Paying tithing is a privilege and a blessing. It allows us to show our gratitude to and
love for the Lord. God does not need our
tithing as much as we need to pay tithing; however, He is greatly pleased when
we pay our tithing with faith and with a willing and happy heart. The spirit with which we give is, in fact, as
important as the act of giving. Paying
tithing is more than giving money; it is a demonstration of faith, gratitude,
and humble obedience. This essay will answer
three questions about tithing: 1) What
is tithing? 2) What blessings will we
receive when we pay tithing? 3) What
should be our attitude about paying tithing?
Elder
Joe J. Christensen of the Seventy shared the following story: "I remember vividly an experience I had
near the end of my mission….
"At that time I was working in the mission
home with the president of the Mexico Oaxaca
"We made the overnight trip on the little
narrow railway, arriving very early the next morning. As soon as we got off the train, we began
tracking down addresses.
"The first place we went to was a street
lined with long adobe walls with doorways in them. When we found the address we
were looking for and walked through the doorway, we found a whole group of
homes inside. Tucked back in one corner
was the home of the woman we were seeking.
She lived there with her eight-year-old son and infant daughter.
"As she came out of her small house, she
recognized us by the way we were dressed, and rushed to give us a warm Mexican
greeting. Then, without saying another
word, she turned around and went back into her home.
"Moments later she returned, carrying a
small clay jar. She reached into the jar
and pulled out some pesos and centavos (Mexican money). . She told us that her
family had saved ten percent of what they had earned. Most of that tithing had come from her son,
who worked at the plaza in the center of the city, shining shoes. When he returned each day, he immediately put
his tithing into the little jar so that the money could be turned in to the
missionaries whenever they returned.
"I can remember my feelings as that woman
handed me the money. She was standing
there in threadbare clothes and no shoes, and her children were in the same
circumstances. I knew that there were
things she would have loved to buy her children. I knew that there were many things that they
desperately needed money for.
"At first I wanted to give the money back to
her and to encourage her to spend it where it was most needed. But then I realized that that was not my
right. She and her son had saved that
money carefully, knowing that it belonged to the Lord and wanting Him to have
it. I realized, too, that they would be
blessed for it.
"I learned a great lesson that day about the
importance of paying tithing and the blessings it can bring. I also learned a lesson about faith. That little boy and his mother had not known
if missionaries would ever return to their home, but they were committed to the
gospel principles, and they had faith that, if they were obedient, the Lord
would bless them" (quoted by Kellene Ricks, in "Friend to
Friend," Friend, Jan. 1991, 6).
Many people wonder what it means to pay a full
tithing. The Lord has commanded through
His prophets that we pay ten percent of our income or increase to the
Lord. President Spencer W. Kimball
stated: "Inquiries are received at
the office of the First Presidency from time to time from officers and members
of the Church asking for information as to what is considered a proper tithe.
"We have uniformly replied that the simplest
statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the
members of the Church should pay `one-tenth of all their interest annually'
which is understood to mean income (see D&C 119:4)" (in Ensign, Nov. 1980, 77).
The Prophet Malachi wrote: "Will
a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed
me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings.
"Ye
are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed me, even this whole nation. (Malachi 3:8-9)
Many people do not understand that we rob God when we
do not pay tithing on our income.
Sometimes people selfishly think, "I earned this money. It is mine." When we have this attitude, we forget that
everything we have has come from God, every breathe we take as well as the
ability to make money.
Other people wonder what the tithing funds are
used for. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:
"The Lord his directed by revelation that the expenditure of his
tithes will be directed by his servants, the First Presidency, the Quorum of
the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric (see D&C 120). Those funds are spent to build and maintain
temples and houses of worship, to conduct our worldwide missionary work, to
translate and publish scriptures, to provide resources to redeem the dead, to
fund religious education, and to support other Church purposes selected by the
designated servants of the Lord" (in Ensign,
May 1994, 35).
We
receive blessings when we pay tithing. The
Prophet Malachi continued: "Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi
3:10).
When the Lord said, "Prove me now herewith,"
He meant that we should pay tithing and see that God really does keep His
promises. The word prove in this verse means test.
The Lord promises spiritual and material
blessings for the payment of a full tithe.
He opens "the windows of heaven" in different ways to
different tithe payers. The blessings
from the Lord may include the ability to earn enough money to provide for
needs, the ability to use money wisely, protection from costly catastrophes,
and the joy of sharing and giving.
I have a firm testimony of the principle of
tithing that continues to grow stronger. Recently my daughter-in-law
commented that several of her friends told her that last summer was a bad
summer for raspberries; she asked me what I did to have such good
harvests. She knew that I harvested
twelve gallons of raspberries from my patch last summer. I told her that I didn't know what I had done
except fertilize them and water them well; I added that keeping the moose out
of the patch also helps. Later I was
talking with my son about some subject and mentioned that I paid tithing on my
raspberries. Suddenly I made the
connection between the two conversations:
my raspberries do well because I do all I can to help them grow - plus I
show my gratitude to Heavenly Father by paying tithing on my raspberries.
Obedience to the law of tithing, like obedience
to other commandments, also helps us feel the influence of the Holy Ghost in
our lives. President David O. McKay,
ninth President of the Church, stated:
"Tithing makes its greatest appeal to the sincere mind because of
its spiritual significance. It is an unfailing
source of spiritual power. True and
constant obedience to this law will give as much spiritual development as will
obedience to any other principle of the gospel" (Gospel Ideals [1953], 199).
The Lord not only wants us to return one-tenth of
all that He gives to us, but He wants us to do so with good attitudes. The Apostle Paul wrote: "But
this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which
soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
"Every
man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or
of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
An ancient American prophet named Moroni
"For
behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
"For
behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it
is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is
counted evil before God" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus
Christ, Moroni 7:6-8).
These two scriptures tell us that we should not
pay tithing just to receive blessings, but that we should pay tithing with the
right attitude - willingly, cheerfully, and with faith. Moroni
In the early days of the Church, tithing was
often paid "in kind" or one-tenth of their increase in things such as
crops and livestock. "Grandpa
Vanisi's spirituality inspired an awe in me as a child. I remember following him daily to his
plantation. He would always point out to
me the very best of his taro, bananas, or yams and say: `These will be for our tithing.' His greatest care was given to these `chosen'
ones. During the harvest, I was often
the one assigned to take our load of tithing to the branch president. I remember sitting on the family horse. Grandfather would lift onto its back a sack
of fine taro which I balanced in front of me.
Then with a very serious look in his eyes, he said to me, `Simi, be very
careful because this is our tithing.'
From my grandfather I learned early in life that you give only your best
to the Lord" (quoted by Dallin H. Oaks, in Ensign, May 1994, 35).
Even though we no longer pay tithing "in
kind," we can still give our "best" to the Lord by paying
tithing with the proper attitude and by paying tithing first, before we purchase
other things we need or desire. Our attitude
and motivation are important in our tithe paying because they show our faith
and obedience.
Elder
Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles shared the following
story: "My attitude toward the law
of tithing was set in place by the example and words of my mother, illustrated
in a conversation I remember from my youth.
"During World War II, my widowed mother
supported her three young children on a schoolteacher's salary that was
meager. When I became conscious that we
went without some desirable things because we didn't have enough money, I asked
my mother why she paid so much of her salary as tithing. I have never forgotten here explanation: `Dallin, there might be some people who can
get along without paying tithing, but we can't.
The Lord has chosen to take your father and leave me to raise you
children. I cannot do that without the
blessings of the Lord, and I obtain those blessings by paying an honest
tithing. When I pay my tithing, I have
the Lord's promise that he will bless us, and we must have those blessings if
we are to get along'" (in Ensign,
May 1994, 33).
President George Albert Smith, eighth President
of the Church, was talking to a longtime friend after they had both attended a
Church conference. The friend explained
to President Smith how he paid tithing.
"`Well,' he said, `if I make ten thousand
dollars in a year, I put a thousand dollars in the bank for tithing. I know why it's there. Then when the bishop comes and wants me to
make a contribution for the chapel or give him a check for a missionary …, if I
think he needs the money, I give him a check…. Little by little I exhaust the
thousand dollars, and every dollar of it has gone where I know it has done
good. Now, what do you think of
that?'"
President Smith answered him: "I think you are a very generous man
with someone else's property…. You have
not paid any tithing. You have told me
what you have done with the Lord's money….
You have taken your best partner's money, and have given it away"
("The Story of a Generous Man," Improvement
Era, June 1947, 357; see also Sharing
the Gospel with Others, comp. Preston Nibley [1948], 44-47).
Paying tithing faithfully includes doing it in
the way the Lord has established. It is
not our responsibility to determine how tithing should be used. We pay tithing because we love the Lord and
have faith in Him; in return for our willing and cheerful faith, the Lord opens
the windows of heaven for us. I know
that my family has received great blessings because we pay tithing. I encourage all my readers to pay tithing
willingly, cheerfully, and with faith in the Lord.
