I’ve been wanting write a blog about the blessings of paying tithing. We are commanded to pay one tenth of our increase to the church; this is our tithing. My husband and I have had times when we have struggled financially, but we have always paid our tithing. We have been blessed for it. We haven’t been blessed with great riches, but we have been blessed in other ways.
President Heber J Grant said this about blessings that come from tithing: “I bear witness—and I know that the witness I bear is true—that the men and the women who have been absolutely honest with God, who have paid their tithing, … God has given them wisdom whereby they have been able to utilize the remaining nine-tenths, and it has been of greater value to them, and they have accomplished more with it than they would if they had not been honest with the Lord” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1912, p. 30).
I have found this to be true. My husband and I were making ends meet, but barely. My husband had been looking for a better job, and he found one. Within two months of starting that job (with a substantial pay increase) our car and our washing machine had broken down. As I sat and started to complain about it, the thought came to me that this was a blessing. We had been blessed that the washing machine (which was close to fifteen years old) had made it until we could afford to buy a new one. We were also blessed that the car (which was ten years old) didn’t need the repair work done, until we could afford it. Another blessing that we have received is good health.
In a talk titled “Tithing,” Dallin H Oaks says: “Tithing is a commandment with a promise. The words of Malachi, reaffirmed by the Savior, promise those who bring their tithes into the storehouse that the Lord will open “the windows of heaven, and pour [them] out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” The promised blessings are temporal and spiritual. The Lord promises to ‘rebuke the devourer,’ and he also promises tithe payers that ‘all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land’ (3 Ne. 24:10–12; see Mal. 3:10–12).”
The blessings we receive may not be riches or wealth, but the Lord will take care of us. The Lord will help us meet our temporal needs. We will also be blessed spiritually. The peace and wisdom that come with paying your tithing are great blessings. Paying my tithing helps me to find peace, and it gives me a measure of security.