Dear Counsellor,

I am a compulsive liar!
I am in my mid forties. I live in Accra. But I find some faults in my lifestyles. I have never been a truthful person to God plus man.

First of all, I notice that I tell lies unnecessarily. Even when I have no reason to do so, I tell one. Around two years ago, after listening to a message on CD by a certain preacher, I think Joyce Meyer, I asked myself, why do I tell lies to cover my inadequacies? The biggest lies I tell are about having what I don't have. It shows that I seriously desire having these things. I later resolved that rather than lie, I will take it to God in prayers. I challenged myself that suppose I tell the truth to my friends and others, what will happen? Will they kill me because of my inadequacies? Since that time, I have been able to conquer uttering lies unnecessarily and today, I am a better person.

But I have not been able to conquer telling God lies about what I will not do. When praying, I tell Him that I will pay my tithe if He blesses my work. God has been doing it seriously but I have not. I have always failed. Last year, I must have made over $2million in profit but I cant remember paying any tithe because when the money comes, I always remember so many things I ought to do with the tithe. To pay $200, $500 as tithe look so big to me because I still have so many things to be done with such amounts.

I fell so painful that I don't pay this tithe. I know the spiritual blame. God knows I love Him, plus I know I do. But to remove money from my pocket and take it to Church, … I always see other things I want to do with that money. How can I conquer this failure?

Johnstone Kuffor.

Response from Pastor Deola Ojo.

The good thing is that you are honest about your inadequacies. Our love for God is not complete if we do not share what we have with Him. We need to pay our tithe no matter how painful it is to do so. You can solve this problem by writing your cheques ahead of time. If you are expecting a profit of $100.000, write a check for ten thousand dollars and put it in the offering, it means you will be paying your tithe before you actually get the money, yes but it also means that you will not be able to change your mind when the money gets into your hands. Remember the parable of the rich fool?
The man who had his farms bring forth a bountiful harvest but forgot about God. God holds our lives in His hands and if He decides that we will not take the next breath, there is nothing we can do to forcefully take a breath. God has been so good to you, and you need to be a faithful steward. What if God had given this money to someone else? What if God stops blessing your business? It is better to be faithful to God when we are still being blessed than to wait until He judges and then we now do it forcefully.
By the way, those who do not pay tithe to God, still spend the ten percent they should have given to God on meaningless and worthless things. Some lose the money through gambling, others through bad business deals, yet some more through stocks and shares that suddenly crashed. For poorer people who refuse to pay their tithe, their car is always breaking down, or a family member falls ill, or their landlord increases the rent, so they still give the money to ceasar and I believe you need to give God's portion to Him.
Do you have someone you can confide in? someone who can force you to pay your tithe and keep reminding until you do so? This may help you to form this habit and once you form this habit, make up your mind not to break it. It is possible to pay your tithe, start by paying the tithe of last month's income, I will be expecting your reply telling me that you have done it. Amen? It is well with you.
In Christ's love,
Pastor Deola