Christ Church Communications Team
Smart Osafo (Contributor)

During the 1990s, Smart Osafo was trying to get his career off the ground while raising his family. Smart admitted that he didn’t have a clue about basic financial management techniques. He recalled getting a Discover card application in the mail and convinced himself that it would help him with many of his pressing expenses, by paying the minimum balance every month. That one credit card turned into more credit cards and he quickly got himself into $17,000 worth of debt. The financial pressures began to mount, and at the same time, he now had three children.

One day he heard an advertisement on the radio from a debt management company, which promised to stop his collection calls and consolidate all his debt into one low, manageable monthly payment. After enrolling in the program and cutting up all of his credit cards, it took nearly three and a half years for the debt to finally get eliminated. To this day, Smart can’t tell you how this company was able to do it, or all of the management fees that were incurred. All he knows is that he was finally out of this credit card debt, and he advises anyone willing to listen to not even think about applying for one.

Dave Ramsey, author of The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, says that when you sign up for a debt management plan (DMP), you allow someone else to take control of your finances. Here’s perhaps the most dangerous thing about DMPs that’s invisible to most people: They do nothing to change spending behavior. If you want to take control of your money, personal finance is 80% behavior and only 20% knowledge. Often, when people consult credit-counseling agencies, they slip further and further into debt because agencies don’t directly solve any problems for the individual.

Smart can attest to that because it wasn’t until he started attending Christ Church and hearing sermons regarding sound biblical financial principles—such as handling money, tithing, and working hard—that he began to understand God’s plan about money management. When he started to give his tithe, which is 10% of his earnings to the local church, he realized that he owed a great deal of money to his previous church. Looking back, they never taught the importance of giving your tithe consistently.

Smart began to take this principle seriously, and would faithfully give his tithe after every paycheck. Now, Smart can give many testimonies on the blessings of God upon his life and family. However, he distinctly remembers the year that he started to give his tithes. He was working, making $65,000 a year, and unexpectedly his boss called him into his office. Smart thought that he was going to get laid off, but they began to explain that they were paying him the incorrect annual salary and that they were going to increase his pay by $10,000 immediately. A few months later, he was given a promotion with an additional $10,000 pay increase. All of this occurred in the same year! Smart believes that God wanted to know if He could trust him with finances. He attributed this blessing to paying off his credit cards and giving his tithes consistently.

The Bible never mentions anything about hitting the pause button on tithing, but the tithe is clearly a scriptural command from God. In fact, in Malachi 3:10, God promises to bless us if we faithfully tithe. When people get scared because they feel that they can’t make ends meet, they quit giving. When they stop tithing, their finances seem to get worse. Dave Ramsey suggests never to place a pause on tithing to pay down debt. You can probably find other areas to trim if you try, says Dave.