Real life MMD: Should I stop my 10% charity payment?

Rhoda_3

fox197 wrote: »

You see the widow gave just two small coins but paradoxically, counter-intuitively, she actually gave far, far more than the others who could probably have given 10-times the amount they were giving without it affecting the quality of their daily lives. God is looking for us to trust in Him totally with 100% devotion. The birds in the trees don't worry about the future, they don't hoard, they trust in God and live day-by-day.


It is incumbent upon us all to trust in Him and devote 100% of our lives to Him. The old tighe system went out with the old covenant, it is not necessary for some to struggle to pay 10% of their income, and yet others could afford to pay 40% of their income yet only pay 10%. God looks at our hearts and sees the truth.


If you are struggling then give all that YOU can give but God is Love, He wouldn't want any of His children to suffer. Take the advice of 'superbabe612' and try volunteering any time that you're able. I'm all in favour of 'giving till it hurts' whether financially or donating time, etc., but it has to be YOUR wish or desire to do so. God loves a cheerful giver, don't give money or time grudingly out of a sense of obligation or misplaced duty. When you are in a better place to give more money or time, etc., it will be of all the more sweet to God as you do so from Love for Him, not obligation to the Church.


God bless you Penelope. You will be in my prayers.

I'm a practising Christian and the spirit of this echoes what I believe. It's your heart that counts, and your relationship with God. Christianity is not a list of rules to follow.

I know some Christians believe that even if the figures don't add up, God will still make sure you have enough money. If you have faith for that, fair enough. If not, don't feel that you have to give money beyond what your budget tells you.

God doesn't want his people to be guilty robots! If He did he wouldn't have given us free will, would He?

God bless you too, fox197.

laurahughes

Yes. You can't afford it and have come upon hard times. Stop until you are in a more stable financial position.

There are many ways you can support a charity without giving money. See if you can volunteer your time (rather than money) in other ways. Hold a fundraiser, become a mentor for young people, help out at charity events, anything!!

aggrieved

Yes, definitely stop this donation to ease your financial situation and don't feel guilty. If in the future you feel able to donate to charity, research how different charities use your donations and I feel that you will be able to maximise the good effects of your money more by than giving it to a church to do with as they choose. Basically the church has no need of more wealth than it already has.

anasati

Your church does not have an automatic right to 10% of your income, if you can't afford it you should stop paying it. I can't understand why it is a dilemma, the answer is so obvious.

fatal1955

Ultimately I think this comes down to a consideration of why you were giving the church 10% in the first place. Did you give because everyone else was doing it or to support the church's finances or because you believed God demanded it or what? Boil it down to your original motivation and then re-evaluate that motivation in the light of your new circumstances.

bywthedragon

As a Christian, I understand that tithing is not about money, it's about believing that God will provide. 10% is suggested as the minimum give, although depending on your situation this indeed may be generous.
If all you care about is living a more comfortable life on your own means, then do stop tithing. If you believe that, as the bible says, God will return what you give tenfold, you should continue tithing. A tithe is a statement of trust from you to God, so if you trust in Him to provide, tithing shouldn't worry you.
This is not to say you should get into debt to tithe - I currently can't tithe 10% of my income because I'd not have enough to buy food after due to certain outgoings I can't do much about at the moment. But I am still giving as much as I can, the idea is to stretch out of your comfort zone of giving and test God's promises (as He explicitly asks you to do in the bible).

Apologies that I don't have verses, but I did a bible study on this recently so I assure you it's well grounded!

guiriman

Just to comment on a side issue that was mentioned:

Personally I give 10% of my income to my local church (whose salaries, rent, etc. are about 30% of expenditure, not 70% as someone had stated as a broad average). I give this out of my net income after tax, NI and pension contributions, for me this is reasonable due to the following reasons.

Tax: They get back via Gift Aid
NI: I'll give 10% of my state pension when I get it
Pension: I'll give 10% of my pension when I get it

There's much conversation about this being "charitable" giving, to me it's not. Personally, donations to charity are something that comes out of my remaining 90%, but I know that's not everyone's point of view.

Sulevia

It's tough not to make any donation at all, if you want to give something. So try cutting down the amount, plus see if you can Gift Aid it or give through Give As You Earn via your payroll.
Gift Aid allows the charity to claim back the tax you paid, while GAYE deducts it from your payroll before tax so you don't pay the tax on it in the first place.

deno666

catnicex wrote: »

The church in the post is generally defined thus there could be differences in the translation and tradition.
However, from the Catholic Gospel, I think that this is the answer:
"(1) When [Jesus] looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury (2) and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. (3) He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; (4) for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."
(Luke 21:1-4)
I think it's self explanatory as an answer to the post.
Regards

i always found this to be a flawed passage.

whilst the 2 small coins were everything that the woman had, lets use a similar analogy.

if i only had two 1p pieces to my name and gave that to charity it wouldn't necessarily affect me as i could beg or find that 2p on the street in a matter of minutes. so it's much easier to give such a small amount when you have nothing because it is so easy to get it back.

if i however had 1 million quid and gave that away it's not as if you are then going to find that down the back of your sofa.

as for the dilemma is hardly a dilemma. the person can't afford to carry on giving to charity. so either reduce spending elsewhere to maintain the current amount or reduce the amount they are giving to the charity. is it really that difficult?

Torry_Quine

Sulevia wrote: »

It's tough not to make any donation at all, if you want to give something. So try cutting down the amount, plus see if you can Gift Aid it or give through Give As You Earn via your payroll.
Gift Aid allows the charity to claim back the tax you paid, while GAYE deducts it from your payroll before tax so you don't pay the tax on it in the first place.

I would hope that it already is gift aid.