Not too many of us think of the Bible as a handbook on managing money. But as with all significant areas of our lives, the Bible has principles and guidelines that will give us a very firm and secure basis for managing our money.

 

It's very easy to fall in love with money and make it more important in our lives than anything else. The love of money, we read in Scripture, is the root of all kinds of evil. Jesus said we must be careful with money, that we don't become enslaved to money, because we cannot serve both God and Money.

Look at Proverbs 21:5: "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." Making a plan of how our money is going to be spent is a wise thing to do. If you find that you're having real difficulties with money, a good starting place is to keep track of every nickel you spend for a month. Get yourself a little notebook, and force yourself to write in it every expenditure. The first thing you need to know is where your money is going now. That will tell you immediately where you can save some money.

 

Now, you may think that you have a real good handle on where your money is going, but my guess is that this exercise will teach you a great deal that you don't now know about where your money is going. It's amazing how much we can spend on incidental items that seem at the time to be insignificant. But add them all up and those incidentals can turn out to be a hefty portion of our spendable money.

 

Once you've kept a record of where your money is going, then you have the input you need to sit down and plan a budget. If you need some help doing this, there are many good books or trusted friends who can help you. In fact, we’ve assembled some very helpful information on beginning a budget and managing your money, and we’re glad to provide that for you, either on-line or call us and we will mail it to you. Of course, you can go to professional advisors, but that's not usually necessary.

 

Begin with needs as you make out that budget: housing costs, food costs, transportation, etc. Remember to differentiate between needs and desires. For example, you may need transportation, but do you need the fancy car you're driving or is that just a desire? You need food, but do you need to buy the expensive brands, or eat in restaurants so often? Usually within our needs we can find room for saving money.

 

Also, don't forget to make saving some money a priority. We all need to think long term when it comes to financial planning. Got little kids? You need to think about some college finance plan. We all need to plan for retirement in some way. So, you want to be sure you include your long-range needs in your short-range budgeting; otherwise, those long-range needs will never be met.

 

Then commit that budget to the Lord, and look to him for strength to live by it. Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."  Pour prayer into that budgeting process, and pray for the discipline you will need to make it succeed. It won't be easy to make yourself live by a budget, but the freedom you will achieve from those constant financial worries will be so wonderful.

 

Remember Proverbs 13:18: "He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored." If you will heed the correction of setting up a budget and living by it, you will be honored by the Lord and you will be able to manage your money to his honor and glory. Money management is a spiritual issue, like everything else in the life of a believer.

 

I know I often find myself thinking, "If I just had X-dollars, this wouldn't be a problem?" Or "If I were just rich, we wouldn't have to raise funds for the ministry; money wouldn't be a problem!" But one thing I know for sure is that God teaches me a lot of lessons about trusting him through money. It is certainly one area where God can get our attention pretty easily.

 

I want to finish this message on Managing Your Money with what I believe is the most important money management principle in the Bible, and that is, giving it away.

 

Proverbs 11:25 reminds us that, "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Jesus warned us that we cannot serve both God and Money, and one of the best ways you can prove that money is not your god is to give it away. Think of someone right now who needs some money. Take some money out of your pocket or your checking account, put it in an envelope and mail it to them—anonymously perhaps. Doesn't matter how small it is. Just give it away. You will be refreshed, and you will find great joy in doing it.

 

When we give money away, it is an act of faith that says, "Money is not as important to me as the Lord and as others," and in so doing you are sending a strong message to yourself and to the Lord about your attitude toward money. It really is amazing how the act of giving away money will help to break its power over us, for in so doing we realize the joy of giving and see that even though we gave it away, we still have what we need. It really is true that a generous person will prosper, and when we refresh others we are ourselves refreshed.

 

Jesus told us to lay up treasures in heaven, because rust and moths do not corrupt up there and thieves do not break through and steal. In other words, whatever we send on ahead of us to heaven will be a totally safe investment, whereas when we try to store things up on earth, those treasures are totally vulnerable. So any good money manager would choose the safest investment.

 

When we give money to others in the name of the Lord, we are storing money up in heaven. And, as Jesus said, because that's where our treasure is, that's where our heart will be also. That means that our thoughts, our emotions, our feelings, our loyalties are tied very closely to our treasure and where we have our treasure invested. If it's invested in heaven, we will be more and more heavenly minded, more and more focused on eternity, and less and less vulnerable to the vagrancies of this earthly system.

 

The only area in which God asks us to test him is in this matter of money. In Malachi 3:10 we read: "'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.'" Are you regularly giving God his tithe?

 

I think of a dear listener in California who owns her own business, and she has committed to the Lord to give him the tithe, no matter how tough things are financially. She gives the Lord his tithe before she writes her own paycheck. And there have been weeks when she couldn't see how she could make her payroll. But each time, God has supplied just what she needed. Now, her business is thriving, and she has more to give to the Lord. She has tested and proved God's faithfulness.

 

Financial planning for believers must include this as the highest priority. If you haven't discovered the joy of giving your money to the Lord, you're missing a special blessing. I encourage you to make this your starting place for managing your money more effectively. God asks you to test him, and he has promised you a blessing.

 

Well, I hope you will join me in getting serious about being a better steward of the money God has entrusted to you and managing that money better. Hopefully these thoughts have been helpful to you. Remember that we have prepared some information for you to help you in managing your money, and we are glad to provide that—along with a transcript of this two-part message.

 

For example, in talking about buying cars, Larry Burkett wrote:

"Many families will buy new cars they cannot afford and trade them long before their utility is depleted. Those who buy a new car, keep it for less than four years, and then trade it for a new model have wasted the maximum amount of money... We swap cars because we want to—not because we have to. Many factors enter here such as ego, esteem and maturity."

 

Then he gives some hints for grocery shopping, like:

I really want to encourage you to get the material we’ve assembled to help you manage your money better, please click here to request the information we put together for you.