Should We Tithe While Paying Off Debt?

Hi Chuck,

We're in the beginning stages of a Total Money Makeover and preparing to pay off a large amount of revolving debt ($30-40K). One thing we're struggling with and can't seem to get a clear answer on is tithing. We know it's biblical to give God our first fruits, but are also realizing it's going to take us 5 years or more just to finish paying down this first part of our debt if we continue to tithe -- even after making some radical changes, selling stuff and adding a part-time job.

Do you have any general advise about tithing while paying debt for fellow Christians?

Thank you for your help,
Bruce and Saundra, TX

Bruce and Saundra,

Thanks for reaching out to me with such a great question.  Not only do I hear this regularly from our clients, but it's something my wife and I struggled with while we were paying off our own debt many years ago.

Honestly, my thoughts are not to back off from your tithing while eliminating debt.   Giving is a matter of the heart.  What caused you to go into debt in the first place wasn't that you were tithing.  It was simply costing you more to live that you could afford on the other 90% of your net income.  Personally, when my wife and I were crawling out from underneath over $65k debt load many years ago (on a $60k gross income), we decided to continue (and actually slowly increased our giving) because we wanted God in the middle of our finances as our "coach".