My Useful Nine-tenths..

For my next study entered into my scripture journal, I chose three of the best talks about tithing.

 Here are the talks that I like the most.

Tithing - a Commandment Even for the Destitute
By: Lynn G. Robbins
Of the First Quorum of the Seventy

I've realized how natural I am before in paying tithing. I was the poor who believes that I can't pay tithing because I don't have enough money and I have to pay for many things important. I was the one who longs for more income to pay tithing but actually did not. I've learned from this talk that

"The Lord often teaches using extreme circumstances to illustrate a principle"

 Realizing it now, I feel grateful that I had experienced extreme circumstances in my life. Through it, I was able to see and understand the Lord's teachings on tithing and other principles. I know how hard it is. The Lord knows it. Because He knew it, He was with me little by little, step by step, precept upon precept and finally, I was able to faithfully & honestly pay my tithing. 

A perfect example of extreme poverty was the story of the widow of Zarephath. (1 Kgs. 17:10–12).

Before I don't really appreciate this story but now, I really do!

I've learned that our faith in Jesus Christ is very important. 

"One reason the Lord illustrates doctrines with the most extreme circumstances is to eliminate excuses."

Once you know, you can not make excuses anymore. But you will be afraid to make excuses. We can't afford not to.

The Lord’s Richest Blessings

Carl B. Pratt

Of the Seventy

 I like how he enumerated the richest blessings we received from paying tithing.

  I testify that He fulfills His promises, and if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life, but He does not promise wealth. Money and bank accounts are not His richest blessings. He blesses us with wisdom to manage our limited material resources, wisdom that enables us to live better with 90 percent of our income than with 100 percent. Thus, faithful tithe payers understand provident living and tend to be more self-reliant.

I have come to understand that the Lord’s richest blessings are spiritual, and they often have to do with family, friends, and the gospel. He often seems to give the blessing of a special sensitivity to the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, especially in marriage and family matters like raising children. Such spiritual sensitivity can help us enjoy the blessings of harmony and peace in the home. President James E. Faust suggested that the payment of tithing is “an excellent insurance against divorce” (“Enriching Your Marriage,” Liahona, Apr. 2007, 5; Ensign, Apr. 2007, 7).

The payment of tithing helps us develop a submissive and humble heart and a grateful heart that tends to “confess … his hand in all things” (D&C 59:21). Tithe-paying fosters in us a generous and forgiving heart and a charitable heart full of the pure love of Christ. We become eager to serve and bless others with an obedient heart, submissive to the Lord’s will. Regular tithe payers find their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ strengthened, and they develop a firm, abiding testimony of His gospel and of His Church. None of these blessings are monetary or material in any way, but surely they are the Lord’s richest blessings.

I know these blessings are true because anyone who pays tithing will truly receive these blessings and will experience the joy of the blessing brought by paying tithing.

The Sacred Law of Tithing

By President Gordon B. Hinckley

First Counselor in the First Presidency

I like how Pres. Hinckley tells me all the promises of paying the tithing! I know how comforting is it! 

"Now, do not get me wrong. I do not say that if you pay an honest tithing you will realize your dream of a fine house, a Rolls Royce, and a condominium in Hawaii. The Lord will open the windows of heaven according to our need, and not according to our greed. If we are paying tithing to get rich, we are doing it for the wrong reason. The basic purpose of tithing is to provide the Church with the means needed to carry on the Lord’s work. The blessing to the giver is an ancillary return, and that blessing may not be always in the form of financial or material benefit."

I've seen this quote from theredheadedhostess. And it is really TRUE!

Indeed, after overcoming the fear and weakness I had, after paying tithing honestly, after developing my spirituality, and looking up to the promises...

my nine-tenths has been so useful and of greater value to me that I never thought before.

I received so many blessings and still will have so many blessings to come.
And this testimony of Pres. Grant is TRUE!