"Giving is good. As long as you're getting" Spice Girls. Should we only give when we get?

A slight criticism of c7 if it were is their importance in having a short talk like before the offering buckets are passed around. And when the pastor or who ever it is speaking say- OK I'm going to pray for every giver now- which by the way I think they should rephrase that. What if I didn't give that week or at all? we won't get prayed for? Anyways.

I've never seen offering as something which needed to be talked about in the manner that it is in c7 for me personally because I have always given when I can. I know that's not the case with everyone so I guess the reminder is there.... And since I've been baptised from Christmas 2005, I've given the minimum 10% of my wages or income to church as my tithe. I wouldn't say I particularly love doing it but I know that whatever I have, that it doesn't belong to me. So giving my 10% of my income is nothing if you think about it. 

Money has been hard to come by in the last year and when I was out of my job, I'd be lying if I said I continued to give to the church. Instead I wasted a lot of "rainy day for the wife" money. When you think about it even if you don't have an income from a job, I still every now and then received some money from other sources, i.e. parents. And if in all honesty, whatever your given, you should give 10% of it to the church or wherever you please. And I tell you why I say all this.

Well I don't know but lately the blessings in the last few weeks kind off coincide with me giving to the church 10% of all my financial income. And I guess its not a fair comparison when you have Chinese New Year as well during the last couple of weeks but I really do feel like that whatever I've given, I've kind off got back. 

The other day, I spent money on a scarf and a pair of trousers. In doing so, I had finished up the previous week's earnings. Had to pay for some essential items which is given but the scarf, but more particularly the trousers were an unnecessary spend. Anyways I spent £40 on the two items which is no bad but considering my financial position at the moment is quite a lot of money and it sort of left me disheartened down to my own self. So I had no money really left in my wallet and I felt a bit crap that in a week, I hadn't managed to save up anything. But God is good in that the next day when I was at work, my Mum's boss deliberately came round to the shop where I was working, totally oblivious to who this guy was and handed me 2x £10 in a red pocket. Shocked at the time, still am in many ways because we've never met but I know from Mum that the job she has there has really been God's blessing because as much as she's an employee there, she doesn't have to do much but just make up the numbers as it were. And the boss is really nice to all the employees. And their families. But yeah, thank you God for giving me that twenty quid. And throughout this Chinese New Year period, I've been given money from unexpected and unknown people to me but I see this as more as God's blessings rather than good fortune. And again I don't know if this spate of getting financially has anything to do with me giving, but I hope so because I know that whatever I'm giving, it's helping the church in some way. And again whatever I'm giving is God's anyway. He's just lending to me, and I'm giving it back a bit at a time. But we will never be able to pay back the debt that is owed. But thankfully God doesn't demand that of us otherwise we'd be here for literally millions and millions and millions of years.

But I challenge you if your reading this to tithe your financial income. I don't promise anything will happen overnight or even at all. But remember that what we get, doesn't belong to us. 

So what's a few pounds between friends eh?

PS. I Love You.