Dear Judy,

For reasons I won't mention here, sometimes when I give my tithes or offerings, I feel like I'm sowing into bad ground and it really bothers me. Is there something wrong with my thinking? 

Dear Unsure One,

As followers of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit in us who is to be our helper which means He will guide and direct us. We must know what kind of ground we are sowing into to get a good harvest. The Holy Spirit’s job is to show us all truth.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13) If you know something is happening that you know is not biblical, then you should not sow into that. At times we do not see or know something is wrong, but you said you feel like it’s bad ground.

We do not go by feelings because our feelings are part of our soulish realm which is our mind, will, and emotions! Many times, they are moved by our likes or dislikes. That will cause us to have a “feeling.” We have to be led by our spirit man which is subject to the Holy Spirit. When my spirit starts to be disturbed by a deep lack of peace, then I pay attention. This is when I ask for the Spirit to show me the truth of whatever it is. In this case, you would ask the Spirit where to plant your tithes and offerings. We have to learn how to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us because He will lead us into all truth because He knows everything about the issue. Pray and obey…. I hope this helps.

 Do you have a question? Send your questions to Judy Baus, baus1@juno.com