More Than Just Money

Why I Give To My Local Church

I grew up in the church. From as early as I can remember, those shiny gold offering plates with carpet inside them passed in front of me (followed by the weekly register to write your name!) and became a regular part of my Sunday morning. I saw my grandparents throw their offering envelope into that plate every week. My grandma would often give me a quarter or two to throw in, so I felt like I was a part of it too. As I grew older and started making money of my own, I occasionally threw my five bucks in, really feeling like I was doing something. We eventually switched to a church a little more modern where those gold plates were replaced by white buckets, and those weeks I threw a $20 bill in I felt pretty good about myself. I made sure to write my name on that envelope in big letters so there was no mistake it was mine.

I later joined the staff at my local church and heard the call to tithe and what that meant during a series on finances. Woah, they want 10%?? Are they crazy? If they knew how many bills I paid every month, they wouldn't dare expect 10%. So I continued throwing my $20 in, feeling like a good little Christian.

Then things changed. Life got messy and incredibly difficult. And the church was there.

When my husband and I were going through the hardest years of our marriage, the church was there.

When I was battling my 3rd (and most trying) year of infertility trying to have a child, the church and our life group was there.

When my son was experiencing all kinds of medical difficulties, resulting in huge financial struggles, the church was there with prayer and our life group was there with help.

And my thinking shifted. God doesn't just want me to give my tithe every week to keep up with the church building and help pay the staff. In reality, He doesn't need my money. He owns everything anyway. Instead, He wants me to give to the work being done in and outside of the walls of the church building to help change lives and change neighborhoods.

If you know me, you know we pay a huge amount of money every month (think mortgage payment...) to student loans. And we now have medical bills and incredibly expensive food we have to buy for my son that has severe food allergies. Giving 10% to my local church is hard. It really makes us have to budget and look at what we're spending money on. But since we have started tithing, we've never been without. We've never missed a payment, never not had enough food or been unable to pay medical bills. God just keeps providing.

If I can give back even a portion to the church to thank them for being there for me during the hardest years of my life so far, I will. I want to give to the work that the local church continues to do to change lives and be there for people, like it was for me.