Tithing - A Better Investment

I was going to blog about something else this morning, but since I'm giving a lesson in church this weekend, I figured I'd better start preparing for that. The lesson is on Tithing, and as I was reading over the manual, I was thinking about value and worth. Why do we value money? Why do we value blessings? How much money are promised blessings worth?

I think that things have value if they make us happy. The greater happiness they give us and the longer that happiness lasts, the more value that thing has. If there was a candy bar that would make me sort of happy for a little while, and a cookie that would make me a little happier for a little longer, the cookie would have a higher value to me. If I were going to buy one of them, I would probably buy the cookie. But then I'd have to consider the cost.

Most things have a cost - not necessarily a cost in money, but a cost of some kind. In order to get something, you usually have to give up something else. Things usually cost money, but they can also cost time or effort. Time, money, and effort are resources that have value because they can be traded for other things that have value. You can spend time (and some money for supplies) painting a picture, and that picture can make you happy.

In the game of life, everyone is trying to get as much happiness as they can, and since there are a lot of things that can bring happiness, people go about gaining happiness in a variety of ways. Some people try to accumulate money and material possessions. Some people pursue happiness that is even more temporary (but are usually easier to get), like entertainment and "fun." And some people turn to religion for happiness, because even though religion doesn't seem to yield much happiness in the short-term plan, it does offer a great deal of happiness in the long run, though it does cost a lot of time and effort, and sometimes even money.

Most churches collect tithes and offerings to keep themselves running. After all, the buildings, books, manuals, and budgets for activities all cost money. The idea is that the buildings, books, manuals, and activities will help people along the path to greater happiness than anything else the money could have been spent on could have given them. It's a rather bold investment, but it might be a wise one.

When we die, all the money we ever earned, along with everything we've ever bought with that money, will stay behind on earth as we pass on. Since we can't carry material items with us into the beyond, we must find other things of value to spend our resources on in order to continue to have happiness after we die. Things of value in heaven may include pleasant memories and strong family relationships, so it may be wise to spend some of our resources on those. Also, God has promised eternal blessings to those who keep His commandments. Although those commandments often involve making sacrifices, if His promises are sure, making those sacrifices would be a very wise investment of resources.

In a nutshell, you can spend money on material things and have more now and less later, or you can give that money to God through tithes and offerings, and have less now, but be rewarded with more later. The question is a matter of which package of happiness is greater and will last longer than the other. Which one has a greater total value? Which one is a better investment?