The first time I ever heard the word tithing, I watched a guest preacher publicly shame two guys at the altar of a small Florida church for not doing it consistently. They walked back to their seats with their heads down. I never forgot it. Linda has a different shame story — quiet, private, ten years long, all over a single tithe she felt led to give to friends going on a mission trip instead of her local church. Two completely different shame stories, same root system. Both deadly to generosity.
In this episode, we finally do the conversation we've sidestepped for almost two decades. We get into the difference between condemnation and conviction, why we treat tithing the same way we treat Sabbath, and the moment we corrected our giving and got a raise the very next day that exactly covered the gap.
This is not a shame episode. It's not a license episode either. It's where we've actually landed.
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WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE
Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:
- The altar-shaming Bob watched as a brand-new Christian (and what it did to his view of giving)
- The 10-year guilt cycle Linda carried over a single tithe she gave to the "wrong" place
- Why condemnation comes from the enemy and conviction comes from God (and how to tell which is which)
- The Sabbath analogy that finally helped us land somewhere honest
- Why both shame and license are wrong (and what 2 Corinthians 9:7 actually says)
- Where to start if 10% feels impossible right now
BIBLE VERSES MENTIONED
- Matthew 7 (referenced — "if your eye causes you to sin")
- Genesis 14 (Abraham and Melchizedek, referenced)
- Genesis 22 (Abraham, "God will provide" / Jehovah Jireh)
- 2 Corinthians 8-9 (referenced as a giving framework)
- 2 Corinthians 9:7
- Galatians 3:13 (referenced — "redeemed from the curse of the law")
- John 8 (the woman caught in adultery, referenced)
- Luke 19 (Zacchaeus, referenced)
- Hebrews (Jesus as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, referenced)
RESOURCES MENTIONED
DISCLAIMER
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