The
Law of Increase
The
Importance of Tithing
Any
practice that endures for centuries must have more than casual
importance in human affairs. The further fact that many of the
world's greatest credit their success to the practice of tithing
also impresses us with its importance.
What
is a tithe? Originally,
a tithe was a percentage of flocks, herds, produce.
Incidentally, this percentage given to the God was the best
of the lot or crop. After the advent of money as a medium of
exchange, at least one-tenth of all money received by the
individual was turned into religious channels. It
should be remembered that a tithe is neither a gift, reward,
charity, or payment for services. It is one-tenth, or more, or
your income left with the Source of all things as
belonging within and to that Source. It is left that
you may not sever your contact with he Source, as did the
prodigal son. The
farmer follows the plan of tithing perfectly and
scientifically as far as his crops are concerned.
Approximately, one-tenth of the best seek he raises is kept
for replanting. This is returned to the soil to perpetuate the
process of growth; that there may be something to perpetuate
the Law of Nature. The seed sown is not a gift, not is it
charity, or compensation. It belongs to the soil as an
inseparable part of the process of Nature. All increase is
contingent upon this procedure. Not only is the best seed
saved and used for this purpose, but the ground is prepared
and supported in the best possible manner. You see, the farmer
protects, preserves, and supports the field from which he
directly receives his service.
TOP What
is the actual practice purpose and law of tithing? The
answer is found in Malachi 3:10-
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of
Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it."
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Purpose It
is evident from the above that the first motive of
tithing is the support of the Individual or Organization
engaged in Spiritual activity, where the knowledge and power
of God is promoted. It is definitely for the support of
Spiritual Ministries that extend and expand the work of the
Creator.
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The
Law:
The
Law of tithing is the law of sowing and reaping. Where
there is a definite contact preserved between cause and
effect, the effect is supported and perpetuated. If a break in
the process occurs, the effect must diminish accordingly. When
the prodigal son separated his inheritance from the father, it
soon dissipated itself. The law is to perpetuate and amplify
whatever it is allowed to act upon. Tithing preserves this
contact. It keeps your affairs in contact with creative
power. The fruits of the law are contingent upon observance of
the law.
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To
whom is the tithe paid?
In the
old testament times, the tithe went to support the Levites
(meaning those who adhere) as adherents of the Spiritual Law.
They in turn passed on one-tenth of their supply to the
support of the priest. In this way, the structure for
perpetuating Spiritual ideals was well supported.
One
would naturally tithe at that point where he directly contacts
a Spiritual work. This is not necessarily the largest
Spiritual Organization, but that particular Individual or
Organization or immediate source where you are receiving
direct Spiritual help or inspiration. These are all stations
in the great scheme of Spiritual upbuilding in the race. To
serve the least of these is to serve the whole. Only through
these Spiritual movements have the greatest ideals been
preserved and they are worthy of the greatest co-operation.
Great
Spiritual Organizations are built up by great co-operative
efforts. A Spiritual Ministry in your locality can be no
stronger than the support of its followers will permit. Both
Spiritual worker and student of the Spiritual things should
realize the importance of strong, well-supported points of
Spiritual service in a community.
But some
say, should not Spiritual work and workers demonstrate their
own supply direct? The answer is "yes," but God
speaks and acts by means of man (you) as a channel. You look
to the Individual or Organization as a channel through which
you receive Spiritual help. In turn, it is perfectly within
the province of Spiritual practice that you should be the
channel through which God supplies the Minister or the
Ministry. "it is a poor rule that doesn't work both
ways."
To
safeguard your own best interests, you should make your chosen
channel of Spiritual refreshment as strong as possible. You
should strive in thought, word and deed to perfect that
channel through which you receive. Or, you should strengthen
the channel in your community, for the community's sake, if
you have not sense of need yourself. To make it possible for
those around you to receive Spiritual help, you help to lift
the standard of your won community and therefore, improve your
own environment. This reacts to your greater blessing and
advancement.
A
starved Spiritual Ministry cannot give to you or your
community the best Spiritual support. See that there is
"meat in mine house" and the "house" will
be in the best possible position to serve you or those about
you when any need arises.
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How
is tithing practiced and what are the results?
The Practice:
To tithe
in the true sense, you first set aside one-tenth or more of
your whole income. Gifts, charities, obligations, upkeep of
relatives, etc., are a matter entirely outside the question of
tithing, just as a farmer may give or sell his grain but not
the seed reserved for planting his own fields.
The
one-tenth set aside as a tithe is never considered your own. IT
is that portion of income that belongs to the Law, or Source. The
first act of the farmer is to select the best seed from
the whole crop. The tithe is one-tenth of your entire income first
set aside as a "seed" used to maintain contact
between the Law and your income.
This
tithe is turned back into the Law as soon and as directly as
possible. But return your tithe to the storehouse joyously as
you would plant a garden. Do not feel you are giving but
merely returning to God that which belongs to Him as the
Source of all that you are and have Remember, it is for the
purpose of keeping an unbroken and ever-enlarging contact with
the Law of Life, that the action of the Law may be perpetuated
in your affairs and the world.
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The
Results:
When you
have tithed directly into the field from which you receive
your immediate Spiritual support, you have placed yourself in
the most direct position with the Law to be assured of the
most direct, abundant and personal blessings. Then the
blessings that "maketh rich and addeth no sorrow
thereto" are to be expected as your sure reward.
Only through preserving your contact with the Law of Life are
these blessings to be derived. Ten, twenty, fifty or even a
hundred-fold increase is not too much to expect from prompt
and complete conformity to the Spirit of the Law.
We do
know that through some disobedience to Divine Law, we have
received more trouble that we could contain. Why should not a
conformity to the Law bring a fulfillment of the promise that
our "blessings shall be ore than we can contain?"
"Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord."
However,
the greatest reward is an inner sense that we are in harmony
with our own fundamental nature. Inner peace surpasses any
outer attainment or material reward. The sense that we are
right brings the greatest peace and satisfaction that life
affords. Such inner states must have their outpicturing, for
"he that hath the Spirit hath the sign also."
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Should
those engaged in Spiritual Ministry tithe?
Spiritual
Teachers and Organizations will also find the practice equally
applicable. The Spirit must be the guide as to where the tithe
is placed. The order of motives holds good here as elsewhere,
however. The Law operates definitely whether given to an
Individual engaged in Spiritual ministry or when given to a
large well-organized Ministry. Being guided by Spirit seems
the important point. But it is self-evident that a tithe is
functioning in its intended sphere only when given to advance
a strictly Spiritual activity.
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Excerpt
from "Wells of Abundance:The Seven Planes of Supply
and
The Law of Increase" by E.V. Ingraham, pgs. 73-81.
Meditation:
"Of
the increase which life gives to me, I always return one-tenth
to my Source. This tenth is in my hand only for the moment as
its steward. Returning it immediately to its Source, I keep an
unbroken circuit of creative power flowing through me, my
business, and my finances.
The Law of Increase is inevitable and because all things in my
life are kept in the stream of life itself, I can logically
expect a bountiful increase constantly. There is nothing
inanimate, for one Spirit pervades all things. Therefore, my
business and finances are always kept vitally animate by this
purposefully maintained contact through my tithe.
The Spirit of God created all things. To support the activity
of God as the nearest point where I receive my immediate help,
I am promoting the activity of the whole. I thereby preserve
the channel of my own good and prepare a fountain of Divine
blessing to those about me."
Excerpt
from "Wells of Abundance:The Seven Planes of Supply
and
The Law of Increase" by E.V. Ingraham, pg. 81.
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