blessings of paying fast offering


askandanswer
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We are blessed for paying our fast offering. So if a person pays their fast offering once a month, twelve times a year, are they blessed the same, or more, than a person who pays an annualised amount once a year? Whichever way it is done, the outcome is the same, but the process is different so is, or should, the nature and number of the blessings be the same or different? 

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You make it sound as though you are purchasing blessings.  Do you really think that there is some formula set up - x fast offering equals y blessing?

 

What would be the purpose of you withholding your fast offerings until the end of the year?  How does that help ward members who have needs now?  Fast offerings are collected monthly for a reason.

 

Giving a fast offering isn't about how many blessings you can "earn" for yourself.  It is about helping others in need.

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You make it sound as though you are purchasing blessings.  Do you really think that there is some formula set up - x fast offering equals y blessing?

 

 

What would be the purpose of you withholding your fast offerings until the end of the year?  How does that help ward members who have needs now?  Fast offerings are collected monthly for a reason.

 

Giving a fast offering isn't about how many blessings you can "earn" for yourself.  It is about helping others in need.

 

There probably is something like a formula, or at least something like a set of guidelines. As the scriptures say,

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

 

God is a God of order and there is almost certainly some sort of system as to how blessings are dispensed because they are not dispensed on a random basis. I've had two stake presidents who were fond of saying that "If you almost keep the commandments, you almost get the blessings, although personally, I think that's false, or at least excessively simplified doctrine. 

 

My question isn't about calculating how many blessings I can earn for myself. Its aimed at getting a better understanding of how God works. Whether I get more blessings, or fewer, and whether I get them in this life or the next isn't really  important. 

 

Your reminder that fast offerings are collected monthly and used to help ward members in need gives support to the idea that a person who gives once a year, in advance, may be more deserving of blessings than a person who gives month by month. 

Edited by askandanswer
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I have to agree with Leah, sometimes we get caught up in formula. Some of this stems from the fast offering structure that has been setup. It goes, fast and pay fast offerings the equivalent of two meals on the first Sunday of the month. I have kept this formula for many years. But is this all it is about? Perhaps it is more about our willingness to give, to reach outward and upward.
 
A while ago, I started to feel as though there was a problem with my fast. I realized that to some extent I would give my FO but then ignore the needs of certain people around me. So, I have still kept the "formula" but looked regularly for people I can help. I believe this is the intent of the words in Isaiah, "Is not this the fast that I have Chosen? ...to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isa 58:6-7).
 
Do not leave the regular FO to the church out, but I would suggest that you start seeing the fast in a new light. Dig deep and extend yourself. As Jesus said, "Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Matt 9:13 NRSV). Find people who need your help and give. Not just once a year or once a month but regularly and often. Then this question about when to give will fade away and you will see it is not about a date, but about who you are.

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In addition to the excellent answers above, I think it's worth considering that tithing and fast offering are different entities that fulfill different laws (though both fall under the umbrella of the law of consecration) and that were historically lived in different circumstances. I imagine it may have gone something like this:

 

Tithing was based on your annual "increase", which I imagine was typically calculated after harvest, or maybe as various harvestable items got brought into the storehouse. You take out whatever you might need for seed; the rest is "increase". Then you keep 9/10ths for yourself, to eat or sell or whatever, and give 1/10th to the bishop, probably to put in his storehouse. This suggests something like an annual tithe.

 

Fast offering was paid on a "per-fast" basis. When you fast on a certain Fast Thursday (or whatever it was), you literally took the (uncooked) food that you would have eaten and donated it instead to the bishop's storehouse. That food was then made immediately available to the hungry and impoverished. So this is clearly a per-fast (i.e. monthly, for a monthly fast) donation.

 

Today, we have reduced almost everything to an exchange of money, with few in-kind transactions conducted between people, or especially between individuals and organizations. So we "pay" our tithing using tokens, the way we might buy our way onto a carnival ride using tokens (tickets or such) that we acquire elsewhere. We "pay" our fast offering in the same way, rather than collect up what we might have eaten from the fridge and bring it to fast and testimony meeting. This is a very convenient and frankly sterile way of sharing our means, but it's the reality for almost all 21st-century westerners.

 

(Edit: I meant "sterile" in the sense of removing emotion and human warmth from the equation, but I suppose it's also less bacteriologically challenged.)

 

In my opinion, based on my own historical and philosophical analysis, fast offerings should be paid on a per-fast basis. Tithing should be paid no less than annually, and I think is more conveniently paid by wage-earners on an ongoing basis. (Otherwise, you might reach December without having saved your tithing and find yourself trying to pay a tenth using a twelfth, which mathematically doesn't work out so well.)

Edited by Vort
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There probably is something like a formula, or at least something like a set of guidelines. As the scriptures say,

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

 

God is a God of order and there is almost certainly some sort of system as to how blessings are dispensed because they are not dispensed on a random basis. I've had two stake presidents who were fond of saying that "If you almost keep the commandments, you almost get the blessings, although personally, I think that's false, or at least excessively simplified doctrine. 

 

My question isn't about calculating how many blessings I can earn for myself. Its aimed at getting a better understanding of how God works. Whether I get more blessings, or fewer, and whether I get them in this life or the next isn't really  important. 

 

Your reminder that fast offerings are collected monthly and used to help ward members in need gives support to the idea that a person who gives once a year, in advance, may be more deserving of blessings than a person who gives month by month. 

 

You state yourself that you are searching for a "formula" which tells you how to get the most blessings for fast offerings.  And your last sentence is still more "support" for your crazy hypothesis.

 

Once again....giving service to others such as in the form of fast offerings is not about YOU.  These things are not done so that you can rack up "blessing points".  You can't purchase blessings.  These are things that you should be doing regardless of whether you benefit personally or not.

 

Although we are instructed to be generous in our fast offerings, there is no magic "formula" that ties the dollar amount to the number or quality of blessings you receive.  Generosity also extends to the spirit in which you give and to the sacrifice that you make. 

 

Trying to come up some sort of formula by which you can "earn" the most blessings is far from the spirit in which fast offerings should be given.   Trying to figure out if you give it all in one lump sum to boost your number and maximize your blessings is...well...I find it appalling, frankly.

 

And you can't fool Heavenly Father.  He sees far more than the dollar amount given or the contrived formula that someone thinks makes their fast offering "better".

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Moroni 7:

 

 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.

 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.

 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth itgrudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.

 

 

2 Cor. 9:

 

 

 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

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There seems to be a misperception that my post was motivated by a desire to work out how to maximise the amount of blessings I can receive by changing the way I could pay my fast offering. This is not the case. As I noted above, whether I receive fewer or more blessings, and whether I receive them now or in the next life is not a significant factor in asking this question. Nor is it fair to impune any motive, good or otherwise, based on how frequently a person makes a fast offering. Part of my interest in asking the question is to develop some understanding of whether God is more interested in process - how frequently an offering is made - or in outcomes - the total amount of the offering.Whether one pays monthly, or annually, the amount will be the same. I think the question of how fast offering is paid is a useful vehicle to explore this question because it is one of the areas I can think of, although there are probably others, where we can follow different processes, but still achieve the same outcome.

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Posted · Hidden by NeuroTypical, August 2, 2015 - not helpful
Hidden by NeuroTypical, August 2, 2015 - not helpful

There seems to be a misperception that my post was motivated by a desire to work out how to maximise the amount of blessings I can receive by changing the way I could pay my fast offering. This is not the case. As I noted above, whether I receive fewer or more blessings, and whether I receive them now or in the next life is not a significant factor in asking this question. Nor is it fair to impune any motive, good or otherwise, based on how frequently a person makes a fast offering. Part of my interest in asking the question is to develop some understanding of whether God is more interested in process - how frequently an offering is made - or in outcomes - the total amount of the offering.Whether one pays monthly, or annually, the amount will be the same. I think the question of how fast offering is paid is a useful vehicle to explore this question because it is one of the areas I can think of, although there are probably others, where we can follow different processes, but still achieve the same outcome.

Is that you just don't have the capability to understand or is it that you simply don't want to understand?

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I think I understand where you're coming from. Maybe because I have a lot of engineer types in my family.

 

I think it's impossible to quantify. What the Lord is concerned with is the desire of your heart. I can tell you my bishop's counsel. He told me once that it's not about a balance sheet at all, because really the Lord could do anything and doesn't need my money to do it. It's about a showing of faith, gratitude, and obedience. He then counseled us to pay our offerings to the Lord first, before anything else. I think there's wisdom in that. By making our offerings our first priority, instead of putting it off til the end of the year, we are telling him we are willing and ready to do as He asks NOW. 

 

Besides, as I learned the hard way, things can change a great deal by "the end of the year". 

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There seems to be a misperception that my post was motivated by a desire to work out how to maximise the amount of blessings I can receive by changing the way I could pay my fast offering. This is not the case. As I noted above, whether I receive fewer or more blessings, and whether I receive them now or in the next life is not a significant factor in asking this question. Nor is it fair to impune any motive, good or otherwise, based on how frequently a person makes a fast offering. Part of my interest in asking the question is to develop some understanding of whether God is more interested in process - how frequently an offering is made - or in outcomes - the total amount of the offering.Whether one pays monthly, or annually, the amount will be the same. I think the question of how fast offering is paid is a useful vehicle to explore this question because it is one of the areas I can think of, although there are probably others, where we can follow different processes, but still achieve the same outcome.

 

God is more interested in the type of person your sacrifice helps you become.  If it takes you a hundred billion times then that is what it takes.  If it takes only once then that is fine too.

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Whereas I agree with what's been stated in most these answers, as an intellectual exercise I would have to answer thus:

 

If you pay your fast offering in full then you pay your fast offerings in full and that "law" has been satisfied*.

 

If you pay your fast offering once a month, then the counsel to pay monthly has been satisfied. If you pay it yearly, the counsel to pay monthly has not been satisfied.

 

Of course, is the counsel to pay monthly of any meaning beyond just "a way to do it". Or is it meant to be "the" way to do it. And, if you're paying up front (like Mirkwood), rather than at the end, then what difference does it make? The money's in the bishop's hand.

 

Like I said. Just an intellectual exercise.

 

* of course satisfying the law of fast offering is an interesting subject in and of itself, because what constitutes a fulfillment of this law? We have been consistently counselled to give generously. What number constitutes generous? Clearly this varies, and comes more from the heart and the Spirit than from sticking merely to the letter of the law (The cost of 2 meals...a pittance for some that, in my opinion, is a shameful amount to give, but a trial for others.)

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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A nice little gem from President Uchtdorf:

 

Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us.

 

His commandments are the loving instructions and the divine help for us to close the umbrella so we can receive the shower of heavenly blessings.

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/living-the-gospel-joyful?lang=eng

 

The blessings we receive are exactly the blessings we are able and willing to receive. To the degree that our hearts are changed as we pay fast offerings (or keep any commandment), we are blessed. No more, no less. So it's based on principles of obedience, sacrifice, real intent, faith in Christ, charity, etc. When, how, and how much we pay only affect the outcome to the degree that principles like those are involved in what we do.

Edited by Josiah
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God is more interested in the type of person your sacrifice helps you become.  If it takes you a hundred billion times then that is what it takes.  If it takes only once then that is fine too.

 

This clearly suggests that God is more interested in outcomes than processes. He seems to be more interested in what we become rather than how we become. This conclusion points the way to possibilities that could be both helpful and harmful. 

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This clearly suggests that God is more interested in outcomes than processes.

 

I absolutely believe that God is interested in outcomes, not processes. But that includes the outcomes of all those affected by or witnessing the processes. It is worth remembering that any blessing from heaven -- ANY blessing -- comes only when we obey the law upon which that blessing was predicated. There is no other way to receive divine blessings. That suggests that process is indeed of transcendent importance.

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