At our Wednesday Night Bible Study (9/15/2010), we began with most people in attendance thinking that they tithed on their Gross income, but we finished with most people realizing that we mostly tithe on our Net income. The main reason for this is that most people who get a paycheck from a company and a W-2 at the end of the year do not really know what their Gross pay is. While we do see some Taxes, Insurance, and Benefits on our check stub, the company may be paying much more on our behalf that we do not see – like Social Security, Health Insurance Premiums, Life Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Workers Comp, Liability Insurance, Retirement Matching Funds, Profit Sharing, etc – some of these items add up to 25-50% of our Salary. Are we supposed to be tithing all that as well? Then within each of the categories, the more we discussed, the more questions developed – should we tithe Taxes, should we tithe Insurance, should we tithe Retirement accounts when we put the money in -or- when we take the money out -or- both?
Then we opened the Bible to God’s definition of Income. Deuteronomy 14:12 You shall truly tithe all the INCREASE…. Out of all the items on your pay stub which ones really “increase” your wealth this week, month, year ?
Join in the Discussion – and Remember 2 Corinthians 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.