Rick Warren: Put God first in your finances

Pastor Rick Warren encouraged Christians to place God first in the areas of their lives they need blessings for, including finances, and God will pay them back enormously.

The senior pastor and founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California reminded Christians on his blog Thursday the wisdom of making God a priority in their lives.

"You want God to bless your business?" wrote the 62-year-old evangelical leader. "Put him first in your business. You want God to bless your marriage? Put Him first in your marriage."

"You want God to bless your time?" continued the best-selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life." "Put him first in your time."

Warren's advice included making God a priority even in one's financial life.

"You want God to bless your finances? Put him first in your finances," he advised.

Placing God first in finances translated to tithing 10 percent of one's income. So Warren stressed that doing so would entail having to save, living on the 80 percent of one's earnings and even making significant changes for the family.

"God wants you to give, and He wants you to save," explained Warren.

He added that tithing may mean making sacrifices or even passing up on some things, but he encouraged Christians that giving up 10 percent of their earnings could also be a way to receive God's bountiful blessings.

"It works!" declared Warren. "There are enormous payoffs. God will always honor the areas where you put Him first."

Similarly, a study conducted by the State of the Plate in 2013 showed that Christian tithers proved generally healthier on the nine financial health indicators as compared to non-tithers. The report showed that 80 percent of tithers had zero unpaid credit card bills, 74 percent had no car debt, 48 percent had no mortgage debts and 28 percent are debt-free.

The 27-page report surveyed 4,413 tithers across the 50 states from different denominations and income levels.

"The weird thing is, a tither looks at that and says to himself, 'Well I'm better off because I give.' A non-tither looks at that and says, 'Oh, they give because they're better off,'" said Brian Kluth, the founder of Maximum Generosity that led the research, as reported by The Christian Post.