Open the Windows

                One of my assignments for my math and finance class is to read a finance book and write a paper on it.  I chose to read The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom – Practical & Spiritual Steps So You can Stop Worrying written by Suze Orman.  I found numerous principles that sound good to me, but I found one principle that I know really works.  I was surprised but pleased to see this principle included in the book.  The author listed it as the seventh principle, but I feel it should be number one.

                The principle is:  Be open to receive all that you are meant to have.  The author states that “money is a living entity and responds to energy… when you feel you’re in control of your money and have enough to be generous with it, money will naturally flow your way… (page 250).

                “… Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I now know the following principle is true:  We experience prosperity, true financial freedom, when our actions with respect to money are dharmic, or righteous, actions – that is, actions of generosity, actions of offering… (page 254).

                “The reason to give:  You open yourself to receive all that is meant to be yours…” (page 255).

                The author suggested that readers “decide on an amount of money that you feel you can give away freely every month.  Let your inner voice determine the amount you should make as an offering” (page 256).  She wrote that the amount should be “meaningful” but affordable.  She suggested that a check should be written at the beginning of the month and given to charity before the end of the month. 

                I could not help but compare this principle to the gospel principle of tithing.  We too are counseled to pay tithing – ten percent is a “meaningful” amount – when we receive the income.  The prophet Malachi wrote, “Bring ye all the tithe 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 you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

                I know that paying ten percent of my income to build the kingdom of God on earth is a true principle.  I also know that the payment of tithing opens the windows of heaven in my behalf.  I know that paying tithing will bring me the blessings that I need even though it may not make me a millionaire.  If you want to gain financial freedom, I suggest that you start with tithing.