I was an atheist until I met Jesus and became a Christian in 1984. At that point, the Holy Spirit became my teacher. Lesson one was reading the the Bible, and lesson 2 was becoming a giver.  And this is how He taught me this important lesson:

The Church I joined was a missionary supporting church and at that time there was a famine in Ethiopia for which they were collecting.  In 1984 I didn’t make much money, only $150 a week, $600 a month, (if you can believe it), but I was I impressed to pledge a tenth of my monthly earnings for this fund. 

The money was to be collected on the third Sunday of December, about 4 weeks away. I didn’t know how in the world I could save the money on my shoestring budget, but I was eager to try.  I came up with a brilliant plan, I would skip lunch and save the money that way.

Well, that didn’t go so well. Four weeks later I hadn’t skipped lunch and I hadn’t saved the money.  But when it came time to write the check, I decided to keep my promise to the Lord first, even if I was going to be short on my other bills.

I wrote the check that Sunday and Monday morning my boss called me into his office and gave me a Christmas bonus of $100.  I was shocked. I had only been working for him for 3 months. I certainly didn’t expect a bonus; I knew it was the Lord. From that moment on I decided to  make giving a tenth of my salary to the needs of others a priority.

Of all the spiritual disciplines it has been my most consistent  and the one that has given me the greatest joy.

When I got married 6 years later, Marilyn and I agreed to continue giving a tenth of our joint salaries. Through this giving the Lord has blessed us in many ways. One of Marilyn’s dreams as a little girl was to be a missionary to India. Through giving, we have been able to help native missionaries around the world including India. So while she has not been able to go herself, she has been able to fullfill that dream through them.

Of course, we make much more than $600 a month these days, but because we began early and have continued over the years, it has been easy to continue giving. We just consider a tenth of our gross income to be the Lord’s portion and give it where He leads. We passed this on to our daughter who became a giver before she had a job by giving time and gifts she made herself and giving us input on where we should give.

Jesus says in Luke 16 verses 10-11:

“He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?“

Jesus calls money a little thing. Becoming a giver has been one of the most exciting and significant milestones on the road to spiritual growth for me and for our family.