Pour You Out a Blessing

In the most recent general conference, Elder Andersen spoke about tithing. He related this story about his mother-in-law: “Twenty-five years ago, just days before my mother-in-law, Martha Williams, died of cancer, she received a small check in the mail. She immediately asked my wife, Kathy, for her checkbook to pay her tithing. As her mother was so weakened that she could scarcely write, Kathy asked if she could write the check for her. Her mother responded, ‘No, Kathy. I want to do it myself.’ And then she quietly added, ‘I want to be right before the Lord.’ One of the final things Kathy did for her mother was to hand her tithing envelope to her bishop.” Interestingly, he told another story about Martha in the notes of the talk, showing that her devotion to the principle of tithing had actually helped her to become active in the church in the first place many years before. He told how she was baptized at the age of 22 but soon thereafter became inactive when she moved to another state. Her husband was deployed in the military and she lived with other family members. Elder Andersen related, “While living in very humble circumstances, expecting her first child and not attending church, Martha Williams made the decision to start sending her tithing check to the bishop. Later in her life, when asked why, she said that she remembered something the missionaries had taught her about tithing and God’s blessings: ‘We desperately needed God’s blessings in our lives, and so I began sending our tithing check to the bishop.’” He summarized, “Martha and Bernard Williams returned to the Church. Their greatest blessing—six generations have been blessed because of her decision to pay her tithing when she had nothing but faith in God and hope in His promises.” Her commitment to the law of tithing helped to strengthen her relationship with the Lord, and that is I believe the key thing about tithing: it is a spiritual law between us and the Lord. The Church doesn’t give specific guidelines for what counts as our income that needs to be tithed (for example, is it gross or net?) or request that tithing be paid openly in front of others. It is done privately, and we are the only ones who really know the details on how we are paying our tithing. It is most importantly a way for us personally to show the Lord that we value Him over the things of the world.

                Elder Andersen summarized one of the blessings of paying tithing by referring to something that President Eyring taught. He said, “In 1998 I accompanied then-Elder Henry B. Eyring to a large Church meeting in the Utah area now known as Silicon Slopes, a community of great innovation in technology. It was a time of growing prosperity, and Elder Eyring cautioned the Saints about comparing what they had with others and wanting more. I will always remember his promise that as they paid an honest tithe, their desire for more material possessions would diminish. Within two years, the technology bubble burst. Many lost their jobs, and companies struggled during this time of financial adjustment. Those who followed the counsel of Elder Eyring were blessed.” In this case, the blessing that came from tithing wasn’t more wealth but instead restraint and wisdom to not chase after more wealth. The famous promise from Malachi says this: “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” (Malachi 3:10). I think too often we assume that these blessings are temporal and they mean that we will have all the riches we desire. But perhaps the greatest blessing we receive from the Lord for paying our tithing is a spiritual protection against greed and the “deceitfulness of riches.” When we willingly and consistently give up some of our money to the Lord to build up His kingdom, we show Him and ourselves that our love for God is greater than our love for material possessions. And with that we develop our relationship with Him and wisdom gained therefrom, a process summarized succinctly in this verse: “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:7).