If you tithe, I have a couple of questions . . .

[BamaTanya]

Do you tithe on the tax rebate/stimulus check?

Do you tithe on money left to you after your mother's death?

Do you tithe on money given by a church member to help with medical bills?

 

Is all of this "increase" or do you just count "paychecks"?

 

Where do you turn for answers to these questions?

 

Just curious . . .

[Carol in Cal.]

But if you mean 'give proportionately', I do that.

 

So I give a base level on income that I expect. I give at least that percentage on any income over that, and usually a higher percentage than on the base income. I give to special drives as well, as I feel led. I try to give where it can be matched, and do volunteer work as well. When I volunteer I try to give expertise rather than just be a pair of hands, as I think that that has more value, but I'm willing to just pitch in and be a pair of hands as well.

 

I believe that the Lord loves a cheerful giver, and that giving either time or money should be leveraged whereever possible.

 

HTH!

[Mamasteff]

Oooh, good questions.

 

I understand that some sects actually have individual "tithing settlements" with a someone in charge who tells people how much they should be tithing, and if they don't, they may not be allowed to participate fully in all aspects of their belief system. I much prefer for it to be an act of worship and thanksgiving for the blessings we have received, and not "paying to get in."

 

That said - if you want to be technical,

 

1) Not tax refund. You've already tithed on that, if you tithe gross. Yes to the stimulus check, it was unexpected extra blessings.

 

2) Yes.

 

3) ... ooh, I want to know what others say. I say, no. I have been the recipient of generosity for basic living expenses (groceries) from someone at church, and was very thankful... at the end of that month, when we had $30 left in our grocery budget, we gave that "back to God." So - if the medical bills are paid for and there is something left over from that specific need, I would not feel comfortable spending what someone else gave me on, say, a haircut or manicure... I'd give it back to God.

 

Other opinions??

[manylilblessings]

Hmmm... those are good questions. We tithe on payroll, and bonuses. We don't tithe on a tax refund, because we tithe on our gross income, not our net. I suppose if we tithed on the net, we'd pay tithe on the refund, as it was taken out before tithing. So, the stimulus payment would fall under that. It's really an advance on an additional tax credit which will be reconciled with the IRS in 2009 on 2008 tax papers. (No, you don't owe taxes on it... it's a tax credit).

 

We don't tithe on gifts, so the money from the church, I don't know. Since the church member gave it for a specific purpose, I'd be inclined to just make sure it all went to that purpose.

 

Inheritance money I don't know definitively either. We didn't tithe on ours, but we did put it down on a house, so it wasn't "spent" money in that sense. It wasn't really inheritance, as my grandmother gave it to us while she was still living, and intended it for a down payment.

 

Bottom line... tithing is an act of obedience, so pray about each amount of money, and tithe according to how God leads your heart.

 

Hope that helps a little,

Melissa

[percytruffle]

Do you tithe on the tax rebate/stimulus check?.

 

No, because we have already counted it as part of our income once.

 

 

Do you tithe on money left to you after your mother's death?.

 

Yes, I would.

 

 

Do you tithe on money given by a church member to help with medical bills?.

 

No, I think it would interfere with the intent of the gift, unless they gave above and beyond what was needed for the bills.

 

Is all of this "increase" or do you just count "paychecks"?

 

Where do you turn for answers to these questions?

 

Just curious . . .

 

Increase is something you have gained that you didn't have before. The tax money was already yours once.

 

I think giving comes from the heart. God doesn't want a giver who relies on the law, but a giver who relies on the heart; a giver who acknowledges where all his gain is from and is gratefully returning a small portion or more out of gratitude, with cheerfulness and joy.

[RhondaM.]

Do you tithe on the tax rebate/stimulus check?

Do you tithe on money left to you after your mother's death?

Do you tithe on money given by a church member to help with medical bills?

 

Is all of this "increase" or do you just count "paychecks"?

 

Where do you turn for answers to these questions?

 

Just curious . . .

 

Yes, yes, and yes. And when in doubt we'd ask our pastor. (And I am talking about the 10% tithing, not offerings.)

[Targhee]

Do you tithe on the tax rebate/stimulus check? No - but I tithe gross earnings.

Do you tithe on money left to you after your mother's death? haven't had to think about this before, but I would say yes

Do you tithe on money given by a church member to help with medical bills? Hmmm... don't know

 

Is all of this "increase" or do you just count "paychecks"? Not just paychecks, tithes used to be paid in goats and sheaves and whatever else you increased in, so I consider other things part of our increase.

 

Where do you turn for answers to these questions? Prayer.

 

My philosophy is "what will it hurt if I DO pay tithes on this?" - nothing, since I'm promised my needs will be met if I do.

[mysterious_jedi]

Being a dependent college student, these particular situations haven't yet applied to me; but FWIW I only tithe on my paycheck (allowance when I was younger; now I work part time in the college admissions office). I do think it's good to give a bit more (although I'm so disorganized that I usually wait months and then pay my tithe all at once.) The point is to give, not to be legalistic about it. The 10% stuff is OT, I believe we are not under that anymore. The NT just says to give cheerfully, although I still think 10% is the best starting place. I, however, despite being a missionary kid, am not an expert on such things. Do what you feel is right. Sorry if I'm rambling a bit.

[angela in ohio]

We figure out our total income each year and then tithe 10% of that. So, it is before taxes. Therefore, we don't tithe on the "rebate" check. If you tithe post-taxes, you would probably want to tithe it, though. We did use some of it for an extra offering to an organization outside the church (we tithe to the church and then give our extra offering to other places or to extra things at church.)

 

We would tithe on an inheritance.

 

I have no idea about the money given by a church member. I would say no. But I would want to offer a similar amount as soon as we were financially able, probably to someone else in need.

 

For answers, I turn to the Bible. It says we are to give the first of what we have to God. It also says that it ALL belongs to God, which sure makes it easier to "give" some back. :) For individual situations, like someone else said, we pray, or we ask those whom we trust in the church.

 

Bless you for wanting to be faithful in this!!

[KellyGirl]

We do tithe on our rebate/stimulus check because our tax rebate is usually all tax credit, dh pays almost nothing in and we get a big fat check back every year. So he looks at that as increase. But even if it were otherwise, we look at it as an opportunity to be generous and try to give some of it.

 

Sometimes on the big unexpecteds like rebates (or inheritance) we give 10% or a little more, but not to the church...we may send a money order to someone who is out of work, support a missionary, help a needy friend with a car repair bill... we look for opportunities to bless as we were blessed.

 

I don't know that we would tithe on help given for medical bills, but that would probably spur us to want to help another family in need as soon as we were able.

[cjzimmer1]

Do you tithe on the tax rebate/stimulus check?

 

We never have because we tithe on our gross income but not that you ask it made me realize we get back more than we pay in because of the child credit stuff. I guess we should tithe on that. I'll have to talk to DH about that. Never thought about it before.

 

Do you tithe on money left to you after your mother's death?

 

Well my grandparents are doling out their money quarterly to my dad (he's and only) and the grandkids (there are 3 of us). We tithe on it because I just feel more comfortable doing so. I don't tithe on birthday cash gifts etc but it just felt right to tithe on the inheritance stuff.

 

Do you tithe on money given by a church member to help with medical bills?

 

 

Yes I would. We have been the recipient of surprise help in the past (for our mortgage payment) and we simply trust God that he will make the 90% with his blessing go farther than the 100% on it own would. I have to say that approach has never failed me.

 

Stephanie

[Just Me]

I agree with others on this topic - We don't tithe on tax refunds or rebates, as we have already tithed on our gross income. I would tithe on an inheritance, and MAYBE on a gift from a church member. But I am coming from this in a different light. My dh is a minister, so everything we make is based on gifts from church members, through their tithe. So, if someone gave me a gift of money for general use, yes I would tithe on it. If they gave me a specific gift, say paid for my child to go to camp, I would not tithe on it. But I would try to "give in kind". For example, while we were in Seminary, we had lots of folks help us financially with specific things like camp, replacement appliances, etc. When we graduated, we gave our car to a family in need. We try to give to others as a blessing as we have been blessed.

[percytruffle]

So, if someone gave me a gift of money for general use, yes I would tithe on it. If they gave me a specific gift, say paid for my child to go to camp, I would not tithe on it. But I would try to "give in kind". For example, while we were in Seminary, we had lots of folks help us financially with specific things like camp, replacement appliances, etc. When we graduated, we gave our car to a family in need. We try to give to others as a blessing as we have been blessed.

 

Well said. We tithe in time, talent, and treasure. It all comes from Him and we show our gratitude in multiple ways, not just monetary.

[Dinsfamily]

We tithe on anything that is income. So we do tithe on gifts, inheritances, etc. However, since we tithe on our gross income instead of net we do not tithe tax refunds (we do it before we give the money to the governement). I "think" that the stimulus check is really just an extra refund (it is coming out of our tax dollars) so I don't think we tithed out of that. I would have to ask dh for sure. Great question though.