Tithing - The Lord's Richest Blessings

One last post on tithing, then I'll move on to other topics. In April 2011, Elder Carl B. Pratt of the Seventy gave a talk on tithing, which he titled "The Lord's Richest Blessings." In that talk, he shared the following story:

The early 1920s in Mexico were hard times. The violent revolution had just ended. There was little cash circulating, and most of it was in silver coins. People often conducted their business through barter, or exchange of goods and services. 

One day toward the end of summer, Grandpa John came home, having completed a trade and having received as part of the deal 100 pesos in silver coins. He gave the money to Ida with instructions it was to be used to cover the upcoming school expenses of the children. 

Ida was grateful for the money but reminded John that they had not paid any tithing all summer long. They had had no cash income, but Ida reminded him that the animals had provided meat, eggs, and milk. Their garden had provided an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and they had made other trades for goods not involving cash. Ida suggested they should give the money to the bishop to cover their tithing.

The law of tithing requires ten percent of our increase, but not all goods are monetary. John and Ida hadn't  received any cash that summer until John made a trade for those pesos, but Ida knew that they had received many other kinds of blessings that could only have come from the Lord. They had had their "increase," and Ida knew they should pay tithing on it.

Now, exactly how much tithing did they owe? How much increase had they received? It would have been impossible to judge the exact amount, but my guess is that they gave more than they technically owed, and there are a few good reasons to do that. First, you don't want to estimate too low and end up short-changing the Lord. It's better to give too much than too little. And second, there's the law of compensation to consider. The more we give to God, the more He gives back. If they had only owed 80 pesos worth of tithing when they paid 100, I wouldn't be surprised at all if God gave them at least an extra 20 pesos worth of blessings to balance the accounts. God is just, fair, merciful, and generous.

But He doesn't always pay in cash. As Elder Pratt said later in the talk:

We might conclude that since we pay tithing with money, the Lord will always bless us with money. I tended to think that way as a child. I have since learned it doesn’t necessarily work that way. The Lord promises blessings to those who pay their tithing. He promises to “open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). I testify that He fulfills His promises, and if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life, but He does not promise wealth. Money and bank accounts are not His richest blessings.

No, the Lord's richest blessings are the kind that we obtain in the eternities. But thankfully, we're promised that God won't let us starve because we paid our tithing. Elder Pratt testified that, "if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life." He also said that when we pay our tithing, God "blesses us with wisdom to manage our limited material resources, wisdom that enables us to live better with 90 percent of our income than with 100 percent."

I don't know if God ever promised any faithful person that they'd have a lot of money. Maybe Abraham, since he was pretty rich, as I recall. But usually those who are most blessed by the Lord aren't necessarily rolling in dough. They have sufficient for their needs, and enough inner peace to be okay with have only that much. God doesn't want us to be greedy or stingy, or to split hairs while we're counting coins. God wants us to give generously, so He can give generously (though not always financially) to us.

Again, as I may have said yesterday, it's relatively easy for me to say that. I don't deal with money much, neither giving nor receiving. But I do deal in time. God gives me just as much time as He gives everyone else, and I spend it just as quickly as everyone else does. Maybe I should be more careful with where my time goes, and spend more of it doing what God would want me to do. It's not exactly tithing, but it is a way I can repay God for my blessings, and maybe God'll do some good with my time, just as He does with everybody's tithing money. We should all thank God for our many blessings, whatever form those blessings take.