When you tithe (regularly give 10 percent of your income to your church or other ministries), you demonstrate to God how much you value Him by investing wholeheartedly in His work on earth. You know God wants you to tithe, but don't know whether you can afford to do so. Not only can you afford to tithe; you can't afford not to tithe.
Here are some reasons why you should tithe:
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God tests how much you truly love Him by how faithful you are to do what He asks in His Word. He knows that whatever you love, you will support with your money. Is He the first priority in your life, or do other priorities push Him out of first place?
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God doesn't need your money - He doesn't need anything - but He knows that money is a vital resource for people trying to carry out His work on Earth. For example, churches can't serve their communities without money for outreach programs.
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God has made it possible for you to earn your income. He has allowed you to possess all that you have, and He sustains your whole life.
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In Scripture, God sets the amount of 10 percent of a person's income because the number 10 is symbolic of the whole. When people didn't pay tithes, God called it robbery in Scripture. God also mentions that He wants you to give cheerfully, as you are led. He wants you to be motivated by love for Him, not by a resentful sense of obligation.
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God has promised that He will never ask you to do something that He won't enable you to do.
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You can count on God to provide for all your needs. Business investments may fail, you may lose your job, friends may desert you, but God will always be faithful to you, giving you whatever you need.
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God views paying tithes as a way of worshipping Him.
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If you currently have financial problems (debt, etc.), God will work out all the details of your situation to bring healing if you ask Him to do so.
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God is your business partner when you tithe, and there is no partner who is smarter or more trustworthy than He is.
-- By Live It Editor Whitney Hopler
Adapted from But I Can't Afford to Tithe!, copyright 2000 by T.D. Jakes, Sr. Published by Albury Publishing, Tulsa, Oklahoma, www.alburypublishing.com, 1-800-811-3921.
T.D. Jakes, Sr. is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter's House church in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife Serita have five children.