June 11, 2017

So let's talk about the month of June. I do the monthly budget at our house. There are a lot of those little “extra expenses” this month. Let's start with graduation. Our daughter Ivy graduated from 5th grade, so we got her new shoes to wear to the ceremony, we wanted to give her a little gift, and we went to dinner with the grandparents after the ceremony.

Also this month, both my kids had end-of-the-year field trips with a fee.

Also, we gave thank-you gifts to their teachers.

Also, it’s pool season and Ivy needed a new swimsuit since last year’s no longer fits well.

Also, June means it’s Father’s Day, which includes gifts and celebrations for both my dad and for Seth.

Also, Ivy is going to church camp at the end of the month, which means there’s a camp fee and we will need extra gas to drive to the coast twice to drop her off and to pick her up.

It’s just one of those months. And I confess to you that as I sat looking at the numbers, trying to cut back some monthly expenses, I was tempted not to tithe. It just felt like one check that really didn’t have to be written.

And that’s when I had to remember why I tithe. I tithe because I believe what God says in His Word. I once heard pastor Tony Evans say, “Faith is acting like you believe what God says is true.” So whenever I am tempted not to do what God says, I look to His Word and all of His promises.

Psalm 119:165: “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” There is so much peace that comes from being obedient to Him. It far outweighs any earthly pleasure that I could reward myself with.

2 Corinthians 5:9: “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” I want to please the Lord with my life. He has done everything for me. I want to offer Him my life in return, including my money, my time, my honor, my words, my actions, all of it.

Matthew 6:26-27, 33. This is one of my favorite passages, spoken by Jesus Himself. I think He knew that 2000 years later, Christi Morley would need these words to hold onto. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I love that. Seek first His kingdom! That verse keeps me steadfast again and again.

"Look at the birds of the air..." Whenever I see a robin, I'm reminded that God loves me so.

Recently, as I was reading Hebrews, this verse jumped out at me. Hebrews 13:5. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” I had to stop and consider the verse. Do not be consumed with money, because God has given us all that we need by promising to always be with us and always be for us. I love that! If He says He will never leave me as I go through this life, and that one day I will be with Him forever in the next life, what else could I possibly need?

And that’s why I tithe. When I look at these kinds of promises, how could I not?

How could I not?