Lesson 17: The Law of Tithing and the Law of the Fast

Purpose

To help class members strengthen their desire to pay a full tithe and live the law of the fast.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the following scriptures:
  • Doctrine and Covenants 59:13–14, 21; 119; 120.
  • Isaiah 58:6–12; Malachi 3:8–12; 3 Nephi 24:8–12; Matthew 6:16–18; 3 Nephi 13:16–18
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following:
  • "The Tithing of My People": This article gives context for the revelations included in Doctrine and Covenants 119 and 120.
  • "Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman": This article discusses the place and time in which the revelations now found in Doctrine and Covenants 115–17 were received.
  • "Ministry of Lorenzo Snow: Leading the Church Out of Financial Bondage": This two-minute video discusses President Snow's teachings on tithing in St. George, Utah.
  • "Teachings of Heber J. Grant: The Lord's Law of Financial Success": This two-minute video discusses President Grant's teachings on tithing, fast offerings, and debt.

Questions to Ponder

 

1. The Lord has commanded us to pay tithing. He has promised great blessings to those who obey this commandment.

The Lord's definition of tithing

• The Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation on tithing on 8 July 1838 in Far West, Missouri. Read D&C 119:3–4. What is the Lord's definition of tithing as revealed in these verses?
  The First Presidency gave the following definition of tithing: "The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay 'one-tenth of all their interest annually,' which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this" (First Presidency letter, 19 Mar. 1970).
  President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve explained: "It is remarkable how many excuses can be made and interpretations given as to what constitutes the tenth. … It is written, however, that as we measure it shall be measured to us again. If we are stingy with the Lord, he may be stingy with us, or in other words, withhold his blessings" (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 2:92).

The Lord's promises to tithe payers

• Read Malachi 3:8–9 or 3 Nephi 24:8–9. In what ways do we "rob God" if we do not pay tithes and offerings? (also read D&C 59:21 and D&C 104:14 )
• Read Malachi 3:10–12 or 3 Nephi 24:10–12. What does the Lord promise those who pay tithing?
  • Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke of spiritual blessings that come when we pay tithing:
    
    "The tithe-payer establishes communion with the Lord. This is the happiest reward. Obedience to the law of tithing, as to any other law, brings a deep, inward joy, a satisfaction and understanding that can be won in no other way. Man becomes in a real sense a partner, albeit a humble one, with the Lord in the tremendous, eternal program laid out for human salvation. The principles of truth become clearer of comprehension; the living of them easier of accomplishment. A new nearness is established between man and his Maker. Prayer becomes easier. Doubt retreats; faith advances; certainty and courage buoy up the soul. The spiritual sense is sharpened; the eternal voice is heard more clearly. Man becomes more like his Father in Heaven" (in Deseret News, 16 May 1936, Church Section, 5).
    
    The following story, related by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve, illustrates how we can receive temporal blessings as we pay tithing:
    
    "During World War II, my widowed mother supported her three young children on a schoolteacher's salary that was meager. When I became conscious that we went without some desirable things because we didn't have enough money, I asked my mother why she paid so much of her salary as tithing. I have never forgotten her explanation: 'Dallin, there might be some people who can get along without paying tithing, but we can't. The Lord has chosen to take your father and leave me to raise you children. I cannot do that without the blessings of the Lord, and I obtain those blessings by paying an honest tithing. When I pay my tithing, I have the Lord's promise that he will bless us, and we must have those blessings if we are to get along'" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1994, 43–44; or Ensign, May 1994, 33).
• How have you been blessed spiritually and temporally  as you have lived the law of tithing?

Reasons for paying tithing

We should pay tithing because we love the Lord and have faith in Him, not just because we need blessings.

• How does paying tithing show our love for the Lord? How does it affect our relationship with Him?
• Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve said that "the payment of tithing has less to do with money, but more to do with faith" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1990, 41; or Ensign, May 1990, 32). How is tithing more about faith than money?
• Why is it sometimes a challenge to pay tithing? What can we do to overcome that challenge?

Use of tithing funds

• Who determines how tithing funds are used? (See D&C 120. Note that in this revelation, the phrase "the bishop and his council" refers to the Presiding Bishopric. The phrase "high council" refers to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, and Presiding Bishopric constitute the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes.)

President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of the deep respect the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes has for tithing funds:

"I keep on the credenza behind my desk a widow's mite that was given me in Jerusalem many years ago as a reminder, a constant reminder, of the sanctity of the funds with which we have to deal. They come from the widow; they are her offering as well as the tithe of the rich man, and they are to be used with care and discretion for the purposes of the Lord. We treat them carefully and safeguard them and try in every way that we can to see that they are used as we feel the Lord would have them used for the upbuilding of His work and the betterment of people" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 69; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 50).

• What are tithing funds used for?
  Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained: "[Tithing] funds are spent to build and maintain temples and houses of worship, to conduct our worldwide missionary work, to translate and publish scriptures, to provide resources to redeem the dead, to fund religious education, and to support other Church purposes selected by the designated servants of the Lord" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1994, 46; or Ensign, May 1994, 35).

Reflect on Elder Oaks's statement and consider how you have been blessed because of temples, meetinghouses, missionary work, the scriptures, the work to redeem the dead, and seminary or institute. The greatest blessings we can receive are tied directly to obedience to the law of tithing. As we ponder these blessings, we can see that the Lord truly does "open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10; see also 3 Nephi 24:10).

2. The Lord has commanded us to fast and to pay generous fast offerings.

Another law that the Lord has restored in the latter days is the law of the fast. In obedience to this law, we fast as a Church once each month, usually on the first Sunday of the month. We are instructed that a proper fast day observance includes abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals and attending fast and testimony meeting. In addition to fasting on fast days, we may fast for reasonable amounts of time whenever we feel a special need to do so.

Fasting is more than simply going without food. Fasting can be a joyful experience when we fast with a purpose, prepare for the fast, and pray.

• What are some purposes for fasting? In what ways has fasting with a purpose added meaning to your fasts?
• What are some things we can do to prepare to fast? In what ways is our fasting more meaningful when we prepare for it?
• We should pray at the beginning of a fast, during the fast, and the end of the fast. Why is it important to pray when we fast?
• Read D&C 59:13–14 and Matthew 6:16–18 or 3 Nephi 13:16–18. According to these scriptures, how should we act when we fast? Why do you think fasting is equated with joy and rejoicing? What have you done to make fasting a joyful experience?

On fast Sunday, a proper fast includes giving a generous fast offering to help care for those in need. Fast offerings are first used to help those in the ward and stake where the members reside. Bishops may use these funds to provide food, shelter, clothing, and other life-sustaining aid to those in need.

• Why is giving fast offerings an important part of living the law of the fast?
• How generous should we be when we pay fast offerings?
  
  President Spencer W. Kimball said: "Sometimes we have been a bit penurious [unwilling to share] and figured that we had for breakfast one egg and that cost so many cents and then we give that to the Lord. I think that when we are affluent, as many of us are, that we ought to be very, very generous … and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1974, 184).
   
• What are some of the consequences when we pay generous fast offerings? (See Isaiah 58:6–7 and the following quotation.)
  
  President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "Think … of what would happen if the principles of fast day and the fast offering were observed throughout the world. The hungry would be fed, the naked clothed, the homeless sheltered. Our burden of taxes would be lightened. The giver would not suffer but would be blessed by his small abstinence. A new measure of concern and unselfishness would grow in the hearts of people everywhere" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 73; or Ensign, May 1991, 52–53).
• Read Isaiah 58:8–12. What has the Lord promised to those who obey the law of the fast? In what ways has fasting helped you? What can we do to become more diligent in living the law of the fast?