I’ve been operating One Money Design for almost 3 years now and it’s grown a lot in that timeframe. It’s now a multi-author blog that provides a lot of different perspectives and practical tips about personal finance, but the heart and foundation of the blog is helping people along their respective journeys to true financial freedom.
I was first exposed to the term “true financial freedom” when I discovered the Crown Money Map, created by Crown Financial Ministries. I’ve learned true financial freedom is a spiritual journey for a Christian. It’s learning to live a life of according to principles of biblical financial stewardship and generosity. It’s a faith-filled journey of managing money for God’s purposes and not for our own personal desires.
Learning About Biblical Stewardship
Photo © by Moyan_Brenn
After my wife and I got married we decided to join a small group financial study at our church created by Crown. The class is still offered in many church’s and small groups today. It provides practical tips and instruction across all the core areas of personal finance. However, the real purpose of the study is to teach people a biblical perspective and God’s purpose for money in our lives.
The class changed our view of money forever. The most important thing we learned in that class was that God is the owner of everything and we’re the stewards, or managers, of what he’s placed into our care. It is quite amazing to stop and realize that everything in our possession is God’s and it is only because of God we have those things.
We actually got to do a practical exercise in that class of signing all of our possessions back over to God. We had spent many years each thinking we owned those things. It’s a great exercise to go through because it helps you make the shift in your thinking that we’ve had since we were children. Naturally, we feel like everything belongs to us and it’s because of our own efforts that we’ve obtained those things.
God’s Purpose for Money
From the moment of understanding biblical stewardship we realized we were on a financial journey. We were on a journey to grow as faithful stewards and follow God’s purpose for money in our lives. I realized that God doesn’t bless with me with a paycheck to serve my purposes alone in this life. If I somehow were to earn a million dollars, I don’t believe he is looking for me to retire, sit on the beach and grow old without a purpose. I believe God desires me to be in a financial position that can honor Him and serve his ministry and purposes.
Let me provide an example. There is a great temptation in our society to own a lot of home, shiny cars, fancy furniture, take extravagant vacations and much more. I don’t think these things are necessarily bad if you have the means to afford them and you can be wise in how you acquire them. But most people have to have a lot of means to afford all of them. It’s easy to get inpatient, compare yourself to your neighbor and put yourself into too much debt with hefty monthly payments that you really can’t afford.
The bad part about doing all of this is that you’re limiting what God can and wants to do in your life. You can’t be generous and give more of your time and money if you’re sending money to the bank each month and giving more time to your job to earn the money to pay for these things. God might want you to give to a church project, or bless you in ways that could lead you into a ministry that is important to Him.
As a financial steward, my desire is to now give more of my time and money to God’s purposes. I’ve long decided that I can forget the tax deduction on my house someday because I’d rather pay it off. In doing so, I won’t need as much income because I won’t have the house payment each month. Doing so would position me to better serve God. And by the way, that doesn’t mean I have to move my family to another country in missionary work. It might mean I have more time to help my church for a special project, or build relationships with people that may not have Christ in their lives.
I believe God’s purpose for money is liberating. Are you on the journey to true financial freedom? If so, let me know about it in the comments.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Psalms 24:1).
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4: 1-2).
