Let’s be honest, no matter where you’re at in life you have questions on finances. Jesus talks about money more than Heaven and Hell combined. How we view it and how we use it or lose it is important to God. Nobody is perfect, but being a good steward isn’t about being perfect. It’s about doing the most good with what God has given you to see His Kingdom come, even in our gloriously ignored budgets from the now waning 2014. I grew up in Spokane, WA, not exactly a vibrant business hub, but that’s beside the point. I grew up knowing how to spend money, and that’s it. Money was for purchasing, and spending time earning it was the only way to make more of it. If you have tried this mindset, or are currently entrenched in this mindset, you are on an emotional rollercoaster that I once was on. It’s scary, full of questions with few answers, and brings highs and lows that can drive someone to the edge. The worst part about this is that it incites worry, and money (income) is your master. Here’s what Jesus says about that.
Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
When you love money, it doesn’t reciprocate the relationship, leaving you stranded and emotionally strained but still needing more. Is there another way to live? Let’s skip a few years and land myself in NYC. I had an idea about partnering with God in my finances, but still, it was my money that I was giving to God. I owned it. My money was my money. I was a 26 year old in New York, now with a job as a pastor, a part-time salary, and an intense sense of “I have a feeling part time won’t work in New York.” So what did I do? I had a revelation: My money didn’t belong to me anyway. My job, my gifts, my talents, my time, my breath itself, and (drumroll please) my money all belonged to God. I was simply a steward (manager). So with this thought in mind I did something radical. I just gave all I had to expand the Kingdom in NYC. This was one of the times my tenden
cy to be impulsive paid off. I said, “God, you pay me. I don’t want to rely on anyone else any longer. No man can come through for me like you can. No boss can, no church can, but you can. He became my source. And what a faithful source he is. A week later, a sponsor from California (where I had moved from) wrote me a $10,000 check. Months after that, the Liberty Church Union Square community grew to be able to move me to full-time pay. God is faithful. You cannot out-give Him, and he is a gentle, patient, yet stern teacher and coach. But here is my favorite part. It’s not about the money for me anymore.
Matthew 6:31–33: “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
It’s all about the peace of being in God’s hands. I’d love to share a few tools for starting the walk toward financial freedom.
- Tithe
Tithe was my first step to financial freedom. I was acknowledging the sovereignty of God over my little paycheck. Remember that even a millionaire has a pittance compared to God. His concern is what’s eternal: the condition of our hearts. The tithe predates the law. Abel gave his firstfruits to God. Abraham gave an offering of 10% from his victory over several kings to Melchizedek, who was a type and shadow of Christ. The believers in Acts sold ALL they had. A person’s tithe goes to the place where they are fed, their local church, the storehouse. God will bless his church, and his Kingdom will expand no matter what. So it’s a privilege to partner with him. Giving to charitable causes is good, and my wife, Jessi, and I do so. But our tithe, and then quite a bit extra, go into the church. Why? Because God thinks it’s a good idea.
Malachi 3:9–10: “‘You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. ‘Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”
And Jesus says,
Luke 16:10–13: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?”
God is calling us out: “See if you can bless me more than I bless you. I am an unlimited God…TRY ME!”
- Aggressively eliminate debt
You are called to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. The lender, not the borrower. Debt is a financial poison that will sabotage your future. The amount does not matter. The idea that you need more than God is giving you to manage and steward is dangerous ground, in my mind. The mindset of debt tends to attract more debt. Eliminate it, aggressively, determinedly. My wife and I went with holes in our shoes in a New York winter our first year of marriage and instead started paying off debt. It was cold, but we are getting free. I can pay for freedom with cold wet feet. No problem. We have used www.mint.com lay out our goals and attack them, and that’s just one of several online budgeting resources available. I like the progress we’ve made, wiping out huge swathes of debt. God seems to put wind at the back of those with a desire for freedom.
Proverbs 22:7: “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Let no one own you but your Savior who paid for you.
- Give more
Tithing is a minimum in my mind. Generosity is a way of life. Every time, I mean EVERY time, I have increased what Jessi and I give to our church, God has returned the blessing in crazy ways. Trusting God requires risk in our minds, but God is not risky. You may say, “I don’t have extra to do extra.” Neither did we…at first. God asks you to test Him in the thing you worry about and work for the most. Go ahead, see if placing God more firmly on the throne of your finances doesn’t bless you even before He takes care of you financial needs.
Proverbs 11:25: “A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will be refreshed.”
- Save
I have three savings accounts. One as an emergency fund, one to save for our future, and one higher interest account. (Here’s BankRate list of the currently high-interest money market accounts.) Saving is life-changing. It moves you from a position of instability to a position where money is now a tool, and you’re not.
Proverbs 13:11: “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; Wealth from hard work grows over time.”
- Write a budget and stick to it
I know this is hard when you’re in the earn-and-spend cycle, which is a hamster wheel. A budget is how you step off and begin to leverage your finance to its greatest purpose. A great book to help is The Power of Habit. It’s not a book about money. But we don’t have money problems, we have behavior problems. Start simple. Jessi and I started with percentages when we first got married. 15% Give 10% Save 20% Pay down debt/Student loans 55% Expenses Our budget is now much more detailed on mint.com. We now give away more as well, but the foundation is give first, save next, eliminate debt, then take care of the rest. That 55% grew quite fast when we started knowing where it was going, and became more generous in heart. God likes watching his kids take care of the gifts he gives them, and He likes watching us give them away. God gave everything away, so it makes us more like Jesus when we are generous.
- It’s Not Ours Anyway
There is one thing we can take to heaven, eternal souls. Besides, all of it is God’s anyway. This at once adds a sense of responsibility to be a good steward, and complete peace that the King of the Universe desires deeply to partner with you in your daily life in the area of finances. Whoa. Did you get that? The one who made the universe from nothing wants to be involved in your finances, to give you wisdom, tools, and the resource, to expand His Kingdom on earth. We don’t give to get, we give to give even more. In all your days you won’t out give God, and you can’t be more faithful.
Matthew 6:19–21: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Now let’s go get free. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you and give you PEACE.
