Tithing and Offering (The Widows Mite)

[reddogs]

I wrote this testimony the other day (before July 4 weekend) on why we need to be a cheerful giver when tithing and giving offering, as many look for any 'excuse' to keep what they see as "their money" or a "tax shelter" to keep from 'paying' tithe or offerings:

"Brothers and sisters I am ashamed, I feel a deep sense of guilt for the way I pay my tithe.....grudgingly, out of a sense of duty but without joy, almost a feeling of 'taxation without representation'...

I write with a heavy heart, I have seen the widow and her two mites and she gave her all......


I have tried to help all the church's we have nearby, and one area that I am helping is getting the Mexican families that want to send their children to a Adventist school. I was filling out for one family the application with all their financial data and to my great shame found out how little they have and how much they give. They have no house of their own, rent a small trailer to live in, drive old worn out cars, have no savings to speak of, make under the poverty level and yet when I asked how much they gave for tithe annually, I was shocked at the answer the mother gave with the sweetest smile. It was much more than I give even with offering/donation/building fund/etc.. combined......

I remembered someone had told me that their small church had a tithe amount way beyond the expected 10 %, now I found out where some of it came from. She thought nothing of having given so much to the Lord as she felt it was his money and she gave more than double the normal tithe to help God's work advance. The family is giving their tithe of 10%, then giving another 10% for the advance of Gods work. I was stunned, their children were well taken care of, fed, clothed and happy and good students, and they felt no pressure from any pastor or preacher, yet they gave to the Lord what little they had gladly, cheerfully, thanking the Lord they could give what they did.......

Just to give you an idea, I spent more preparing for my vacation (not on it but preparing) than they have in all their savings and checking......their faith in God is amazing....

Somehow I must find it in myself to give with the same spirit this poor family gives at church when they put in their "widows mite".....

The Widow's Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[j]worth only a fraction of a penny.[k]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." Mark 12:41-44

 

[reddogs]

Offerings for Priests and Levites

8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share. 9 You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

11 "This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
12 "I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the LORD as the firstfruits of their harvest. 13 All the land's firstfruits that they bring to the LORD will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
14 "Everything in Israel that is devoted [a] to the LORD is yours. 15 The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the LORD is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. 16 When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels [b] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
17 "But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. 19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring."
20 The LORD said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.
21 "I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting. 22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. 23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting and bear the responsibility for offenses against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. 24 Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the LORD. That is why I said concerning them: 'They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.' " 25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 "Speak to the Levites and say to them: 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the LORD's offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the LORD's portion to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present as the LORD's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.' Numbers 18:8-29

 

[mva1985]

I have read somewhere. I can't seem to find it but if we gave like the Jewish people in the Bible that it would amount to about 20-25 percent.

Thanks for sharing your story and also the texts.