Charities 2022
My monthly automatic donation list is up to six charities now. Auto-donate is the way to go. I love the Bible's 10% goal, but the idea of giving intentionally and thoughtfully as soon as you're paid just doesn't work for me. set it and forget it.
That said, I am not AT the 10% goal, nor will I be this year, but that's okay I can increase a little ( Read more... )
The Biblical 10% is a tithe; the ancient Hebrew considered, and many Biblically-minded or -taught individuals still do consider, 10 to be the number of increase.
Because God ordained this ten percent* or tithe, to be returned to Him, that first ten percent should be given to Him, is due Him.
After that, charitable donations come out of whatever's left after the ten percent tithe (one-tenth) has been given back. (Don't be silly: you can pay your rent or mortgage, your utilities, your other bills, and of course you can buy your food and clothing.
And as one faith instructor pointed out, everything the faithful have comes from God, so they really are giving back to Him what is His anyway.
Anyway, the point is that tithing and charitable giving aren't the same thing.
Those people who tithe regularly report that their income increases, their family relationships improve, they almost magically get promotions or raises or find better jobs, health issues resolve favorably...and there's extra money for making charitable donations with.
* "A TITHE consists of 10% of one's gross income received though: Regular channels such as salaries or commissions; interest income from savings and stocks; income fr om sale of real estate; income received from insurance, legacies, inheritance or estates; income received from gifts." - -Catherine Ponder
Mrs. Ponder also wrote that if the idea of tithing ten percent of your gross income is scarier than you can handle right away, start by tithing ten percent of your net income.
Later, you'll plunge and tithe from your gross.
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But I would also say that there's no way to give money directly TO GOD - I do not know God's venmo. So I'm going to use my best judgement to make a call on what God would want me to do with that 10%, and it's feeding hungry people. If some human comes to me to remodel a church building and they claim that they're representing God, I'm going to have to disagree, I think humans are way too biased on that topic.
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What was recommended to me was that one ought tithe to the source of one's spiritual belief. If you're a member of a church, synagogue or temple, or mosque, tithe there and trust that the money will be used appropriately. (I admit: I have reservations about the wisdom, sometimes, of who does or doesn't "administer appropriately.")
Originally the tithe was the "first fruits" and one sacrificed cattle, sheep, camels, grain, grapes, wine, olives, oil, etc., as was scheduled: a bull or a steer or cow was slaughtered and then immolated---and it had to be young, healthy, and unblemished. At that point, people couldn't use it nor any part of it, so it was considered to have been given to God. Same with all the other stuff.
The ancient Hebrew was also commanded to support the temple so the priests could do their priestly stuff and not have to worry about earning a living.
I dare you, though, to actually tithe as tithing is understood in the Bible---and just see if you don't have more money for feeding hungry people ---a cause I and several of my own family members believe in passionately.
I'm not sure, though, that I understand how giving money to a public university promotes that end of feeding the hungry.
And what about any church which is building buildings to house the homeless and to feed the hungry, for there are such. You'd disagree to give them money "because humans are way too biased on that topic"?
All the causes you list and presumably support are certainly worthy and deserving of funding and support. I'm simply saying that making donations to them is not the same as tithing even if you're aiming to donate 10% of your income, whether gross or net, to them.
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