Will a man rob God?

There are many reasons for the recent economic downturn in our country. Could one of them be that many in our nation rob God? Wheat crop failures over the last few years have made the price of wheat skyrocket. War in the Middle East have done the same with oil, in turn causing food and clothing prices to soar. At one time all nations called us blessed and delightsome--not so now.

"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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 3:8-12

“During World War II, my widowed mother supported her three young children on a schoolteacher’s salary that was meager. When I became conscious that we went without some desirable things because we didn’t have enough money, I asked my mother why she paid so much of her salary as tithing. I have never forgotten her explanation: ‘Dallin, there might be some people who can get along without paying tithing, but we can’t. The Lord has chosen to take your father and leave me to raise you children. I cannot do that without the blessings of the Lord, and I obtain those blessings by paying an honest tithing. When I pay my tithing, I have the Lord’s promise that he will bless us, and we must have those blessings if we are to get along’ ” (Ensign, May 1994, 33).

I too have a testimony of tithes and offerings. Although I'm not a widow living on a meager salary, I have had amazing experiences through the paying of tithes and offerings. As a young family with our first child, we have very little money. We needed to make a certain amount to pay rent, etc. Instead of running up charge cards to meet our obligations, we decided to cut expenses and pay as much tithing as that amount of money would require. It was difficult. In less than two months we made 5 or 6 times as we needed. Later we had other financial challenges that tempted us to stop paying tithes and offerings, but we remembered the Lord's lesson. We will never stop.

“It is remarkable how many excuses can be made and interpretations given as to what constitutes the tenth. … It is written, however, that as we measure it shall be measured to us again. If we are stingy with the Lord, he may be stingy with us, or in other words, withhold his blessings” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 2:92).