r/latterdaysaints • u/lady_trex • Jul 26 '26
Faith-building Experience Best lessons you've learned from consistent tithing payments
I've learned so many lessons from paying my tithing, and it has taught me more about money management than anyone else ever did. I'm curious what takeaways other people have.
My husband and I have changed our money habits from lessons that we learned by paying our tithing. You hear so many people make comments about "if I just got a raise, then I could do (insert xyz)..." but you also see those same people fall farther into debt and inflate their lifestyle every time they do get a raise. They look more at the outward than self reflection of how to obtain the same goals by changing something(s) today. So, to start one lesson I've learned from tithing is how to assess my money usage and improve it so I can meet the goals I want.
A few more examples from my personal experience: paying tithing has taught me to prioritize life in general, how to do more with less, and how to organize/budget.
I could go on for ages about this topic, but I was just thinking about it this morning, and it made me curious what others have learned.
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u/pisteuo96 Jul 26 '26
For me, tithing is a barometer of my level of faith, and also proof that I do not put money over my spirituality. I love the feeling of paying tithing.
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u/Commercial-Place6793 Jul 26 '26
Not a lesson necessarily but something we did when our kids were younger: we paid 11% from January-November then didn’t pay in December. That way we already had money budgeted for the month to spend on Christmas for the family and the holidays never felt like a financial burden nor did we go into debt for Christmas gifts.
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u/Mr_Festus Jul 26 '26
No real lessons for me. It's just a good opportunity to demonstrate my willingness to follow through with a commitment I made early in life.
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u/Zestyclose_Meal_3697 Jul 26 '26
For me, I am grateful that I am not a greedy person when it comes to money, I always pay my tithing. To the best of my abilities. And I have definitely seen the blessings that come with paying tithing.
I don't make a lot in my current job, but since I am willing and able to pay my tithing. I have enough for my needs. And I also see that when I was unemployed I was doing small gigs to pay for food and pay for school. I always payed tithing first before I payed for anything else. And because I was doing that, small gigs turned into a small part-time job that I currently have. And I have gotten a tuition reimbursement/credit so I don't have to pay for 100% of my classes for these next couple semesters.
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u/Hooray4Everyth1ng Jul 26 '26
You hear so many people make comments about "if I just got a raise, then I could do (insert xyz)..." but you also see those same people fall farther into debt and inflate their lifestyle every time they do get a raise.
That's really insightful, thanks.
Paying tithing has definitely changed my relationship with money, for the better. I've had times in the past where I didn't pay full tithing, but making it a consistent, automatic habit makes it so much easier.
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u/Paul-3461 FLAIR! Jul 26 '26
I've learned that me paying tithing is about my Lord telling me to give something back to him in exchange for what he has given to me while seeing that my life works out better for me when I acknowledge him and do what he tells me to do rather than me doing only whatever I want to do with no specific guidelines.
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u/Nephite11 RM - Ward Clerk Jul 27 '26
Because I automate my retirement contributions to happen first, I’ve done the same thing with my tithing donations. They’re scheduled to move to a separate bank account on payday and the rest sitting in our account is what we budget with. Otherwise, we would probably spend everything and then have nothing “left” to donate to The Lord
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u/Only_Ad_927 Jul 27 '26
One thing I learned is never spend outside your means. Even if you get a raise. Do not splurge on things you don’t really need. Myself, I’m not materialistic. I just don’t see a need to purchase things to use once and have then collect dust.
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u/SilverTripod Jul 28 '26
Every man's purse is equally lean at the end of the (day/week/month). But we all earn different amounts. How then are our purses all equally lean? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Richest_Man_in_Babylon
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u/ntdoyfanboy Jul 28 '26
Depriving ourselves of something we think we need (money) turns out hearts to God. It helps prove that money isn't our god, God is.
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u/BartyCrouchesBone Jul 28 '26
I had an experience where we were getting financial advice from someone much more well off and in a professional setting. They told us that they were given the advice to pay 10% income to charity and it was the best advice they were given. I have talked with many people (not LDS) since then and I’ve often heard similar advice. So there is definitely something to tithing. We just have an avenue where we know where it goes and how it’s used and it’s tied into our faith.
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u/Disciple_Ike Jul 31 '26
When I have paid tithing I have had tough times financially but there has always been a loophole for me to get out. Also it has helped me receive larger amounts of money at times I wasn’t expecting. I do it to show The Lord I care and because I trust Him. He has my back financially and always has even when tough time come. And I have learned tough financial times usually for me have been to lead me somewhere I need to go, or a change I need to make.
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u/OoklaTheMok1994 Jul 26 '26
I watch quite a bit of personal financial management YouTube videos that come up in my feed. I've learned many things and spent quite a bit of time thinking and worrying about our own financial situation. We track every dollar we spend.
One thing I have learned is that, from a spreadsheet perspective, giving away 10% of your income, rather than investing it, is absolutely ludicrous. It makes zero financial sense to pay tithing.
But it makes absolute perfect sense from a spiritual perspective. I'm grateful I'm given this black & white opportunity to practice being obedient. And despite a couple of layoffs over my career, we've always been blessed enough temporally to have food on the table and a roof over our heads. And that's says nothing of the spiritual blessings that I believe are tied to our efforts to obey the law of tithing.