Friday, April 15, 2011

Pay Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')

Pay Day always reminds me of this classic from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony: "1st of tha Month."



It talks about the all-encompassing "joy" which accompanies the feeling of temporary financial freedom--specifically from cashing a welfare check. Of course, Bone mostly addressed blowing their new found fiscal backing on "fun" and frivolous things, thus perpetuating the welfare cycle. But regardless of where your funds originate or what you decide to spend your paycheck on, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't enjoy the feeling of getting paid...except maybe The Mahatma or Mother Theresa. This also excludes those who are underpaid...like teachers.

In Mormonism, pay day has a few more implications other than financial freedom; it also means we're about to pay tithes, fast offerings, and other charitable donations. One of the fundamental tenets of Mormonism is that our temporal means should be used to make the world a better place for everyone and help forward the work and glory of God.

"Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God" (Jacob 2:17-18).

Tithing means we set apart one-tenth of our income and give it to the Church. Church leadership then combines our funds and uses it to construct meeting houses, fund humanitarian aid, or other projects intended to improve the overall conditions of the world.

Fast Offerings are separate donations made specifically to feed the poor or aid the less fortunate with health or housing costs. Fast Offerings are usually paid on Fast Sunday, normally the first Sunday of each month when members of the Church abstain from at least two meals, donating the money they would have spent on those meals as Fast Offerings. Typically we also bless babies on Fast Sundays, as we talked about here.

The payment of tithes and offerings is an old school practice. So old school, in fact, that it is even found in the Old Testament.

"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. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts (Malachi 3:10-12).

While all of that sounds fine and dandy, I think one of the practical advantages of making the regular payment of tithes and offerings a habitual, almost instinctive or reflexive, practice is the development of an internal protection against impulsive spending or outliving your means. If you can successfully develop the strength of character to prioritize the use of your means to helping the poor and needy, there are lots and lots of frivolous purchases which will naturally fall by the wayside. This way you can reduce your risk of buyer's remorse and you'll never have to worry about overcoming a mountain of debt. And that's probably the greatest blessing of all.

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