Tithing. 10 percent of your gross or net income?
When I was back home in Manila, I became a member of the Catholic Charismatic movement in Muntinlupa. It was a great experience. From all the bible readings and such, I was able to take away one precious thing, that to this day I still adhere to.
I was very young when my parents left for the States. I was only in sixth grade then. In high school, I was given a weekly allowance to manage for the week. This is when I heard about tithing. We had a great pastor then that told us, ‘Nowhere in the bible are we allowed to challenge God. Even at the time that the devil was tempting Jesus in the desert to turn the stone into bread, he was told – Thou shalt not test the Lord your God.’ He continued to say, ‘There is only one place in the entire Big Book that we are allowed to challenge God, and that is in the book of Malachi.’
This has already caught my attention. Why would God want us to challenge Him? Well, like what our pastor said, when God gives a condition, he always accompanies it with a reward.
Malachi 3:7-12 states:
‘God said, you must prove me in this. Bring the whole tithe (10% of something – Greek and Hebrew origin) into the storehouse and I will open the floodgates of heaven, pouring out to you in abundance, BLESSINGS that are overflowing, pressed down that you will not have enough room to receive it.’
So, in plain tagalog – sabi ni Lord – Subukan mo ko rito. Dalhin mo ang sampung porsiyento ng ani mo sa alay mo sa akin at bubuksan ko ang *kamot ulo* – ano ba ang floodgates? – (Anyway, imagine na lang tayo kung ano ang floodgates. Nung nagkaroon ng tsunami sa Indonesia, nakita natin sa TV kung gaano kalakas ang daloy ng baha. Ganung kalakas ang daloy kapag binuksan ang ‘floodgates’. – Lakas nun!) Tuloy natin.. at bibigyan kita ng biyaya na siksik (pressed down), at umaapaw (overflowing) na wala kang maisip na paglalagyan.
Well, I did test God. I only have an allowance enough to last me a week and any little expense can throw my allowance off. But you know what? I did put in my tithe when I went to church. And ever since then, I have never run out of money. And even if I am ready to run out of money, something pours in as if coming from a source where there is more to come out from. I have always proven that it is true. To this day, I still do what I can to give to charity or the church. And blessings always ‘pour out in abundance’.
Have you noticed that most of the successful people on the spotlight give to charity? Name one – Oprah? YES, she does. Donald Trump? YES, he does. Bill Gates? YES, he does. One of the reasons why they are successful is that they give back.
Now that we are all here trying to run blogs that would hopefully add to our income.. do remember that there’s more where it came from. Give what you can give… prove ‘Him’ in this.. and share your experience with us.
Ang tanong? GROSS or NET? Hmmm.. what do you think?
