What Constitutes An Increase?

In preparing to teach a lesson to 15 and 16 year old kids about finances, I have discovered that there are lots of ways to present this topic. I have really been pondering it a lot this week and feel strongly that I need to focus on teaching them about the principle of tithing.

Although we have some general guidelines, it seems to still have a lot of gray area and be open for interpretation.  There are always questions such as:

Do I pay my monetary tithe based on net or gross pay?

Do I pay tithing on money that was a gift?

What constitutes an “increase” in my life?

 I feel this is a topic that can be deeply personal and what you base your offering on is ultimately between you and the Lord. I am in no way implying that I have received special revelation and claim to be an expert on this topic. This is just me sharing my new outlook based on some ideas that came to me while prayerfully preparing a lesson.

We participate in an annual interview to declare our tithe status to our church leader, but we are not required to provide financial information to prove whether we are truly a full tithe payer. So it is up to us an individuals and families to decide what our status is. That is where the gray area comes in. Each individual has the opportunity to decide for themselves where they stand with the Lord and what they feel is the right way to calculate what constitutes a full tithe.

So in preparing this lesson, I am anticipating some hard questions, because this class is very thoughtful and they like to keep me on my toes with the thought provoking questions that they come up with. With that said, no matter how much I prepare, I am not likely to be fully equipped to give them a black and white answer since it is so personal and between them and the Lord (and perhaps their religious leader).

In pondering, however, I have had some time to reflect on this and take stock of my own personal attitudes toward paying tithing and have had some new ideas come to me that I had never considered before, that relate to this idea. I want to share a few thoughts that have come to mind as I have prayerfully considered this upcoming lesson. I do not mean to imply that my thoughts here are the hard fast rules to paying tithes. This is only meant to be thought provoking in a way perhaps you, like me, had never thought about before.

As this thought was starting to form in my head, it was like trying to blow a gum bubble with gum that I had just put in my mouth. I had to chew on this for a bit before I understood what the bubble was going to look like.

Let’s base this on the idea that every increase in our life is a gift from God, and we are asked to give back 10% of that.

The question I have been pondering is…. What constitutes an increase? Is it solely a monetary increase? Or is there a way to somehow calculate  ALL the Lord has blessed us with? Are there other increases in our lives that we should be including in our tithes?  Confused? Me too!!

My train of thought is somewhat in line with the “pay it forward” concept. How much are our lives enriched by acts of service and kindness?  How many times in a day does someone cross your path and in some small way uplift you? Those tender mercies that I believe come from a loving Father in Heaven prompting someone to take action on our behalf….You know what I am talking about… a smile, a compliment, a hug, a dandelion picked from the yard by a child, a gift, a visit from a friend, a plate of cookies.. right when you needed it most…. The list could go on and on….

So how do I quantify THAT increase in my life? It’s nearly impossible I think, to put a price on those other increases in our lives that we often take for granted or even more shamefully have a sense of entitlement about. This exercise has helped me to be more cognizant of those types of increases in my life and when I am called upon to “be the good” in someone else’s life, I will now consider it an opportunity to tithe my time, talents, and anything else I have been blessed with, to increase the richness of someone else’s life.