I remember attending church as a child and listening to the sermons about stewardship. It always seemed that the preacher was never satisfied with how much the members of the congregation were giving in the offering. I recall hearing my parents and others, from the church, complain about the preacher and the church always wanting more money. Many of these people acted like the preacher was making “way” too much money for what he did, or the cost of the addition to the building was “way” too much. Though they wanted the addition and a preacher to lead worship, they always thought it costed more than what it should. Additionally, those stewardship sermons always seemed to leave you feeling guilty for not giving every penny you had. I mean, after all, this was to do God’s work, right? Even after those sermons, many of us still gave a perfunctory offering so that we could be seen as giving something.

I’ve wrestled with these issues for years. Partly because I struggled financially and always felt that I needed to pay my debts, etc. because they were important. I also struggled because the seed had been sown that giving my cursory offering was doing what I could and needed to do. I remember a certain level of satisfaction felt when I would place my check in the offering envelope and put the envelope in the offering plate. Even though it wasn’t my tithe, I felt accomplished that I gave what I did.

As my spiritual journey has progressed and my faith has grown, I better understand that all I had, now have, and will have in the future belongs to God. After all, everything that is in and of the earth was created by Him (Psalm 24:1 – paraphrased). I know some of you are going to challenge the existence of God, but, to that I ask you to look at the complexity of every natural thing around you. I’m sure once you do you cannot deny the existence of a creator. While we may disagree with the details of who is and isn’t the creator or how we should interact with them. What we cannot disagree on is that nature and all of its wonders didn’t automatically become what they are by coincidence (but that’s a discussion for another time).

With the realization that everything belongs to God, I am led to understand what I have, has been given to me to manage for Him. As a manager, whether in businesses, my personal life, or in a divine situation, I am expected to produce a profit on what I was put in charge of managing. After obtaining that profit, I am to give a part of it back to the owner (God). We do this for our bosses in businesses but are reluctant to do it with God.

Often we are that little spoiled child who expects our parents to give us whatever we want and have a tantrum when we don’t get it. I believe God does and will provide whatever we need, though it is not always directly from His hand. On some occasions, I believe He tasks us with doing the delivery to those in need. Unfortunately, too often we drop the ball on the delivery and those in need suffer because of it.

Getting back to giving to the church, I’ve wrestled with giving and tithing for years. Looking at this topic through my beliefs, I’ve concluded that tithing and giving is the proper thing to do. Having this understanding allows me to prioritize the money I earn so that I can give appropriately.

Currently, I do not tithe, but I am working to that goal by increasing the amount of my offering incrementally each month until I reach the point of tithing. Some of you will ask why I don’t just tithe and let God provide for my needs with what’s left. I understand that, and I also understand that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Unfortunately, I am probably not far enough along in my spiritual journey to take that leap of faith. I am working on building my faith, but like most Christians, I am a work in progress. Additionally, I believe that jumping straight to tithing may not be the best strategy in my current situation and would not make me a good manager of the resources that God has given me.

I have primarily focused on giving from a Christian standpoint, but all of the major religions address the importance of giving to their places of worship and the needy. I believe they all share that ideology because when we give, we take the focus off of ourselves and place it on whomever or whatever we’re giving to. I further believe that this ideology is a common religious tenant because it changes our heart, which helps us to feel a sense of peace through the act of giving.

A good rule of thumb for giving, if you don’t desire to tithe or haven’t gotten there yet, is to remember that there are three things you should do with money. Those are, give some, save some and spend some. The percentages of how much you allot for each category is up to you. Those considering this from a spiritual viewpoint, I would suggest praying on the matter and give according to how you feel moved to give.

On the subject of saving some of your money, my suggestion is that you save an equal amount to what you give/donate. That way you will always have some money available for emergencies and opportunities that arise. It is important to “pay yourself” and not spend all of your earnings one living expenses, debt, and whatever else you may spend money on. Not having savings leaves you vulnerable and also doesn’t allow you to see the rewards for your efforts. One’s goal needs to be to save enough to provide for their family’s needs and to have money for enjoyment.

So the next time you’re either sitting in your place of worship listening to how you should give more, or are solicited to donate to a charity, do your best to resist the urge to pull your wallet away as fast as you can. While we do work to earn the money we have, we need to remember it is not ours to keep. No matter how much we earn and how much we hold onto, we cannot take it with us when we leave the Earth. Consider how much treasure was buried with the pharaohs and what has happened to the majority of that now. It has been taken from the pyramids, spent by others, or put on display in museums and other places. Those kings did not get to enjoy it in the afterlife.

I hope today’s blog was encouraging to you and provided information to help you and others better handle their financial matters. My purpose through these blogs is to inform the reader about money and financial issues so that we all can become better managers of our assets. If you like what you read, make sure to sign up so you can receive my weekly posts. The goal of Take Two Financial Coaching is to provide the necessary information to help families and individuals break the chains of debt, build lasting wealth, and become outrageously generous.

For those who are tired of being in the rat race or just want to better manage what they earn, I am available to have a Free 60 Minute Conversation to discuss your situation and how I can help you change it. Go to my calendar at https://ramseycoach.com/taketwofinancialcoaching to arrange a time that works for you. You can also email me at taketwofinancialcoaching@gmail.