I grew up in church. I knew the right things, I was taught the right things, and for awhile I did what I thought was right when it came to giving. I gave to God, like I thought I was supposed to, but I gave to God on my terms. As long as I had enough, I gave God from the leftovers. I didn’t trust Him first.

For awhile, that worked, or at least I thought it did. I’m naturally conservative with my money and there was usually money at the end of the month, and I gave to God out of that. And then I got married. And then I had kids. All of a sudden, I wasn’t just supporting myself, I was supporting a family, and all of a sudden I didn’t always have money at the end of the month.

I was a full-time minister, serving in youth ministry, and I still struggled with giving like I should. So, if giving is something that you’ve struggled with over the years, if it’s something that you’re convicted about and know you need to do but struggle, know that I literally have walked where you’ve walked. There have been too many times when I failed the Principle of the Test. I got paid, and I didn’t give back to God first like He’s told us to from the beginning of humanity.

But, and here’s the great news, I’ve figured out a secret, a life hack, a way that’s revolutionized the way I give and it’s been such an incredible blessing to me I want to share it with you. Once I resolved to start giving to God like I should (this was years and years ago) I still had a problem. Back years ago the only ways to give to the church was either through dropping cash in the plate or drop a check in the offering plate. Only problem was, I never carry cash and I don’t like carrying a checkbook (too bulky, don’t have a man purse to put it in). So every week the offering plate would come by and and I’d think, “I want to give, I really do, but I don’t have cash or a check on me. I’ll give next week.” And I really meant it. I was absolutely sincere.

The problem was, I’d let five or six weeks go by before I finally remembered to bring a check, and by that time, I was so far behind on my tithe that if I caught up the check would bounce. I wanted to do right but struggled with remembering every single week to bring a check.

And then, and then, an amazing thing happened: technology. Technology advanced enough that you could start giving online, and even better than that, you could automatically schedule your payments.

And so, I’ve figured out a way to nail the Principle of the Test (every time you get paid, you take a test on whether God is really first in your finances), every time. I started it years ago and when I recently moved here I automatically set up to give online to my church. I get paid on the 1st and the 15th, like many folks. My tithe gets withdrawn automatically from my account twice a month, on the 1st and 15th. Whether I miss a Sunday or not, whether I’m out of town or not, whether I’m sick or not, I’m still getting paid by my work so I’m still experiencing the Principle of the Test.

And so, through online recurring giving, I nail the Principle of the Test, every time.