The principles of tithing - must you give in order to get?

by Darren

If you’re at all familiar with the concept of tithing, you may find it as fascinating as I do. If you haven’t heard of the idea at all, I’ll offer a brief introduction. We’ll start with the definition from WikiPedia:

A tithe (from Old English teogoþa “tenth”) is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Jewish or Christian religious organization. Today, tithes (or tithing) are normally voluntary and paid in cash, checks, or stocks, whereas historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products. Several European countries operate a formal process linked to the tax system allowing some churches to assess tithes.

Most of the texts concerning the practice are Christian, but the idea is not confined to any one faith. Some of the adherents of tithing have been the most successful people in history, like John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and the world’s richest man when he was alive. He said, about the subject:

“I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”

Forgetting any religious implications, just for the sake of a non-argument, there are enough examples of people tithing in order to gain more money. Oh, I guess they didn’t give away the money in order to get money, but the idea certainly was part of their thinking. Does this mean the average person who is always “broke” might be better giving away some of their money to others?

I think it does, because I think tithing has one undeniable and postive effect on your attitude. As soon as you realize that you have money to give to someone “less fortunate than yourself”, you realize that you’re nowhere near the bottom. Your mood immediately improves, and as you feel less “selfishness” you tend to open yourself to a lot of new opportunities.

Do I think there are any specific laws to tithing? I don’t believe there are. I doubt 10% is required, but the act of giving something is important. The point would be to try it with whatever amount you feel comfortable with.

Say something simple like “I give away this money and open myself to greater financial prosperity in return”. You can custom craft the sentence to have more meaning to you, but you get the idea. Just formulate the idea of giving AND getting.

Go one step further and record any weird financial actions that may happen to you in the next 7 days. I mean any strange checks you might get, or a bonus at work, or anything that is extra-ordinary.

I’ve had some very strange things happen with this method, and I’ll report them in future posts, if anyone is interested. Try giving. Record the results. Report back in 7 days with the results.