First Presidency Message
The Blessings of Tithing
God’s purpose in giving us commandments is to bless us. He wants to give us eternal life, the greatest of all His gifts (see D&C 14:7).
To receive the gift of living with Him forever in families in the
celestial kingdom, we must be able to live the laws of that kingdom (see
D&C 88:22).
He has
given us commandments in this life to help us develop that capacity.
The law of tithing is one of those preparatory commandments. The law is
that we give to the Lord one-tenth of all our income. It is simple
enough that even a child can understand it. I have seen children hand a
bishop a tithing envelope that contains one-tenth of the coins they
earned.
One of
the blessings that comes from paying a full tithing is developing faith
to live an even higher law. To live in the celestial kingdom, we must
live the law of consecration. There we must be able to feel that all we
are and all we have belong to God.
There are at least three ways that paying a full tithe in this life prepares us to feel what we need to feel to receive the gift of eternal life.
First,
when we pay our tithes to the Church, our Heavenly Father pours out
blessings upon us. Anyone who has consistently paid a full tithe knows
that is true. The blessings are sometimes spiritual and sometimes
temporal. They are given in the Lord’s time and according to what He
knows is best for us.
As
those blessings come, our faith is increased that God is the source of
everything that is good in our lives. It becomes easier to see that
consecration simply recognizes the truth that all of God’s creations are
His. It makes us feel gratitude
that He asks only 10 percent of what He has already given us. So we are
better prepared to live the law of consecration when it will be asked
of us.
Second, all of us who have paid a consistent full tithe feel
greater confidence in asking God for what we and our families need. He
has promised blessings even greater than we can receive when we have
been faithful to our covenant to pay our tithes (see Malachi 3:10).
So one of the great blessings of tithing is confidence in what the
future holds. Whatever our circumstances may be, things will work out
for the best. As we keep our promises, He will keep His. A feeling of
peace is one of the great blessings of paying a full tithe. Those who
have kept the commandment of tithing can testify that the blessing of
peace is real and precious.
Third, those who pay tithing feel
an increase in their love of God and of all God’s children. That
increase of love comes from understanding how the Father uses the tithes
we offer to bless people in this world and for eternity.
Through
His authorized servants, He expends the tithes with great care. The
tithe payer helps the Lord build temples, where families can be sealed
forever. The tithe payer helps Him send the gospel to people everywhere.
The tithe payer helps Him relieve hunger and suffering in His own way
through His servants. Any of those servants can tell you how love
increased because tithing was used to bless people. And so can the
faithful tithe payer.
Tithing
settlement is months in the future. I pray that you and your family
will begin now to plan and prepare to qualify for the blessings that God
pours out on all those who can declare to Him that they are full-tithe
payers.
Teaching from This Message
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•
Sometimes the best way to teach a certain principle is to demonstrate it (see Teaching, No Greater Call [1999], 164).
Consider asking a family member to demonstrate what one-tenth
represents. He or she could demonstrate it by separating one item from a
group of 10 items. To conclude, consider inviting a family member to
show how to fill out a tithing slip.
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•
“Those you teach will benefit from each other’s participation” (Teaching, No Greater Call, 63). Invite family members to share what they believe President Eyring means by the statement “feel
what we need to feel to receive the gift of eternal life.” Consider
discussing the three ways in which paying tithing prepares us to feel
what we need to feel to receive God’s blessings.
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