Introduction
Hold up a $20 bill. What does this represent? It could represent the fruits of my hard work, the desires I have to have fun, to care for my family, or to give to others. It could also represent greed or thrift. (There are no “wrong” answers to this question.) How do you feel about what money represents?
Hold up a tithing slip. What does it represent? It represents an opportunity for us to follow the Lord’s commandments regarding our temporal responsibilities. How do you feel about what a tithing slip represents?
Tithing
The Lord’s definition
Read D&C 119:3-4. Prior to this revelation, “tithing” wasn’t clearly defined, and meant all free-will offerings given to the Church.
The First Presidency gave the following definition of tithing: “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. No one is justified in making any other statement than this” (First Presidency letter, 19 Mar. 1970).
Failure to pay tithing
Read 3 Nephi 24:8–9. What does it mean we “rob God”? How can we steal what is already ours? Ask class members to read the following verses (handed out previously.)
Mosiah 2:21-24 (summary only?)
What sins are we guilty of if we do not pay tithing?
- Failure to pay tithing (obviously)
- Ingratitude
- Disbelief of the Lord’s promises if we don’t pay because we “don’t have enough money.”
- Trusting in the arm of the flesh rather than the arm of God.
The Lord’s promises to tithe payers
Read 3 Nephi 24:10–12. What does the Lord promise to those who pay their tithing? Notice that in both these verses and verses 8-9, God speaks to us both as individuals, and as “whole nations.” Our national deficit includes more than the money we owe to other countries; we have a debt to God that goes largely unrecognized and unpaid. But as God’s “peculiar people,” we have been and are blessed for our dedication to this commandment.
Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke of spiritual blessings that come when we pay tithing:
“The tithe-payer establishes communion with the Lord. This is the happiest reward. Obedience to the law of tithing, as to any other law, brings a deep, inward joy, a satisfaction and understanding that can be won in no other way. Man becomes in a real sense a partner, albeit a humble one, with the Lord in the tremendous, eternal program laid out for human salvation. The principles of truth become clearer of comprehension; the living of them easier of accomplishment. A new nearness is established between man and his Maker. Prayer becomes easier. Doubt retreats; faith advances; certainty and courage buoy up the soul. The spiritual sense is sharpened; the eternal voice is heard more clearly. Man becomes more like his Father in Heaven” (in Deseret News, 16 May 1936, Church Section, 5).
In this passage, Elder Widtsoe lists the following blessings from paying tithing:
- It becomes easier to understand the principles of truth
- It becomes easier to live the principles of truth
- We draw nearer to God
- Prayer becomes easier
- Faith replaces doubt
- The certainty and courage we feel lift our souls
- We become more spiritually “in tune” and can hear the whisperings of the Holy Ghost more easily.
- We become more like our Heavenly Father.
Wow! That window of blessings has a whole lot more in it than I thought!
The following story, related by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve, illustrates how we can receive temporal blessings as we pay tithing:
“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 her 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 Conference Report, Apr. 1994, 43–44; or Ensign, May 1994, 33).
President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve explained: “It is remarkable how many excuses can be made and interpretations given as to what constitutes the tenth. … It is written, however, that as we measure it shall be measured to us again. If we are stingy with the Lord, he may be stingy with us, or in other words, withhold his blessings” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 2:92).
Invite class members, as appropriate, to share how they or people they love have been blessed by the payment of tithing.
Practical considerations of paying tithing
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve said that “the payment of tithing has less to do with money, but more to do with faith” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1990, 41; or Ensign, May 1990, 32).
So how do we do it? How do we pay our tithing with money, but make it more about our faith? And how can we overcome challenges to our faith that make it difficult to pay?
- Pay tithing first. Elder Marvin J. Ashton said this will reduce the likelihood of financial mismanagement within a family. He also pointed out that this reinforces the principle of honesty, because God does not have a “collection department.”
- I love automatic payment for all my bills. Have you ever wondered why the Church doesn’t offer “payroll deduction”? It’s because God wants us to consciously choose to pay tithing. We are strengthened every time we pay tithing.
The Lord has commanded us to fast and to pay generous fast offerings
In addition to the law of tithing, the Lord has restored the law of the fast. In obedience to this law, we fast as a Church once each month, usually on the first Sunday of the month. We are instructed that a proper fast day observance includes abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals and attending fast and testimony meeting.
Fasting is more than simply going without food. Fasting can be a joyful experience when we fast with a purpose, prepare for the fast, and pray.
- What are some purposes for fasting? (Answers could include that we can fast to draw nearer to the Lord, receive guidance, increase our spiritual strength, humble ourselves, subject our bodily appetites to our spirits, overcome temptation or weakness, strengthen our testimonies, and ask the Lord to bless others.) In what ways has fasting with a purpose added meaning to your fasts?
- What are some things we can do to prepare to fast? In what ways is our fasting more meaningful when we prepare for it?
- We should pray at the beginning of a fast, during the fast, and the end of the fast. Why is it important to pray when we fast?
How does the Lord want us to act while we’re fasting? Read D&C 59:13–14 and Matthew 6:16–18. God views fasting as a time of rejoicing, and blesses us for not moping around on Fast Sunday.
A proper fast includes giving a generous fast offering to help care for those in need. Fast offerings are first used to help those in the ward and stake where the members reside. Bishops may use these funds to provide food, shelter, clothing, and other life-sustaining aid to those in need.
President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Sometimes we have been a bit penurious [unwilling to share] and figured that we had for breakfast one egg and that cost so many cents and then we give that to the Lord. I think that when we are affluent, as many of us are, that we ought to be very, very generous … and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1974, 184).
In Isaiah 58 the Lord chastises the people for fasting improperly, as if it were a time of great mourning. He explains the better way to fast, and promises to hear and bless us as we fast properly. See Isaiah 58:10-11.
Conclusion
As with every other commandment given by the Lord, the commandments to pay tithing and other offerings are given to bless us. I have a testimony that the Lord really does bless us without measure as we generously and cheerfully obey these commandments.
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