When my husband and I first got married in 2011 we did not make very much money. We made around $20,000 for the year. I remember making a budget for our income. Our grocery budget was $30 a week for a family of three. I prayed for wisdom as I went to the grocery store. I remember being tested on giving our tithes and offerings. I felt we did not have it to give, but we kept giving every week. The Lord continued blessing us. He kept giving us wisdom on how to shop. I would shop sells and stock up on things when we could afford it. We always had a house full of friends and family to feed. Our home seemed to be the gathering place. God kept blessing our pantry and our fridge was never bare. We were eating good and healthy food too, not just ramen noodles. People did not understand how we could eat steak and shrimp on our budget. We had to be disciplined in life, but it paid off. God was already doing amazing things in our life, and we were not even living fully for Him yet, but God is a promise keeping God. He promised in Malachi 3:10 that if you tithe, he will bless you. He did that very thing for us. He took the impossible and made them possible for us. We began to receive raises at our jobs, and God still did wonders in our finances every stage of our life. Several years later we received a phone call in the early morning saying Eric had a Job offer making more than he was making if he wanted it. We previously asked his boss for a raise, but he said that he was tapped out there. Eric had not put an application or went to an interview. He accepted the job and quickly became a supervisor. I remember one year he received four separate raises in a twelve-month period. All of the raises were over a dollar each. We received all of this in obedience to our giving. The Lord told us before he got the 4 raises to give a certain amount to a church that was just starting up and also to give to it every month. We gave even though we did not have the money and God blessed us multiple times for it. The raises were all over a dollar a piece. Our obedience to God in our finances continued to bless us. We went on to start our own company and trust in God through it all. There have been seasons where we are slow but by the end of the year God always provides. We have always given back to Him and He has always kept His promise. I am so thankful for the lessons over the years. They have drawn us closer to God and has changed us along with our finances. So, I encourage everyone to tithe and give offerings. It is a simple principle that works. Give God your first ten percent (or more if you feel led) of what you make and see what He can do with the rest. I know for us He did wonders. Whatever you decide to give, give it with a cheerful heart.

Scripture

Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the window of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

Genesis 14:20 NLT And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Even in Genesis Abram (or Abraham) gave ten percent to God. This was also before the Law.

1st Corinthians 16:2 Put aside and store up for the offering

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Tithe also means the tenth part.