Will a Man Rob God?

While among the Nephites, Christ repeats to them a teaching found in the Old Testament book of Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:18; 3 Nephi 24:8).

But what is a tithe, and why have we robbed God if we don’t pay it?

A tithe simply denotes a tenth part. For instance, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are asked to pay a 10% tithe on all our “increase.” In modern days these tithes are used to further God’s work, such as building chapels and temples. But why does failing to pay this tithe equal robbing God?

Imagine you have a very wealthy friend with multiple homes. Now imagine this very wealthy friend allows you to stay in one of his fully furnished homes, with full access to everything within it. This becomes a comfortable arrangement, until one day your friend asks to borrow a screwdriver – his screwdriver – that is at the home you’re staying at. You happen to be in the middle of a very important bathroom renovation project, and so you deny him the screwdriver. However, the screwdriver is rightfully his, and he technically does not even need to ask for permission; have you not now robbed your friend? God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth; everything is rightfully His. When God asks for just a tenth of what we happen to be earning – all of which is his already – and we deny him, we rob God.

But why does God even need anything if everything is already his? The answer may be that we need it more than him. So often we forget whose house we happen to be living in, and our tithes act as ways to remember, and thank our God. A true thank you will also consist of something dear to us, like a screwdriver we happen to really need at the moment. In this way we let God know that we love Him more than we love whatever it is we are giving up. God is not ungrateful either; often that screwdriver was simply needed to finish off a deluxe tool kit – a gift to finish the renovation.

Indeed, God has promised, “Bring ye all the tithes…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” (Malachi 3:10; 3 Nephi 24:10).