Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Slow Fade

Ok. I know you all have heard this song" its a slow fade, when you give yourself away, its a slow fade, when black and white turn to gray"....its on all the time. And that is fine with me, I'm not complaining, it's kinda become my internal song (weird huh). Anyways, its so true of my life. I can look back and remember when I wouldn't say the word Crap, and now its one of my most used words. I also remember when my college pastor told me during my sophomore year that I saw things black and white, no gray area. He was complimenting me. I am afraid now my vision is a little more blurred and I might see gray. For example, I just used to know without a shadow of a doubt that MTV was bad for my spirit, my talk, my walk, everything. It seems however that I have formed an appetite for The Hills though that must be met weekly. I know these are silly examples but I bet if you stop and think about it you can think of things that you have slowly let creep into your life.
I have tons of other examples that I don't wish to publicize but I will tell you of a praise.
I have a real hard time with money. I have hard time tithing like I should. I will be the first one to donate my time, but my money is a whole other story. Thankfully the Lord gave me a husband who isn't phased by it. Adam could give his whole pay check and not flinch..isn't that awesome? I have really been praying that I would be less concerned with money and the Lord constantly reminds me that he takes care of the birds and he will take care of me. So the praise is that lately I have been remembering to bring the checkbook, write the check and put it in the offering plate....doesn't sound like such a huge thing huh? BUT IT IS. I really do want to give God what is His, really I do. It's just one more way that God is working in my life.

2 Cor 9: 6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

P.S.- what are your thoughts on tithing? Do you think that giving of your time counts as a tithe? I have heard people say that they don't tithe b/c they give time to the church..I've looked at scripture and after the resurrection I think the idea of tithing changed a little.

4 comments:

angela said...

While I do believe that giving time is a "tithe" per say, I don't believe it is your actual tithe. I really believe, through the examples given in Scripture, that we are to give of our money, our profits. Cain and Abel, Noah, Abram, Isaac and Jacob all tithed material things, not just time.
And in the new testament, we see people selling everything and giving it to the church. In my opinion, its definitely a monetary giving. And, lets be practical, if everyone tithed their time and not their money, we certainly wouldn't have a church building to meet in. Just my opinion.
And I know what you mean about the world creeping in. I won't lie and say that I'm not convicted about watching the Hills on pretty much a weekly basis.

Shane said...

Yeah,i do agree that the tithe is meant to be monetary, and not so much time. That's not to say we shouldn't want to be servants, and give of our time too. Our real joy has been giving tithe, and then giving offerings to support our missionaries. When we first had our Faith Promise Missions campaign, Brenna and I felt led to give a certain amount each week, which at the time, seemed like a lot. But, it's been cool to see God bless us because we've been faithfully giving each week to tihes and offerings.

We do a budget every month, and honestly, there's always a good bit left over each month, after tithes, offerings, bills, etc. I'm sure little Miss Kewl will be claiming a lot of that extra for herself pretty soon. I think Brenna and I are kind of like Adam, where it doesn't really phase us too much. I guess we may just take that for granted that that really is a blessing to have that mindset.

Shane said...

Yeah,i do agree that the tithe is meant to be monetary, and not so much time. That's not to say we shouldn't want to be servants, and give of our time too. Our real joy has been giving tithe, and then giving offerings to support our missionaries. When we first had our Faith Promise Missions campaign, Brenna and I felt led to give a certain amount each week, which at the time, seemed like a lot. But, it's been cool to see God bless us because we've been faithfully giving each week to tihes and offerings.

We do a budget every month, and honestly, there's always a good bit left over each month, after tithes, offerings, bills, etc. I'm sure little Miss Kewl will be claiming a lot of that extra for herself pretty soon. I think Brenna and I are kind of like Adam, where it doesn't really phase us too much. I guess we may just take that for granted that that really is a blessing to have that mindset.

Peach Momma said...

Thanks guys..i agree 100%