thing to do. Okay – this is now FOUR DAYS LATER and in the mail today I received a check for $475 from one of my credit cards which has been mistakenly charging me some strange fee for YEARS and is now refunding it to me with a grand apology!! Nothing like this has ever happened to me! So, needless to say I am tithing $47.50 the second my check clears! And it FEELS good…especially during a time when I am feeling helpless about my financial situation. Amazing! Tithe and then forget about it and feel good that you gave back..you will soon see the miracle for yourself!…
WAIT! I sent my success story too quickly for I did not finish opening the rest of my mail!!! The next letter I opened was one from a previous employer telling me I still had some shares they had forgotten about, and if I sign their form they will send me a check for $1,500.00! Amazing. I am so blessed.
J.L.