Tithing While Paying Off Over a Half Million Dollars in Debt

We didn’t always tithe. We used to feel like we couldn’t afford it. As we started growing in our faith and learning about tithing, we started looking at our budget to figure out how we could tithe.

We started out giving 10% of our take-home pay plus 10% of our tax refund. Within the last 18 months, however, we began tithing on our full gross pay and couldn’t imagine going back.

Below I explain why we are tithing while paying off debt, which is a hot-button issue for many people.

What is a tithe?

A tithe is the first 10% of your total income, which is given back to God in faith and in obedience. It should be given freely and not out of a sense of obligation or guilt or with an expectation of receiving anything in return.

Why are we tithing while paying off debt?

As you guys know, we are paying off $670,000 in debt. We previously weren’t tithing because we felt like we couldn’t afford to, but as we’ve grown in our faith, we’ve realized that we can’t afford not to.

Tithing is our top financial priority. God has blessed us with so much: health, family, jobs, great income, etc.

In return for all of that, He only asks for 10% of our income.

That’s not a lot to ask [especially considering we pay way more than 10% to the government, which hasn’t given us nearly as much. :)].

In Malachi 3:10, God dares us to test Him by tithing and see if He doesn’t “throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

This is the only place in the Bible where God invites us to test Him. I’ll take Him up on it!

Even when we felt like we couldn’t afford it, we stepped out on faith and began tithing. Since then, God has been so faithful to us in return for putting our faith in Him.

We’ve been blessed both in our financial lives, such as the random escrow refund I told you about here and unexpected raises at work, and in our personal lives, such as the birth of our healthy, happy baby boy.

Couldn’t we accelerate our debt payoff if we weren’t tithing?

Maybe. Maybe not.

We believe that a huge part of our momentum in our debt payoff has been God’s blessings because of our faith. We’ve made far greater strides in our journey since we’ve been tithing.

Some might call it coincidence, but we call it divine intervention. 🙂

Do we claim our tithes on our taxes?

We claim our tithes on our tax return. (I’m actually writing this post because we just started our taxes.)

This is another hot-button issue for some people who believe that you shouldn’t claim your tithe on your tax return because that somehow diminishes the significance of it. I couldn’t disagree more.

We’re supposed to be good stewards of our money, which is really God’s money. The government takes a lower amount of our income for taxes if we let them know we’ve tithed. Taking this deduction is a wise way to handle our money.

To be honest, the government really doesn’t care specifically that we’ve tithed. The benefit is tied to giving to a charitable organization, whether it’s your place of worship or a local 501(c)(3) charity.

This would be a good place to note that I’m not a tax professional. I’m merely sharing my personal experience. See my disclaimer for more details.

If we seem crazy to you…

That’s okay. 🙂

I know that not everyone will see things the same way we do. What works for us may not work for everyone else.

Remember: personal finance is personal.

What do you think about tithing while paying off debt?