How to Be Rich

I didn't go to New Life again today since my cold/cough is still lingering, and I don't want to spread germs to the seniors or those battling cancer, etc.  We're doing a series on How to Be Rich, so I watched the Lifechurch.tv session here

http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch/how-to-be-rich/3

Now that I call myself a Christian, I can't fallback on the, "I give, but not the full 10% cuz I don't know if I really believe" excuse.  It's sad that the average American only gives 3% to charity... and while I can say I give more than 3%, I can't say I give 10% of our household income. 

But anyway, these series also don't talk about how to address married people who may not have the same financial goals (ie, maybe my spouse thinks it's crazy to give away 10%).  My friend married a non-Christian and I know they had "discussions" about it.  They moved to Vegas and it's not an issue anymore since she doesn't have a "local church" to tithe to. I married a Christian, and I still don't know if he'd be on board with giving the full 10%.  Just the other day, he was telling me how his dream is to get a minivan.  That's not a big dream, and I started feeling bad...  Partly cuz I know we can't afford it (we have some credit card debt to pay off as well as a mortgage)... and partly cuz I'd been thinking about how we could use some of our tax return to pay off debt, and hadn't really thought about how hubby would like to spend the money.

It was interesting how the pastor talked about how we scheme about how to make money or how to spend money.... but we rarely scheme to GIVE money.  I will try to scheme up more ways to increase my tithe while paying off my debt.  I wish the series would talk more about how to do that.  Maybe next week?  In the meantime, common sense should rule and I should stay vigilant in not spending carelessly... and seeking His will for the resources He's blessed us with.