Glorifying God Financially!
Christian finances using Biblical principles equals financial intelligence. God wants you to use WISDOM as you manage the money He gives you. There are over 2000 verses in the Bible about money and possessions. Jesus spoke more about money than heaven and hell combined. This shows that money is an important part of your life as a follower of Christ. The way you view money says a lot about the condition of your heart and your relationship with the Lord. Luke 16:13 (NIV) says No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else.–Billy Graham
Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and trust from God.–Rick Warren, Minister
The way you handle money reveals your character and what you value most. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NKJV) says For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Please understand, there’s nothing wrong with being rich, but there is something wrong if you have a love for money. God does not want you pursuing riches, He wants you pursuing HIM! Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV) says Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Do not put your faith and trust in the amount of money you have. Place your faith and trust in Almighty God. 1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV) says Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
The most important thing to understand about money is that it does not belong to YOU. It is from God, it is for God’s purposes, and it will always belong to God. Romans 11:35-36 (NIV) says Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen. God does not need your money. Psalm 50: 9-12 (NIV) says I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all that is in it. God uses money as a gauge to measure and indicate where your heart is. Do you want Him because you love Him and He is enough or do you want Him because of what He has given you?
Everything you have belongs to God and not you. He has entrusted His money and possessions to you to care for them. You are a steward of His things. Stewardship is defined as careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.
God should be glorified with the way you handle His money. He has certain expectations of His children when it comes to finances:
You must have a job to increase your Christian finances. Christians are expected to work. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men (Colossians 3:23). For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Christian finances involves minimal debt. Christians should not borrow money (except to buy a house). The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7 NKJV). Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you (Proverbs 22:26-27). God wants you to live debt free. You should pay for everything with cash. If you don’t have the cash, you can’t afford it. You CAN afford it when you have saved the money and can pay the full amount without borrowing. It is very unwise and wasteful to use credit cards or take out a loan and pay interest on a revolving debt. You are not being a good steward when you have debt.
Being responsible is a big part of maintaining good Christian finances. Christians are expected to pay bills, debts, taxes, and anything else they owe. Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold (Proverbs 22:1 NLT). Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another (Romans 13:8-7 NIV).
Christian finances involves wisdom. Christians are expected to spend wisely. Avoid gambling, get rich quick schemes, and risky investments. Every time you spend money it is a spiritual decision because you should be making sure God is pleased with what you are doing with His money. Jesus said “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’” (Luke 14:28-30) God wants you to control your spending. The only way to control your spending is with a plan and that plan is called a BUDGET. A budget is a monthly plan that divides your expenditures into categories before the month begins. With a budget, you are telling your money where to go (specific bills, savings, other expenses) so that it gets where it’s supposed to be and on time. Otherwise, it gets lost (unplanned, wasteful spending) and you don’t know where it went. A budget gives you control of your finances. More importantly, it pleases God because you are displaying financial intelligence, not financial ignorance.
Christian finances is NOT about spending your whole paycheck! Christians are expected to have savings. A regular savings account. In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has (Proverbs 21:20 NIV). This does NOT mean you should hoard your money! Ecclesiastes 5:13 (NLT) says There is another serious problem I have seen in the world. Riches are sometimes hoarded to the harm of the saver. A retirement savings account. Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow (Proverbs 13:11 NIV). Savings in an emergency fund. An emergency fund is cash savings kept available to meet the cost of any unexpected financial emergencies. This includes the loss of a job. For this reason, the emergency fund, over time, should grow to meet three to six months of living expenses. Genesis 41: 35-36 (NIV) says They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine. We all have financial emergencies and the budget allows you to create the emergency fund as a category for savings to prepare for those occasions. Proverbs 22:3 (NLT) says A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly ahead and suffers the consequences. The money saved for emergencies should NEVER be touched unless it is being used for a specific emergency.
Generosity is a HUGE part of Christian finances. Christians are expected to give. God calls the Body of Christ to tithe to their local church. A tithe is a tenth of one’s annual income, contributed voluntarily. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the LORD (Leviticus 27:30 NKJV). Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase (Proverbs 3:9 NKJV). Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty (Malachi 3:10-11). Tithing is you acknowledging God’s ownership of the money and possessions He has entrusted to you. You are giving back to Him what belongs to Him. Your willingness to depart with money shows your obedience to Him, trust in Him to take care of you, and faith in His Word. When Christians tithe, it shows that you are serving God and not money.
Christians are expected to give. God not only wants us to tithe, but He wants us to give to help others in need. Acts 20:35 (NIV) says In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to, give than to receive.‘ By giving you are conforming more and more to the image of Christ. Giving is most pleasing to God because when we as Christians give our money, our time, and ourselves to God we show that we are truly living for Him. God is highly honored and praised and when we as the Body of Christ serve others by giving because God is GLORIFIED, those being served receive the BENEFITS, and we receive the JOY! EVERYBODY WINS!
The world asks, “What does a man own?”; Christ asks, “How does he use it?”–Andrew Murray
Go Live The Victory!
