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TITHES AND OFFERINGS — General teachings regarding this divine law

Tithes and offerings

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that tithing, which is giving one-tenth of one’s income to the Church, is a commandment from God.  The teachings around tithes and offerings can be summarized as follows:

  • Tithing is a commandment —  The Church teaches that tithing is a commandment from God, reiterated in modern times through revelation to Joseph Smith.  It is based on Old Testament practices, particularly the scripture in Malachi 3:10, wherein the Lord tells us to bring all the tithes into the storehouse.
  • Blessings associated with tithing — The Church believes that individuals who faithfully pay tithing will receive blessings from God.  This is linked to the promises found in scriptures like Malachi 3:10, where the Lord states that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon the heads of the faithful.
  • The use of tithing funds — The Church uses tithing funds to build and maintain church buildings and temples, to support the Church’s educational programs, to carry out worldwide missionary work, to translate and publish scriptures, and for other purposes determined by Church leaders.
  • Fast offerings — In addition to tithing, the Church encourages members to fast once a month and donate the money saved from skipping meals (known as a fast offering) to the Church.  The Church uses these fast offerings to help the poor and needy.
  • Willingness and honesty:  The Church emphasizes that tithes should be paid willingly and honestly.  It is up to each individual to determine what one-tenth of the ‘increase’, or income, means.
  • Tithing settlement:  At the end of each calendar year, Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to meet with their bishop to ensure their tithing contributions have been recorded correctly and to declare themselves as full, part, or non-tithe payers.  This is known as ‘tithing settlement’.
  • Temple worthiness:  Paying a full tithe is a requirement for a temple recommend, which allows worthy Latter-day Saints to enter the Church’s temples.
  • Teach from a young age:  The Church encourages parents to teach their children about tithing from a young age.  This includes encouraging children to pay tithing on money they earn or receive as gifts.
  • Generosity:  The teachings on tithing reflect the Church’s belief in being self-reliant and helping others through the use of the Church’s welfare program.  Paying tithing is seen as a way to support the Church and its various activities around the world.

Scriptural references regarding tithing and offerings

  • Malachi 3:10 — “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.”
  • 2 Corinthians  9:7 — “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
  • Doctrine and Covenants 64:23 — “Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.”
  • Doctrine and Covenants 119:4 — “And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.”
  • Doctrine and Covenants 120:1 — “Verily, thus saith the Lord, the time is now come, that it shall be disposed of by a council, composed of the First Presidency of my Church, and of the bishop and his council, and by my high council; and by mine own voice unto them, saith the Lord.”

Quotes from General Authorities regarding tithing

  • “Tithing is not a matter of money, really; it is a matter of faith – faith in the Lord.” — President Gordon B. Hinckley
  • “I testify that by your obedience to this law of tithing, as to all other laws, the windows of heaven will be opened, and blessings will be poured upon you.” — President N. Elder Tanner
  • “The Lord desires to bless us materially as well as spiritually.  He is interested in our success in fields of business and other secular learning, but he knows that if we have not learned to pay an honest tithing we are not prepared to handle the blessings intended for us.” — President Marion G. Romney
  • “Tithing is a principle that is fundamental to the personal happiness and well-being of the Church members worldwide, both rich and poor.” — President Howard W. Hunter
  • “The payment of tithing is a commandment, a commandment with a promise.  If we obey this commandment, we are promised that we will ‘prosper in the land’. ” — President Thomas S. Monson
  • “A tithe payer is eligible to receive the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  This gift serves the faithful as a compass, a means to discern right from wrong.”  — Elder David A. Bednar
  • “Paying tithing is not a token gift we are somehow charitably bestowing upon God.  Paying tithing is discharging a debt.”  — Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
  • “Tithing develops and tests our faith.  By sacrificing to the Lord what we may think we need or want for ourselves, we learn to rely on him.” — Elder D. Todd Christofferson
  • “The honest payment of tithing is much more than a duty; it is an important step in the process of personal sanctification.” — Elder Robert D. Hales
  • Often as we teach and testify about the law of tithing, we emphasize the immediate, dramatic, and readily recognizable temporal blessings that we receive.  And surely such blessings do occur.  Yet some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle.  Such blessings can be discerned only if we are both spiritually attentive and observant (see 1 Corinthians 2:14).

“The Windows of Heaven”, presented by Elder David A. Bednar in October 2013 General Conference

.     The imagery of the “windows” of heaven used by Malachi is most instructive.  Windows allow natural light to enter into a building.  In like manner, spiritual illumination and perspective are poured out through the windows of heaven and into our lives as we honor the law of tithing.  For example, a subtle but significant blessing we receive is the spiritual gift of gratitude that enables our appreciation for what we have to constrain desires for what we want.  A grateful person is rich in contentment.  An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment.  (See Luke 12:15)
.     We may need and pray for help to find suitable employment.  Eyes and ears of faith (see Ether 12:19) are needed, however, to recognize the spiritual gift of enhanced discernment that can empower us to identify job opportunities that many other people might overlook — or the blessing of greater personal determination to search hard and longer for a position than other people may be able or willing to do.  We might want and expect a job offer, but the blessings that come to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else.
.     We may appropriately desire and work to receive a pay raise in our employment to better provide the necessities of life.  Eyes and ears of faith are required, however, to notice in us an increased spiritual and temporal capacity (see Luke 2:52) to do more with less, a keener ability to prioritize and simplify, and an enhanced ability to take proper care of the material possessions we already have acquired. We might want and expect a larger paycheck, but the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else.  Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina.  We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarge perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace..  He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals.  And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience.
.     I promise that as you and I observe and keep the law of tithing, indeed the windows of heaven will be opened and spiritual and temporal blessings will be poured out such that there shall not be room enough to receive them (see Malachi 3:10) .  We also will remember the Lord’s declaration: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither my ways your ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9).  I testify that as we are spiritually attentive and observant, we will be blessed with eyes that see more clearly, ears that hear more consistently, and hearts that understand more fully the significance and subtlety of His ways, His thoughts, and His blessings in our lives.  The honest paying of tithing is much more than a duty – it is an important step in the process of personal sanctification.  To those of you who pay your tithing, I commend you. To those of you who presently are not obeying the law of tithing, I invite you to consider your ways and repent.  I testify that by your obedience to this law of the Lord, the windows of heaven will be opened to you.  Please do not procrastinate the day of your repentance.  I testify spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing.  I bear witness that such blessings often are significant but subtle.

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