To tithe or not to tithe

Today my husband finished his series on financial peace. Let me tell you he brought it. I know that I am biased because he his my husband, but he is my favorite preacher. He talked about how money is a direct line to our hearts. Noah said that, "your heart always follows your money." Many people will say they do not have money to give to God. But they have money for what they want; eating out, movies, and things they may want but not need. I am definitely preaching to myself. You can choose not to give to better God's kingdom, but you are going to take away from His blessings He has for you. Noah stated a quote that I loved, "You don't have to give it, but you ain't gonna keep it." This is so true!!!
I learned this in high school. I used to babysit a lot and I made a pretty good income doing it. My parents instilled in me early on the importance of giving your 10% first to God. When I started babysitting at 13 I would always give my 10%, except for one time. I will never forget this day. I had gotten paid for doing some babysitting and I really wanted this $50 sweater from American Eagle and I wanted to do something special for my mom. I had enough money to take my mom to dinner and a movie and buy that sweater, so off to the mall we went. I decided that this once I would not give my 10% because I really wanted this sweater. My mom and I went to the movies and to dinner. Lets just say that when we got to American Eagle to buy the sweater the $50 bill was no where to be found in my wallet. To this day I have no idea what happen to it and I never did get the sweater. I learned my lesson that day and I always made sure I gave to God first. I didn't have to give it, but I didn't get to keep it either!