What’s Required for Financial Freedom and Blessing?

“I consider myself a very intelligent guy, but in terms of what to do with your finances, I had no clue,” confesses James Caine.

James and Cynthia wanted a better life than they had growing up in the projects, and they got it. They raised four children, helped provide them cars and higher education, bought a house, and went on nice vacations. However, most of it was on credit.

“I didn't give much thought to being in debt,” Cynthia says, “because as long as we had enough money to pay our bills, I was good. And we did, we were paying the minimum.”

When James retired from the military, he got a civilian job as the director of education at a large church and started teaching others what the Bible says about money.  

James admits, “I felt rather hypocritical because I'm leading this program at church, but we've got all of this debt ourselves.”

As a church leader, James felt obligated to tithe.

He expounds, “We were giving because we wanted to have the right appearance before, you know, the people of the church.”

Then, James unexpectedly lost his job. At the time, the couple had $107,000 of consumer debt and knew something had to change.

“We're in serious trouble,” James exclaims.  

Cynthia adds, “I felt like, ‘I want to get out of debt. I want to do better.’”

Cynthia suggested that they genuinely trust God with their finances and tithe generously, no matter what.

“My wife says, ‘We are going to continue to tithe, and we're not going to tithe based on the income that we currently have. We are going to continue tithing at the same rate that we did when you had that job,’” James shares.

“I just felt led by the Holy Spirit that, ‘Just keep giving. Don't, don't cut back on God,’” Cynthia says. She continues, “You know, if I'm going to cut back, cut back on something else, but not on Him. I just didn't have any doubt that God was going to take care of us.”

So, they continued tithing. However now it was an act of faith, not an obligation.

James expresses, “We became cheerful givers, and we were glad to tithe. For seven months, we did that, and God blessed us.”

After those seven months, James got a job at a big-box store. He didn’t make much, but as the couple kept tithing, money poured in.   

James explains, “It came from friends, it came from family members. And we saw that there was a benefit to being a tither.” He continues, “Cynthia is literally skipping to the mailbox every day saying, ‘You know, God, what are you going to bless us with today?’”

“I think He was just blessing our faithfulness, you know?,” Cynthia shares. “And that, ‘I got you and as long as you are faithful to me, I'm going to be faithful to you.’”

The Caines were able to make all their bills and start paying down their debt. Then, James was hired by the CDC as a contract specialist. He got an unexpected retroactive settlement check from the V.A, and in just over four years, all of the Caine’s debt was gone.

“It was a miracle,” James declares.

“Nobody but Jesus could do this, you know?” expresses Cynthia. “When I think about His goodness and all He’s done for me, my soul just cries out ‘Hallelujah.’”

Both James and Cynthia were able to retire early.  Today, they’ve increased their tithe to 21% and now look for opportunities to give of their time and money. They encourage others to make tithing and giving a priority.

“That's what God wants us to do. He wants us to give the way He gave,” Cynthia says.  “And I found myself wanting to give even more, you know?”

“Tithing is really an act of faith, of just obedience,” concludes James. “Trust Him with your finances. Make Him first in your life, and give Him your first fruits, and then He will reward you with more.”