We make a very serious mistake when we compare our lives with those who have much wealth, forgetting that most of us have already prospered in the land.

I am concerned that some members live beyond their means as they attempt to keep up with their neighbors. We make a very serious mistake when we compare our lives with those who have much wealth, forgetting that most of us have already prospered in the land. Please be content and enjoy the blessings you have already received instead of becoming a slave to unwise use of consumer debt. Never, ever fail to pay your tithing, and make generous offerings to help the poor.

An Epistle from an Apostle

September 2019

Ensign

M. Russell Ballard

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/09/an-epistle-from-an-apostle?lang=eng&verse=#p

Tithing-To Me It Is A Constantly Recurring Miracle

I am profoundly grateful for the law of tithing. To me it is a constantly recurring miracle. It is made possible by the faith of the people. It is the Lord’s plan for financing the work of His kingdom.

Gordon B. Hinckley, “Of Missions, Temples, and Stewardship,”Ensign, Nov. 1995, 53.

If we will double our fast offerings, we shall increase our own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally

President Marion G. Romney spoke concerning the funding of caring for the needy when he said: “It has been, and now is, the desire and the objective of the Church to obtain from fast offerings the necessary funds to meet the cash needs of the welfare program. … At the present time we are not meeting this objective. We can, we ought, and we must do better. If we will double our fast offerings, we shall increase our own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. This the Lord has promised, and this has been the record.” (“Basics of Church Welfare,” talk given to the Priesthood Board, 6 Mar. 1974, p. 10.)
October 1998 General Conference, Thomas S. Monson, Goal Beyond Victory

A Prophets Voice - Messages From Thomas S. Monson p. 221

Oh, The Church Will Take Care of That. I Pay My Fast Offering!

"We must take care of the poor. Said the Lord, 'The poor ye have with you always.' (See Mark 14:7; John 12:8.) There have always been poor and I guess there always will be poor until the Millennium. We must take care of them and we must have the facilities to do so. But we must be very careful not to overinstitutionalize that care. We must not shift the burden that we ought to carry in our own hearts of spreading kindness and love and help to others, to the institution, which at best, is impersonal.

"I do not want you to get any idea that I am saying we should not have the welfare program. We must have it. It is a part of the Lord's plan and the good it does is vast and incalculable. But I think there is a tendency among us to say, 'Oh, the Church will take care of that. I pay my fast offering. Let the Church take care of that.' We need as individuals, I think, to reach down and extend a helping hand without notice, without thanks, without expectation of anything in return, to give of that with which the Lord has so generously blessed us" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 459).

Give Enough So That You Can Give Yourself into the Kingdom of God

Brother Marion G. Romney, who was the bishop of our ward when I was called on a mission and who later served as a member of the First Presidency of the Church, admonished: “Be liberal in your giving, that you yourselves may grow. Don’t give just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare. Give enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through consecrating of your means and your time.” 12

Author: Joseph B. Wirthlin
Title: The Law of the Fast
Where: Ensign, May 2001, 73