Many church people say that paying tithing to a church or to charity will make you financially stable and bring other blessings into your family. For example, you might have good health to avoid doctor bills. Your grandmother might give you a car so that you dont have to buy one. Your garden will grow carrots two feet long to help you feed your family. Many tithe payers report such good happenings. Now some get-rich schemers, and other business people trying to induce you into their programs, say that paying your tithing will make you rich. Will it? I know thousands of tithe payers. All are happy and feel blessed for paying their tithing. Only a few are rich. I also know many non-tithe payers who are getting along fine and a few of which are rich. A study was made in Utah of the living conditions of those who paid tithing in a small town versus those who were supposed to be paying tithing but didnt. The conclusion was that both groups had the same standard of living but those who paid their tithing never suffered from paying it. They all had cars, boats, sent their kids to college, etc. The tithe payers were doing good for their church, permitting the church to grow and providing help to the needy (partly by a second contribution called Fast Offering). They also had to be better managers of their assets. My dad use to show me his tithing book. He was out of work for two years during the depression and had no income. His first entry was for $13.00 which was a full tithing for one depression year. Every year he paid more tithing as the economic conditions improved. He took this increase in income as a blessing of paying tithing. While he was out of work, like many in the depression, our family was taken care of by the Church members. We in turn fed the bums that came to our door, usually hot bread and a bowl of beans. (The bums walked two and one-half blocks passed the houses of our neighbors to get to our house. Our address was posted near the railroad tracks.) What I see in rich people is an ability to understand the basic concepts of finance and running a business. They are often from business-oriented families. They are blessed with money because they follow the rules. It always amazes me that immigrants come into our country with out a cent in their pocket and rapidly or slowly become wealthy. An entrepreneur reported that once he learned how to make money, money didn't matter anymore as far as starting a business was concerned. What he meant was that if you dropped him penniless into Chicago with only the clothes on his back, he would become wealthy again because of his knowledge. In our church we have a saying (scripture) that when we receive a blessing from God it is based on the law on which it is predicated. Getting rich is based on financial laws. The saying says that all blessings are based on heavenly laws. That tells me that financial laws must be heavenly and must be followed to receive the blessing of getting rich. One must manage his money to start and run a successful business. Paying tithing helps you to learn how to manage your money. Im sure that some have become wealthy because they learned this principal by paying their tithing. I read reports from the histories of wealthy men who said this. Maybe that is how paying tithing can help make you wealthy. Now days many think that the final judgment does not relate to what was taught by the founder of Christianity. He said that we will be judged according to how we take care of others when they are in need. Paying tithing helps those in need. Those who pay tithing feel good about it. In my seventy-four years Ive never heard a tithe payer say he missed the money, that he couldnt afford to pay it, or that the practice did not bring blessings. |
