Lesson 141

Commandments (Part 3)

Introduction

The teaching materials for this doctrinal mastery topic are divided into four parts. In part 3, students will study paragraph 9.5 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2018) and learn about the commandments to pay a full tithe and to fast. Students will also study the doctrinal mastery scripture passages Malachi 3:8–10 and Isaiah 58:6–7.

Note: You could teach the segments of this lesson in a single class session or over the course of several class sessions, dividing class time between Doctrinal Mastery and a regular sequential scripture lesson. If you choose to teach the segments over the course of several class sessions, you may need to briefly review with students what they learned in previous segments before you teach a new segment.

Suggestions for Teaching

Understanding the Doctrine

Segment 1 (15 minutes)

Bring a tithing slip and envelope from your ward or branch, or display the following picture of a tithing slip.

Ask students when and how they would use this item.

Invite a student to read aloud paragraph 9.5 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for some of the commandments God gives to His children. Point out that God’s commandments include paying a full tithe. Write or display this statement on the board, and invite students to consider marking it in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Since this statement is not continuous in the paragraph, you may want to invite students to mark only the portion related to tithing.

• Which doctrinal mastery scripture passage teaches about tithing? (Malachi 3:8–10.)

Invite students to turn to Malachi 3:8–10 and to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so they can locate it easily. To help students understand the context of this passage, explain that the prophet Malachi, speaking for the Lord, corrected the Jews, who had strayed from the Lord, and commanded them to return to Him by following His commandments, including the commandment to pay tithes and offerings.

Invite a few students to take turns reading aloud from Malachi 3:8–10. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what this passage teaches about the commandment to pay tithing.

• What did you learn from this passage about the commandment to pay tithing? (Answers could include the following: if we do not pay our tithing, we are robbing God; paying tithing supplies the Lord’s kingdom with necessary material resources; God invites us to prove, or test, His promises by obeying the commandment to pay tithing; and God promises to open the windows of heaven if we pay our tithing.)

To help students understand the law of tithing and how tithing funds are used, invite a student to read aloud the following statements from the First Presidency and For the Strength of Youth.

“The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay ‘one-tenth of all their interest annually’ [D&C 119:4], which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this” (First Presidency letter, Mar. 19, 1970).

“A tithe is one-tenth of your income. …

“… Tithing is used to build temples and meetinghouses, translate and publish the scriptures, do missionary and family history work, and in other ways build God’s kingdom on earth” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 38).

Segment 2 (10 minutes)

Invite a student to read the first sentence in paragraph 9.1 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the purpose of God’s commandments.

• What is the purpose of God’s commandments?

To help students understand how paying a full tithe helps us to progress and become like God, share the following statement by President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency. Ask the class to listen for how the law of tithing helps us to progress and become like God.

“There are at least three ways that paying a full tithe in this life prepares us to feel what we need to feel to receive the gift of eternal life.

“First, when we pay our tithes to the Church, our Heavenly Father pours out blessings upon us. Anyone who has consistently paid a full tithe knows that is true. The blessings are sometimes spiritual and sometimes temporal. They are given in the Lord’s time and according to what He knows is best for us. …

“Second, all of us who have paid a consistent full tithe feel greater confidence in asking God for what we and our families need. He has promised blessings even greater than we can receive when we have been faithful to our covenant to pay our tithes (see Malachi 3:10). …

“Third, those who pay tithing feel an increase in their love of God and of all God’s children. That increase of love comes from understanding how the Father uses the tithes we offer to bless people in this world and for eternity” (Henry B. Eyring, “The Blessings of Tithing,” Ensign, June 2011, 5).

• What do you think President Eyring means when he says paying tithing prepares us to feel what we need to feel to receive the gift of eternal life?

• How do you think paying a full tithe can help us prepare for eternal life?

• How have you or someone you know experienced one of the blessings President Eyring mentioned or other blessings we can receive as we obey the law of tithing?

Consider sharing your testimony of paying a full tithe and how doing so has blessed your life. Invite students to commit to pay a full tithe so that they can qualify for all of the promised blessings they can receive as they obey the law of tithing.

Segment 3 (15 minutes)

• In addition to paying tithing, what do members of the Church use these slips for? (To pay fast offerings and other donations to the Church.)

Write or display the following key statement of doctrine on the board: God’s commandments include fasting. Invite students to locate and consider marking the word fasting in paragraph 9.5 in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.

• Which doctrinal mastery passage teaches about fasting? (Isaiah 58:6–7.)

Invite students to turn to Isaiah 58:6–7 and to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so they can locate it easily. To help students remember the context of this passage, remind them that the Jews were fasting insincerely and without spiritual purpose and wondered why the Lord did not acknowledge their fasting. In response, Isaiah taught the people about proper fasting.

Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:6–7 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what this passage teaches about the purposes of the commandment to fast.

• What did you learn from this passage about the purposes of fasting? (Answers could include that the commandment to fast is intended to help us overcome wickedness, relieve our own and others’ burdens, and care for the poor and needy.)

Ensure that students understand they can fast whenever they choose to. Point out that the Church has designated one Sunday each month, usually the first Sunday, as a fast day. To help students understand how to obey the commandment to fast on fast day, invite a student to read aloud the following statements from Handbook 2: Administering the Church and from For the Strength of Youth. Invite the class to listen for what a proper fast includes and how we can obey the commandment to fast.

“A proper fast day observance typically includes abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period, attending fast and testimony meeting, and giving a generous fast offering to help care for those in need” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 21.1.17).

“Fast with a purpose. Begin and end your fast with prayer, expressing gratitude and asking for help with special needs you or others may have” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 39).

• According to these statements, what does a proper fast include?

Invite students to select one or more of the following questions and record their answer in their study journal. You may want to write these questions on the board or provide them on a slip of paper.

• What “bands of wickedness” (Isaiah 58:6) do you want to have loosed?

• What “heavy burdens” (Isaiah 58:6) would you like the Lord’s help in undoing for yourself or someone else?

• What needs (physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual) of another person could you help meet by fasting or by paying a generous fast offering?

After sufficient time discuss the following question as a class.

• When have you seen fasting relieve someone’s burden or meet someone’s need?

Consider sharing your testimony of fasting and fast offerings and how they have blessed your life. Invite students to obey the commandment to fast and to pay fast offerings.