John D. Rockefeller — Yes I TITHE!

The United States First Billionaire was John D. Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 — May 23, 1937). He was an American oil industry business magnate and philanthropist. He is widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in modern history. His peak net worth was estimated at $336 billion (in 2007 USD; inflation-adjusted) in 1913. He once said then in an interview —



"Yes, I Tithe"

Yes, I tithe, and I would like to tell you how it all came about. I had to begin work as a small boy to help support my mother. My first wages amounted to $1.50 per week. The first week after I went to work, I took the $1.50 home to my mother and she held the money in her lap and explained to me that she would be happy if I would give a tenth of it to the Lord.

I did, and from that week until this day I have tithed every dollar God has entrusted to me. And I want to say, if I had not tithed the first dollar I made I would not have tithed the first million dollars I made. Tell your readers to train their children to tithe, and they will grow up to be faithful stewards of the Lord.

— John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Luke 16:11 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

I get encouraged seeing that one of the wealthiest people in the world understood the importance of passing the small tests in order to get to the bigger ones.

From what I know of Rockefeller, he wasn’t a perfect role-model (are any of us?) but there is a lesson here that I think we all can learn from.