Practical Atheist - week 3

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Luke 12:34

This week's sermon was about money and how it's the number one competitor for our hearts. One of the things that keeps echoing in my mind is the lack of sacrifice in my giving. Honestly it's not that difficult for me to tithe. As I grew up, my parents taught me the importance of it. The way I look at it is, it's all His anyway, so it's really not a big deal for me to return part of it. Chad and I have been blessed so much this year it's unbelievable. Just this week for instance...Chad has been having a major toothache for a while now, but hasn't had dental insurance. He really thought he was going to need a root canal. He signed up for dental insurance, but there's a 6 month waiting period for root canals or any other major work. Well, he went to the dentist yesterday and everything checked out. No need for a root canal or anything that would cost us. Last week our tub stopped draining...really not good when we've had a night of softball and volleyball. It was pretty nasty. Well, the plumbers came out and fixed it. While they were here, they noticed that our toilet was about to fall through the floor and they pulled up our flooring and fixed that too. Again, could have been a major expense, but we didn't pay a dime. It seems as though things like that come through all the time. It amazes me how blessed we are. It doesn't matter how much we give, God always provides and out gives us. All that to say, tithing is a no brainer for me. The question is, do I feel it when I give? Am I really sacrificing anything? I kinda feel like we're in a difficult situation because we're trying to put as much as possible toward paying back Chad's student loans. You know the whole "borrower is slave to the lender" thing. That's exactly how it feels. I have this vision of being so generous, but it's like I'm trapped and I have to wait to fully act on it. I can't wait for the day when we are free from payments and we are able to do so much more. I don't want to lose sight of that. I want to give sacrificially now. I want to have that principle in place in our lives now and expand on it as time goes on. Anyway, that's what's been floating around in my mind since Sunday.