The Handbook

...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. -- Ephesians 6:17

Listening to Dave Ramsey in the car yesterday, he said something that really struck Suzanne and I as both brilliant and hilarious. He had been asked about whether or not someone in debt who is trying to become debt-free should tithe. He explained to this caller what tithing is and how the Bible instructs us to give that first before anything else and to give it to our local church and then to only give offerings (any other giving) out of our surplus. He was asked about people who don't believe in God and said, "I think everyone should give because giving changes a person from the inside. That's why God gave us the instruction to give a tenth. He knows that it changes us for the better. I can't tell you what people who don't believe in God should give; they don't have a handbook. Christians have a handbook that explains things. Athiests don't have that."

He's right, though. Giving changes us, any of us, whether we believe in God or not. It reduces the selfishness in us and increases the selflessness and that was God's plan from the start. That was Jesus' message in a nutshell. As Christians, we have the handbook for our lives and we should use it. The Bible calls it "the sword of the Spirit" and swords are meant to cut things down. The Word of God has the ability to cut away from our lives anything that stands between us and righteousness and, as my pastor so beautifully pointed out to us at our men's group last week, a great way to look at righteousness is to take away the eous and being left with 'right' and 'ness'. Rightness is what we're meant for, so use that handbook to change any area of your life that isn't right.