Tithes and Offerings
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curse to their heirs than it has been to themselves. Children, relying
upon the property of their parents, often fail to make a success of this
life, and generally utterly fail to secure the life to come. The very best
legacy which parents can leave their children is a knowledge of useful
labor and the example of a life characterized by disinterested benevo-
lence. By such a life they show the true value of money, that it is only
to be appreciated for the good that it will accomplish in relieving their
own wants and the necessities of others, and in advancing the cause of
God.
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Some are willing to give according to what they have, and feel
that God has no further claims upon them, because they have not a
great amount of means. They have no income that they can spare from
the necessities of their families. But there are many of this class who
might ask themselves the question: Am I giving according to what I
might have had? God designed that their powers of body and mind
should be put to use. Some have not improved to the best account
the ability that God has given them. Labor is apportioned to man. It
was connected with the curse, because made necessary by sin. The
physical, mental, and moral well-being of man makes a life of useful
labor necessary. “Be ... not slothful in business,” is the injunction of
the inspired apostle Paul.
No person, whether rich or poor, can glorify God by a life of
indolence. All the capital that many poor men have is time and physical
strength, and this is frequently wasted in love of ease and in careless
indolence so that they have nothing to bring to their Lord in tithes
and in offerings. If Christian men lack wisdom to labor to the best
account and to make a judicious appropriation of their physical and
mental powers, they should have meekness and lowliness of mind to
receive advice and counsel of their brethren, that their better judgment
may supply their own deficiencies. Many poor men who are now
content to do nothing for the good of their fellow men and for the
advancement of the cause of God might do much if they would. They
are as accountable to God for their capital of physical strength as is
the rich man for his capital of money.
Some who ought to put means into the treasury of God will be re-
ceivers from it. There are those who are now poor who might improve
their condition by a judicious use of their time, by avoiding patent
rights, and by restraining their inclination to engage in speculations in