This is a testimony, but not of my salvation. Well, not really, well maybe. One difficulty I had in my walk with God was in tithing. I was annoyed every time we had to listen to a pastor tell us how important tithing was. I would just turn off because I felt they just wanted my money. My husband wanted to contribute generously at church, however, I did not. One day he decided he was going to tithe, I was not happy. My husband is rather good at compromise and he suggested that we divide our income in two and that he would tithe his half and I could give whatever I wanted. This was a good idea at the time. My husband was able to give what he wanted and I was able to be stubborn.

As I grew in my walk with God I was more willing to listen when a pastor talked about things I didn’t like. I was more willing to read the Bible and other Biblical information. About two years ago my husband and I decided to faithfully tithe as a family. Immediately things started to go wrong. Both of our cars had mechanical problems that were quite costly to fix. I would think about the big check my husband wrote to the church and think, “That check could pay the monthly payments on two new cars.” Suddenly I realized who was whispering these ideas to me, it was Satan. I told Satan that we were going to tithe no matter what. We faithfully tithed and the financial problems we had eased up.

I had accepted Jesus into my heart long before I decided to tithe, however, I was holding part of myself back. By holding my money (actually his money) I was also holding myself back. Only when I was completely obedient did I truly feel close to him. I don’t think tithing is about the money, it is about obedience.

I feel that my husband and I have been blessed abundantly in the last two years. We have not become rich financially, however, we have everything we need and many things we want. Our marriage is stronger than ever and I have such hope for the future. Lately I have had a strong desire to share my experience with tithing. I know there is someone who is holding themself back from God, someone who needs to hear about my experience.

Blessings,

Jeanna Arfsten