Tithing

I have a strong testimony of tithing. It is something that I never regret paying. I guess I don't even think about it, really... in fact, I consider it something we need to do to be financially stable. As a missionary, however, it often embarassed me to bring up tithing to investigators. It was one of the last principles they learned about before they were baptized. I sort of felt like it was "the catch." You know, like you hear a GREAT offer on TV or see it online and you get all excited but then you're like "What's the catch?" And there always is one. Yes, you can get 4 Disney movies for just $1!!! (all you have to do is buy 6 more at $19.95 each over the course of the next two years...) Anyway, we would explain to investigators that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was Jesus Christ's church restored to the earth. We would share the Book of Mormon with them and they would feel the Spirit. They received answers to their prayers. Their families became stronger. They made friends and felt good at church. YES!! They wanted to be baptized! OF COURSE!! "There's just one little thing... you need to promise to give us 10% of your income for the rest of your life..." It always surprised me that people didn't get offended and think it was a trick to get their money all along. I guess they must have been more faithful than I gave them credit for. I mean, I knew that I had a testimony of tithing, but it was almost like THEY had a testimony of tithing too... before they even paid it for the first time.

I guess I needn't have worried. Most of the people we taught had already attended a different church before. Malachi 3:10 talks about tithing very clearly. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." God isn't so much asking His children to make a sacrifice as He is testing their faith so that He can bless them in abundance. Another missionary taught me a teaching trick that I have used and loved ever since. We would find out what the investigator's favorite candy was the lesson before the lesson on tithing. Let's say it was M&Ms. We would go buy a big bag of M&Ms and bring it to the next lesson with us. Once there, we would count out ten M&Ms, give them to the investigator, and then put the bag away. The investigator was always pleasantly surprised by this. Then, we would ask for an M&M back. The investigator always gave it back to us quite willingly. After all, we were the people who gave it to him in the first place. Plus, he still had 9 more - no big deal. After he would give us back that one M&M, we would open the bag again and pour out the whole thing into his hands. We explained that this example is a lot like tithing. God gives us everything we have. He just asks that we have the faith to give him back one small tenth of our increase. After doing so, the blessings are abundant. He will "pour us out a blessing" just like we poured out the M&Ms.

I have a few personal experiences with the law of tithing that have solidified my testimony of it. I will share just one of them here. One time, as I was getting my things in order in preparation for leaving the country, I realized that I couldn't find my passport. I was supposed to leave in a week or two and became very panicky about it. I searched EVERYWHERE for that thing. I shed a lot of tears and said a lot of prayers about the issue. One Sunday, shortly before I was supposed to leave, it occured to me that I hadn't paid my tithing in a while. I had been keeping track of how much I owed, but I hadn't written the check. I felt impressed that if I would pay my tithing, the Lord would bless me and help me find my passport. So, I wrote the check and gave it to the bishop that day. Not even an hour after church was over, my roommate got a phone call from her dad. Guess what? Yup. He had my passport. He didn't even know that I was looking for it, but he had come across it IN HIS SOCK DRAWER and had called to let us know. Yes, you read that right. My passport was in my roommate's father's SOCK drawer. How it got there, I doubt I will ever know. What I do know is that I certainly wouldn't have ever found it on my own. But, the Lord had promised me a blessing if I paid my tithing, and He was the only one who knew where to find it. So, the passport was mailed to me and I was on my way.

My husband and I have been discussing our financial future a lot lately. We've been trying to figure out where we want to live, what kind of job he wants, how much money we can comfortably live off of, etc. I am probably one of the most paranoid people I know. I worry about EVERYTHING. I worry that the ceiling fan is going to fall and hit my daughter. I worry that if I don't kiss my husband goodbye one day, it will surely be the last time I see him. I even worry that when I kill a spider, his friends will come back for revenge. But, I don't worry about our financial future. I know these are probably some of the BIGGEST most IMPORTANT decisions we will face in our lives. For some reason, I'm not worried. I know that if we pay our tithing, it will be okay! We might not be rich, but we will be provided for. I really believe that. Everything that has ever happened in my financial history has taught me that is true. What a great principle that is! Instead of worrying that our friends and neighbors with whom we share the gospel are not able to afford paying tithing, we should ask ourselves how they can afford NOT to. The Lord is bound when we do what He says (D&C 82:10). If we want to have overflowing blessings, we just need to return a meager 10% of what He gave us in the first place.