Managing Money God’s Way

Today I will be starting a series dedicated to the seven Biblical principles of personal finance.  As a reminder I will list the principles and links back to the post for each principle as we tackle them.

1. Understand God’s Ownership (Psalms 24:1)
2. Learn to Save Money (Proverbs 21:20)
3. You Must Live on Less Than You Make (I Timothy 6:7-8)
4. There is Life After Debt (Proverbs 22:7)
5. Establish an “On-Purpose” Cash Flow Plan (Luke 14:28-30)
6. Prioritize Your Plan Around the Four Walls (I Timothy 5:8)
7. Giving is the Goal to Financial Freedom (II Corinthians 9:7)

The first principle reminds us that everything we have belongs to God.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.”   Psalm 24:1

If you have ever read the Bible, you were reminded from Genesis to Revelation that God is the creator of everything. However, we sometimes forget that everything includes our money and the things we buy with our money.

Most families in the U.S. have bought into the idea that “we deserve” stuff.  After all, we work hard for the money we get, so we should have all the nice things that we want.  To a degree that is true, and I believe the Bible teaches us that God wants us to prosper, however, the Bible also teaches us that we are merely stewards of God’s resources.

As a steward we are not owners, but instead we are managers.  Because we often put ourselves in the place of the owner we take something that doesn’t belong to us, spend it in a way that is not pleasing to the rightful owner and then wonder why our lives are in a mess.  I believe that if we truly want to prosper the way the owner intends for us to prosper, we have to begin by being a better manager of His resources.

When I borrow something that belongs to a neighbor or a friend, I can’t treat it as if it were my own.  I shouldn’t toss it out, just because I no longer have a use for it.  I shouldn’t lend it out to someone else just because they need it.  When I am trusted to manage that which does not belong to me, I need to make sure each and everything I do with that item would be approved by the rightful owner.  In the area of personal finance that means we should be spending, saving and giving our money in a way the rightful owner would approve.  Over the next few days we will be looking at principles from the Bible that will help you better understand what the owner would have you do with His money.

What if you don’t believe in God? Well, this post is not a sermon on eternity, but I think the remainder of the posts in this series will still apply to you.  It is kind of like the Ten Commandments.  Even if you don’t believe in God, the Ten Commandments are still good things to live by.