Before I talk about Biblical practices for handling money, read the previous blog “Principles for Handling Money” here. That blog describes heart attitudes toward money, and a right heart is the foundation for right practices. Everything I say here presupposes what I said there. If you understand what a right heart looks like, what does that heart do with money? I will cover financial practices in multiple blogs, but for now, here are three.
Give Sacrificially: Giving may be the single most important thing you do with your money. Whatever your income, you can give something. And you need to give something, not just for financial reasons but because giving is healthy for your soul. Giving is how your soul lets go of money. Giving is the best way to combat greed.
A heart that wants to follow Jesus sees the goodness, the necessity, and the benefits of giving and embraces it. A heart that cares little for Jesus will hold onto what is mine, mine, mine.
God will not require everyone to give the same amount or even the same percentage, but He will require everyone to give.
Giving needs to be a sacrifice. The billionaire who gives millions hasn’t made a sacrifice. Your giving should cause you to go without something you would otherwise have if you did not give.
For more on giving go here and here.
Live Within Your Means: This practice deals with spending, and because it deals with spending, it deals with your lifestyle. Don’t try to live a lifestyle you can’t afford. If you can afford only a one-bedroom house, don’t buy a three-bedroom house. If you can afford only a 600 square foot apartment, don’t rent a 1200 square foot one. Don’t go on a vacation you can’t pay for or buy a new car when you can afford only a used one. All these choices are lifestyle choices, and all these choices deal with spending.
How you handle money impacts your lifestyle. You may not be able to live like everyone around you or like the happy people in the commercials.
Instead you must live within your means. This practice is a contentment issue. People who are content with what they have live with what they have. If you think you should have more, you will face pressure to spend more, whether you can afford it or not. If you believe you need what you do not need – a bigger pickup, a cabin at the lake, more entertainment, whatever – then you will spend what you can’t afford. Such spending is fundamentally a spiritual problem that has caused a financial problem.
You must live within your means for multiple reasons.
First, doing so prevents financial disaster and debt.
Second, doing so frees money for God’s kingdom. Most people who do not live within their means do not give. They don’t think they can give because they think they need more money just to meet their “needs.”
Third, doing so removes the stress from wanting more money. When you desire more money, you are never content or grateful. You are stressed.
Fourth, doing so removes the stress from being unable to pay your bills. People who do not live within their means can postpone the day of financial reckoning by taking on debt or finagling money from family or friends, but sooner or later they will meet this wall.
Fifth, doing so helps your soul because it causes you to let go of earth and to say no to pleasures you might want. Jesus said you must deny self and take up your Cross and follow Him. God never intends dying to self to be merely an interesting philosophy. He intends you to practice it, and sometimes He gives you less money than you would like so you can practice it.
Sixth, doing so helps grow you in self-control and discipline. The woman who buys the new clothes she can’t afford lacks self-control and discipline. The woman, however, who wants to eat out every day but who packs a lunch and eats at home builds her self-control and discipline. Living within your means helps you control money instead of letting money control you.
Seventh, doing so is more honest. When you live a lifestyle you can’t afford, you pretend to be someone you are not. You are living a lie. Your life is just a show.
If you are content in Christ, you will live within your means. Pursue Christ. Love Christ. Enjoy Christ. Your spending will then follow your heart.
Avoid Get-Rich-Quick Schemes: Earn $10,000 a month working from home . . . Double your income with a phone call . . . How I became a multimillionaire in one year!
Ads like these are everywhere, and they appeal to the person who wants to get rich. Ignore them. These schemes are problematic on multiple levels. They promote greed, sow discontentment, and focus on self. They highlight money, increase your anxiety, and push you to trust the wrong source for your provision. From this perspective alone, get-rich-quick schemes are toxic for your soul. Avoid them.
But these schemes are also problematic from the perspective of dollars and cents. Most of these schemes are scams. They promise a downpour but deliver a desert. More often they take more than they give. Thus, in most instances, they will make you poorer as you pursue a dream that makes you more miserable.
Get-rich-quick schemes are, thus, foolish because they rob your heart and your pocketbook.
Instead of looking to get rich quick, try looking for some good work. Be faithful, responsible, and full of integrity in your work, and live within your means. This mentality will be healthier for your soul and better able to provide the needs for you and your family.
People who have the peace of Christ have no desire to get rich quick. Those, however, who desire to be rich fall into all sorts of problems (I Tim 6:9).
