Money is a Matter of the Heart

Sometime ago we were invited to a church to share our testimony. Our testimony is mainly about being delivered from what I call supernatural credit cards debts. Jesus said in the Bible, "and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free". God used a man of God to teach, correct and guide us on Biblical truths about money. So we started with the foundations of the Bible truth about money and that is to put God first when it comes to money. 

So, the foundation principle of money management in the Bible is the principle of the tithe. For those who are reading this and are not familiar with the word "tithe", let me briefly explain. Tithe means a tenth. Bible says that we are to return to God a tenth of our income. I will not go into the teaching of the tithe in this article, that is not the objective. The point that I want to make is that the money is a heart matter. Let me prove it to you from the Bible. In the book of Matthew chapter 6 and verse 21, we read "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Jesus said those words.

I heard church leaders quoting this the other way around "where your heart is your treasure will be also". I will stick to the Bible version. According to the Bible, the heart will follow the treasure. Many believers have a hard time to return to God the ten percent (the tithe). Many are willing to give their time, many are willing to serve, many are willing to sing songs, many are willing to go for long prayer meetings but very few are consistent with the tithe. It is matter of the heart. 

I finished sharing our testimony on how God blessed us and cleared our credit cards debts after we started being faithful with our tithes and offerings. At the end of the service, one of the church members and the worship leader came to talk to me. The worship leader thanked me for sharing the testimony and said that she/he (prefer not to reveal too much info on person's identity:) is encouraged to be consistent with the tithe. 

Wow, a worship leader. The person who is responsible to lead a congregation into the presence of God through praise and worship have not been consistent with the tithe. Money is a matter of the heart. Giving 10% of your money to God is worship. The same worship leader will sing beautiful songs like "I surrender all", and the congregation will follow. But, are we really surrendering all or when it comes to money it is a different story.

I know of a great ministry and a man of God. I believe as I write, his church has grown to about 30,000 members and I heard and read in his book that he does not appoint anyone in any leadership position in ministry if they are not tithers. If I read this 10 years ago, I will not be comfortable. I will probably judge him as being too strict and legalistic. But now I understand. How can I claim to serve God and even lead worship if I have struggle returning to Him 10% of my income which in the first place, all belongs to him, anyway. 

Dear friends, our financial breakthrough came by honoring God with our tithes and offerings. Check your heart. Understand the truth about God's principles. They are there for our benefit. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.