Today I went into my PayPal account to confirm just how much of my 10% annual tithe I have given so far this year. Back in January I made the commitment to tithe 10% of my gross salary in 2008. Previously I had only given MAYBE 2% of my net salary – if that. But in December, in an attempt to improve all aspects of my life from my health to my spiritual life, I decided that tithing would be important for me in 2008.
I’m happy to report that so far so good. With 3 1/2 months left in the year, I’ve given 60% of my planned annual tithe. By the time the remainder of my FSA money is applied through mid-December, I will only have $900 left to give by then. However, my hope is that over the next seven paychecks I can set aside $130 from each of those paychecks towards my tithe – this will allow me to be DONE by the end of December – right on schedule.
What’s awesome is that when Denis and I did our budget a few weeks ago, we found that we were breaking even every month – literally, not a dollar left but everything paid for with a few bucks left over for spending money. And yet I’m convinced that if I hadn’t stuck with this 10% commitment that we’d probably still be in the red due to overspending and living outside our means.
I am glad that you are disciplining yourself to be a good steward of God’s money. Although i do not believe in tithing i feel that it is good to set financial goals in giving.
-Jared B.
tithes last blog post..In God We Trust (The Office parody)
‘fraid to tell you but there are a lot of things we didn’t include in our budget when we talked. We are probably running a little in the red every month. But, oh, well.