Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Purpose of Tithing

Today I read 3 Nephi 24 where Jesus quotes Malachi chapter 3. I found it interesting that Jesus would quote this and chapter 4 of Malachi to the Nephites. We are told that Jesus expounded upon these scriptures to the Nephites, but we do not have that recorded here for us.

The most famous verses in this chapter have to do with tithing and other offerings. I remember as a missionary, tithing was a hard principle for people to come to terms with. They just couldn't get past the fact that they are giving up 10% of their income to the church, or so they thought. Most of them told me and my companion that they could not afford to pay tithing. My response to them was always the same: you can't afford not to pay tithing.

Growing up in the church I've heard all the miraculous tithing stories, people receiving anonymous checks, suddenly there's more money in their bank account, etc. I believe them, but I have never witnessed them. Now, let me tell you what I have seen. I've seen the windows of heaven open up and blessings rain down from heaven. My wife and I recently had our first child, a beautiful baby girl. We have not had to buy her a single piece of clothing so far and she is over 2 months old. We have been given so many articles of clothing and even toys that we have actually had to give some of it away because we did not have room to store them all. I firmly believe this is the Lord taking care of us because we are faithful tithing payers.

I remember another instance over a year ago now. My employees at work wanted to have a party so I offered my home and we did a potluck. Money was a little bit tight for us that month and sadly food was our skimping place that month, we were going to rely on our food stores. As my employees started leaving, not a single one of them wanted to take their left overs home with them. At the beginning of the party our fridge was quite barren, but after the party our fridge was full to overflowing and we had food for the next 2 months!

I could go on but I think these 2 examples will suffice. I am sure that does in fact bless some people monetarily when they pay their tithing, and it's possible He may even have blessed me that way and I am just not aware of it. I DO know that in my recent life, He has twice blessed me in ways that I desperately needed it and it was overkill both times! I know that I have never wanted for the basic necessities and that while I am not rich, my wife have enough for our needs and then a little more. We have enough for my wife to be a stay at home mother which is saying something in this day and age.

As I mentioned above people used to tell me all the time that they could not afford to pay tithing. Here is food for thought though, why do we pay tithing? Does the Lord need it? As Bono from the band U2 once said, "The God I believe in isn't short of cash". Heavenly Father does not need our money. So why do we pay it? It is a faith principle, something to help us grow. God could find other ways to help His people if push came to shove. We don't pay it to help God take care of the poor and the needy, what an interesting thought that God NEEDS our help. He is God and could do it way better than we could.

Every time God asks us to do something that seems a little like us helping Him there is a good reason. Missionary work is one of those items. God uses us to assist with missionary work so that He does not destroy the agency of man. At least that is my theory. God could easily convert every single person on the planet in less than a day. But that would destroy the agency of man because they would have to believe. So He uses us to further His work and to help US GROW! Again, we are the largest beneficiaries in missionary work.

So it is with tithing. For most of us it's never going to be an easy choice to pay tithing. It's always going to come down to something we want or paying tithing. For some of us at times it will come down to something we NEED and paying tithing. That is when we will really grow. We pay our tithing to show our faith in Him and to prove to ourselves that He will never forsake us. That is what we truly learn by paying tithing. God doesn't need to learn anything about us, He already knows what we will do. However, we have everything to learn about ourselves and what we will do and we have to know that God will never forsake us and will fulfill His promises.

I can promise you this, that God WILL honor His word. Unfortunately though, that is something that can be told a thousand times, it has to be learned through the fires of affliction and the forges of perseverance. However, if you just make the choice now to pay tithing no matter what and not even think of it as your money, it becomes a lot easier, I promise you that. Pay it and you will see that God does not forsake you. He can't, it's not even possible. If you don't believe me go read D&C 82:10 and you will see that I am right. Until tomorrow.

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