Stewarding God’s Money

Today if you are a visitor please know that we do not always talk about money.  However, we do feel like money is a major part of our lives and can lead up to destruction if not stewarded according to biblical principles.

Believe it or not the Bible has a lot to say about money. Today we hope to explore some of principles with the hope that you would apply them to your lives.

First, I want to start off with my personal story of how I used to deal with money and how I currently deal with money.

Growing up I was never properly taught the correct way to handle money.  My first dealings with money came at the age of 13 when I had a little job working at a fiberglass shop.  My father worked hard to provide for our family of Seven.   My basic needs were provided for, but if wanted anything more than that it was on me.  So, if I wanted Nike shoes, then I had to buy them.  And so, I did.  There was nothing wrong with working for those nicer things, but more and more things became the focus of what I worked for.

The way I understood it, the more things that I had the more successful I would be.  Or so I thought. 

The problem with relying on material things to bring satisfaction to your life is that thing may satisfy for a moment but only for a moment it will ultimately leave you desiring the next thing.

This is how we get ourselves in financial trouble.  My pursuit of things carried into my twenties even into my first marriage.  I remember being in a financial bind in my first marriage due to my overspending. It was to the point where I thought the only option was to quit tithing so that I could make ends meet. 

That was a big mistake.  Not giving my tithes did not help my situation rather it made it worse. In actuality what I was saying by my actions is that “I choose my stuff over giving to God what was rightfully His.” That is a dangerous place to be

Matthew 6:19-21, 24

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.

Because I did not give God the first fruits of my income as the book of proverbs instructs, Moth, rust, destruction were allowed to devour. Devour it did, things were breaking more frequently, her kids were sick more often, we did not have money for anything extra, living check to check with nothing to spare.  Things were worse than before.

So the Lord in His loving kindness brought me to this verse

Malachi 3:8-11

⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.

After reading this I realized that I was indeed robbing God and that I was cursed for it.  If I wanted things to change in my life I knew I must repent, and once again give to God what was rightfully His.

Just as God pronounced a blessing upon His people if they turned from robbing Him, the Lord began to open up the windows of heaven and pour down a blessing upon my life. Because I changed my ways God gave me a better job. I was a drafter working for a local Architect making 10 dollars an hour, he led me to a place where I started at 15 dollars an hour.  But He did not stop there.  Every year that I worked there I received a raise.  I started at 15, but by the time I left I was up to 32 dollars an hour. All because I chose to honor God with my finances.

Though I had money again, and I was tithing again, I still had a spending problem.  The more money I had, the more I spent.  The problem was that I made more money only to buy higher ticket items.

I was now single, I was investing in a house as well as a 401k, so I felt like everything else was lagniappe.  During that time, I managed to get myself into some serious credit card debt.  You heard the expression before, buy now and pay later.  That may sound good at first but what they don’t tell you is that paying later includes paying interest which averaged to about 26%.  So for every hundred dollars I borrowed I had to pay back $126.00.  If payments were on time.  If not tack on late fees and pay interest on the unpaid balance again next month.

I had everything financed.  House, truck, LSU pictures in my house, tables and chair, sofa, dresser even my electronic drum set was financed.  I had maxed out all my credit cards.  I was still living from check to check.  I remember taking cash advances from places like Check into Cash just to try to make it another week. 

It did not matter how much money I was making I spent it all foolishly. 

My desire to acquire more things had led me to a dangerous place in life.

But God once again came to my rescue.  He sent me Tara.  When we first got together, her family took us to Baton Rouge to eat and afterward we went to some local shops.  I offered to buy her anything she wanted in an attempt to impress her and reassure her I was rolling. But when we were engaged, we decided to put our money together and that’s when it all hit the fan. 

She could not believe that I only had about 1100 dollars to my name. She had been saving money her entire life.  She had a large sum of money sitting in the bank.  I was making 3 to 4 times the amount that she was making yet I barely had anything to show for all the years that I have worked.  I was completely embarrassed to show her what I brought to the table (financed) All I had was bills, and more bills.  She was so upset I thought for sure she was going to call the whole thing off and rightfully so. 

But I did not want to lose her I knew she was the answer to my prayers.  I had prayed for a godly woman who would run this race with the same or even greater intensity than I was running.  Tara was and is this woman.  So, I was willing to do whatever was necessary so that I could have her.

Her father suggested going through Dave Ramsey’s financial peace and that is where I learned about God’s way of handling money.  Again, I had to repent to God as well as to Tara for being foolish with my money.  I had promised to change, and she gave me a chance to do so. 

We combined our money into one bank account, we set up a budget for our lives, then we begin paying off debt.  We payed off the drums.  That felt good.  Then we took that money that we were paying every month on the drums and started paying off other debt.  Then before you know it everything was paid off except the house and my truck.  Then we sold the house and from that I was able to pay off the truck. 

Soon we were able to build our dream house on the west side, with the house note being our only debt.  After starting a church on the east side, God asked us to sell that dream house on the west and move to the east side. 

With the sale of that house we were able to buy a house on the east side completely debt free.  Which proved to be a blessing when I lost that good paying job in 2015 due to the oil field crash.

I tell you this story to let you know regardless of how grim your current financial status may be, God can turn it around if you are willing to take the necessary steps.  Don’t just make a resolution to have your finances under control, be resolute to do so. 

For the first several months Tara and I purposely looked at our budget and made adjustments as necessary.  Eventually budgeting became a way of life.

My hope today is to give you five biblical principles that will transform your finances in 2019.

1. Your Money Is Actually God’s Money

Psalms 24:1

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.

Everything that you have belongs to God, yet He calls you to be a steward over it.  Just like the parable of the 5 talents He is expecting you to steward well what has been entrusted to you. Whether that is your money, time, talents, abilities, even your spouse and children are all His.  We are called to be stewards over it all.  Having this perspective should motivate us to be responsible and make right choices with His money and to guard ourselves from making impulse purchases. 

As we begin to be faithful with the portion that has been entrusted to us, whether big or small, we can rest assured that He will add to us even more. However, if we are not faithful with what has been given to us, even that portion will be taken away and given to someone who is faithful.

As we are faithful in doing our part, He will be found even more faithful to you.

Philippians 4:19

¹⁹ And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

2. Be a Generous Giver

Proverbs 3:9-10(Solomon)

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8(Paul to the church at Corinth)

⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparinglywill also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerfulgiver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all thingsat all times, you may aboundin every good work.

Luke 6:38(Jesus to all of his followers)

³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Giving is a biblical principle that comes with a promise of blessing if we do it willfully and cheerfully.  You might think that you can’t afford to give, but you really can’t afford not to.

3. Set A Budget

While the word Budget is not in the bible, the concept of a budget certainly is.  In Genesis 41 Joseph is an instrument used by God to preserve his entire family. 

Through Pharaoh’s dreams and Joseph’s interpretation of those dreams God reveals that seven years of plenty were coming and then seven years of famine were to follow afterward.  Joseph is promoted as 2^ndin command only Pharaoh was higher. 

Joseph was in charge of collecting grain during the prosperous years and distributing the grain during the years of famine.

This teaches us two important aspects of budgeting, saving and living within or even beneath our means. Joseph only had a certain amount of grain to last 7 years of famine for the entire land of Egypt.  It would have been very foolish to consume 7 years’ worth in one year.  So even he must budget what had been entrusted to him. 

The same is true with you and I.  You only make a certain amount every month, that money has to last all month.  It would be very foolish to spend it all at once the instant it is in your hands.  Yet I hear of so many people doing just that.

The other thing we can learn from Joseph is that he was a saver.  Whether its 100 a month, 1000 a month or even more, you need to be putting aside something into savings. 

Think about this, if the government continues to be shutdown would your family be ok?

If there were no government programs such as welfare, social security, could your family still make it?

If you lost your job tomorrow would you have to sell everything, or would you be ok?

4. Keep out of debt; Be content

One of the biggest lies that is out there is that you need this new “next thing” whatever that new thing is.  We are bombarded with commercials that sell discontentment.  Perhaps your phone is working fine but this new phone being advertised has the latest camera technology with all the bells and whistles. 

We get so infatuated with this new thing that we got to have it now, even if it means we go in debt to our eyeballs for it. If we were to be honest for the most part, we really don’t need it and we certainly don’t need it now. 

These places where you can rent to own a tv, bed or anything that you want for one low payment of 24.99 a week, are making a fortune from people who “got to have it now.”

A Samsung tv for 24.99 a week for 72 weeks would cost you $1799 going that route or you can save up for that Tv and go buy that same exact tv for $529 at Walmart.

They are simply taking advantage of the fact that “you need this now.”

I would love to go buy me a new truck, and we probably could afford it.  However, there would be a narrow margin for error.  Meaning if something like a water heater goes out then we might be in a bind. There would not be a whole lot extra to accommodate any surprises.

My truck runs fine, I brought it to the shop a few months ago paid $2500 to make it run fine but it was still cheaper than going buy a brand new one. Thankfully my wife and I are savers, so we had the money to get it fixed.  I will run that thing till it can’t run no more.

            Hebrews 13:5

⁵ Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Being content and staying away from debt will help you tremendously in your finances.

Work hard     (if you’re working then you’re not spending)

            Proverbs 14:23

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.