Parents are often very concerned about how their children behave in someone else’s home. As children we’re told to treat other’s homes and belongings as if they were our own.

In fact, we hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to other’s belongings than we do with our own. We would never borrow a tool and return it dirty or put our feet on someone else’s coffee table (even though we might in our own homes).

I recently had the privilege of having a two-year guest in my home: the daughter of a friend who wanted a family environment for his college-aged daughter. Since my husband and I have plenty of room and live less than a mile from the college she was attending, we were thrilled to oblige.

During the first week of her stay, I noticed recyclable plastic bottles in the trashcan, rather than the recycle bin. This threw me back a bit, since it’s just as easy to recycle as it is to toss items in my household. I explained the recycling system in my household and left it at that.

The next week, there were more plastic bottles in the garbage bin. Now, I’m aware of the fact that many 18-year-olds (no matter how wonderful they are) often don’t listen. Their ears are plugged with Smartphone or iPod ear buds half of their awake-lives.

But, I have to say I was a bit perplexed, and miffed. Here was this lovely young woman defying my household rules. What’s up with that?!

I searched for a way to change her habits by changing her heart. I needed to give her reasons to recycle that meant something to her.

Then the Bible verse Psalm 24:1 came to me. I told her, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, and all who live in it.” When you toss something in the garage, you’re tossing it on God’s lawn (I added the last part for drama).

Now, if God were you next-door neighbor, you surely wouldn’t throw trash in his yard. But, he’s not your neighbor; he’s your landlord – the landlord over the earth, and we are only stewards.

I continued to explain stewardship as the responsibility of caring for and managing something. When you are a steward, you aren’t the owner, you’re the servant. That’s the best reason to recycle there is!

We live in a world where disposing of some items is necessary. But I at least wanted the young woman, now placed in my stewardship, to think about her actions. I’m happy to report she had an immediately change of heart and actions.

I’ll admit that there are some things that just can’t be recycled, that must be tossed into the trash. And, I’m guilty of purchasing and trashing such items.

However, when I’m truly aware of my stewardship responsibilities, I’m more conscious in my buying habits. I purchase groceries packaged with minimal packaging. And, given the choice, I purchase items in recyclable packaging over identical items in non-recyclable packaging. Recycling has become a part of my lifestyle.

But even with all my effort, I still often forget who I am and need reminding of my place as a steward.

What would happen if we were to rethink how we are to dispose of items BEFORE we purchase them? Would you buy wooden toys over plastic? Would our basements and garages be littered with paint cans and chemicals? Would we borrow rather than purchase? Would we recycle?!

By now, everyone has heard the phrase: “reduce, reuse, recycle”. I’d like to add my own word to this adage: “rethink”. Maybe rethinking our place on this big earth is all we need to change our hearts and habits.

Photo credit: another.point.in.time

In reading this passage and study notes from my Bible, I realized how Solomon’s organization and good stewardship could be applied to many areas of life and personal finance.  In the case of Solomon, the organization helped his people effectively run the government. It helped insure their goals could be reached.  With personal finance, good organization has the same effects.  It helps you manage your money more effectively and also helps insure your goals can be reached.

Organizing Your Finances

Let’s look at some common examples of keeping your finances organized.

Paying Bills - Without keeping track of your bills or when they are due, you’re likely to miss a payment.  Missing payments can impact your credit score and result in late fees.  One way to organize your bills is to set up automatic payments or using bill pay through your checking account.

Budgeting - Look at your budget as a monthly plan to accomplish your goals one step at a time.  A budget helps insure you’re able to save, invest, give and pay off debt.  A budget helps you control spending in other areas, such as entertainment, to make sure your money is allocated towards the important goals.

Insurance - Another way you can be highly organized is to review your auto and home insurance policies each year.  Take the time to understand them and shop around to find the best deals on insurance.

Organizing your Financial Documents - You can’t manage money well if your desk is stacked high of financial papers that are out of order.  First, you can lose important documents.  Second, you can let important documents fall into the wrong hands when they accidentally get thrown in the trash.  Spend the time creating file folders with labels and take the time to file each week or month.  Also, look to reduce paper when possible be requesting electronic documents.

Tracking your Spending - A close cousin to budgeting is tracking your spending according to your budget or spending plan.  A highly organized steward tracks spending and knows at all times how much money is remaining for budget categories.  Tracking spending is easy to do with money management software.  It’s really just a matter of assigning categories to your spending transactions and then reviewing the balance of the respective budget categories.

Other Ways to be Well Organized

There other areas of life beyond personal finance which we should strive to be well organized.  You might say that we are to be good stewards of these areas and responsibilities too.

Physical Health – I went for a jog this evening and thought more about this scripture and Solomon’s example of organization.  Certainly, we can be organized and disciplined in our exercise routine. Doing so leads to better health and more energy.

Spiritual Health – It’s important to be disciplined to read scripture each day to learn and grow from God’s word.  Actually, reading my Bible is what started this blog post.  Organization in this area may require setting aside a certain amount of time each day to read God’s word and pray.

Family - If you’re family is organized, perhaps by using a family calendar, you can insure you’re not forgetting important activities and maximizing time with your family.  It’s especially helpful to be organized with young children.  I’ve learned they are often most comfortable in this type of environment.

What examples can you think of to be well organized with your personal finances?

Photo credit: Kasaa

There are a few important reasons to create a budget, hopefully, you’ll seriously consider doing so to improve your personal finances.

1.  Helps Achieve Personal Financial Goals

First, if you have financial goals, as most of us do, you’re going to have a hard time achieving them without a monthly spending plan to help you stay on track.  If your goal is to become debt free, a monthly plan that determines how much money is to be allocated towards debt payments is critical.  Your spending plan or budget also helps avoid over spending. All that over spending takes money away from your personal financial goals such as savings, debt reduction and also inhibits your ability to give.

Start using Mint – free money management software

2. Is Wise Biblical Stewardship

Second, having a budget is a Biblical principle of Christian Stewardship. God expects us to manage his resources wisely. Over spending, not knowing where you money is going each month and certainly not working to reduce debt or achieve financial freedom isn’t God’s plan for your life.  God desires us to be free to serve him and not have the burden or worries financial bondage brings with it.  If God expects us to be stewards, or managers of his resources, having a plan just insures we’re able to do a better job in managing them.

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)

3.  Reduces Anxiety

You’ve heard of people mention they’re stressed over not having enough money, or anxious about upcoming expenses.  There is often debt that makes the situation even more difficult.  Whether you realize it or not, having a plan reduces anxiety.  Why?  You no longer have to  concerned with how you’re going to meet those future spending needs (the cause of the anxiety) because a plan, or a budget, provides you the opportunity to make decisions about how you’re going to use your money.  At the end of the day, it’s your choice as to how you’re going to spend the money.  So, creating a purpose for every dollar at the beginning of the month is the key to reducing stress and money issues.

4.  Improves Communication in Your Marriage

A budget can also serve as a communication tool and a way to insure both you and your spouse are on the same page with how money is going to be spent.  Have you ever been in the situation where both you and your spouse unexpectedly spent a large sum of money without each other knowing about it?  It might even have caused you to overdraw your checking account.  This often occurs because there isn’t a plan in place in which you both create together and communicate about every month.

5.  Sets a Good Example

Finally, as your children get older they may have the opportunity to participate in the family finances.  After all, money doesn’t grow on trees and they need to start learning that from an early age.  One of these days you may want to sit down with your teenager (or even younger child) to walk them through your plan.  Show them how you save and give money.  And definitely show them you have limited money for entertainment purposes.

I hope you consider these reasons important enough to establish a budget.  Can you think of other reasons?

Photo credit: kenteegardin

Here are a some of the results I found:

• Lawsuit claims county school drivers cheated out of money
• Customers cheated out of money
• Firms cheated out of thousands in money
• So-called friend cheated me out of money
• Did the car dealership just cheat me out of money?

When you’re cheated out of money you naturally may feel anger, or resentment.  But a devotion from Crown Financial Ministries this week reminds us we can be free to let go of such feelings:

Too often we harbor resentment in our hearts when someone offends or cheats us. The reason the Lord tells us that revenge belongs to Him is so we can be free of resentment, anger, and frustration, as well as the need for getting even. “Do not fret because of evildoers, or be envious of the wicked; For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’”  (Proverbs 24:19 NASB, Hebrews 10:30 NASB).

Here are some thoughts about this devotion and what to do if you are cheated out of money:

• You should never try to seek revenge.  Doing so will only make matters worse.
• If you’ve been cheated by a friend or someone you know, confront them, but with a kind heart.  Sometimes what may seem like an act of cheating could be a mistake.  For example, somone owes you $50 over a dinner bill and only pays $40.  Or, you might just consider letting it go if the matter is small and if it could cause friction in your relationship. 
• Report the theft.  If it’s a credit or check card that’s been stolen, contact your bank immediately.  Have them freeze the account and make sure you can tell them which transactions are fraudulent. 
• If you’ve been cheated by a business, don’t threaten or take action on your own.  Report the business to the Better Business Bureau and contact authorities if you’ve witnessed illegal acts.
• Don’t forget to check your credit report [annualcreditreport.com provides a free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year] to stay on top of any fraudulent activity that could impact your credit score.
• Pray and have comfort in knowing God is always in control of the situation.

Have you ever been cheated out of money?  If so, how did you handle the situation?

It’s a post about gaining perspective on money management and financial stewardship. I enjoy finding new ways to gain a wise financial steward’s perspective on money. I hope this particular one will encourage the new financial steward, perhaps be a wake up call for some and a reminder for the more seasoned stewards among us.

I’ve always been a believer it’s not how much money you make, but how you handle or manage the money that you make. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the race of working more to earn more in order to have what many might think is a better way of life. It’s just exhausting to think about for me because I know I could never work hard enough for what would never be enough.

A Million Dollars. Is It Attainable?

For example, a lot of people think about making a million dollars in their lifetime. To be a millionaire has always been the label that says “I’m financially free.” Many in society view the millionaire as a person who can buy almost anything they want. The thought is they drive fancy cars and live in the nicest houses.

The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley gave many people a different view of the millionaire for the first time. All of the sudden a millionaire could be the person next to you driving the Ford F150 pick up and wearing average clothes. We learned the millionaire next door was different than the one seen on TV and movies. This millionaire manages money wisely versus the one fueled by materialistic desires and dreams.

I told myself some time ago to never depend on another pay raise. Having that perspective, I’m only left with managing wisely what I’ve been blessed with today in order to meet our family’s financial objectives. I realize even if I don’t have a million dollars, I can still be financially free and prosperous as long as I have a Biblical perspective on money management.

However, the truth is that most people will make a million dollars in their lifetime, even if they don’t increase their income by another dime! How? Well, let’s think about it for a moment.

If someone were making $20,000 per year at the age of 25, they will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 75. Many people make more than $20,000 dollars per year. Let’s increase that to $50,000 which would then take someone 20 years to gross a million dollars. A person who is 30 today and making $50,000 per year will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 50!

According to Mary Hunt in her book, How to Debt Proof Your Marriage, we are all becoming millionaires!

The truth is that you are becoming millionaires right now. You’re receiving your wealth in installments, a portion every payday.

I felt like I had just won the lottery and gained new perspective after reading that comment from her book. Even if I don’t make another dime, I’ll probably gross a million dollars in this lifetime which is all paid to me in installments.

What Will You Do With Your Million Dollars?

So I ask the question; what will you do with your million dollars? Think about if you were to give 10% of your gross income, save 10% of your gross income, and live on the remaining 80%. You would be able to save $100,000 and give $100,000 in your lifetime! I think for most it could be stretched even further, but you get the point.

Most people would never dream of being able to give or save these large amounts of money. But if we look at our situation with new perspective, perhaps the million dollar installment perspective, we just might do it!

Imagine a world in which everyone would save or invest $100,000 in their lifetime? The average net worth of our nation would increase and people would be able to invest more of their time as well as provide gifts to others. Think about the impact to churches, ministries and non-profits; it is indescribable.

Many wonder why they should have a budget or a spending plan to guide them each month. Fundamentally, it’s to help perform wise money management and to achieve financial goals. But, largely, it’s so that meaningful decisions can be made regarding the use of the money which has been entrusted to our care which are our monthly installments.

So again, I think at the end of the day it’s not about making more money or dreaming of a future of more cash than we know what to do with; such as society’s view of the millionaire. Rather, it’s how we plan to manage our monthly million dollar installments and keep them from dwindling away.

What do you think about the monthly million dollar installment perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Photo by Suburban Dollar.

God’s financial principles versus society’s principles

But God’s ways are definitely not our ways.  As Christians, God is our father.  If you are a parent you know that your ways are certainly not your child’s ways.  Your child requires guidance because a youngster is much of the time incapable of seeing the big picture or understanding the consequences of his or her actions.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV)

After reading this scripture, do you think God’s financial principles are different than society’s principles?  There is no doubt about it.  For some to say God should not be a part of our financial decisions is not recognizing the sovereignty of God.  He is higher than us.  We are children who require His guidance.  The best way we can find that guidance is to seek and understand His word.

Once you can accept the father/child relationship and trust that God’s word is in your best interest, you can begin to understand and follow the Biblical financial principle of stewardship: God is the owner of everything.  We are the managers of what he has entrusted to our care.

The owner of money

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 (NIV)

This scripture tells us that God is the owner of everything.  Stop and think about that for just a second.  How often do we insert the possessive pronouns of “my”, “mine”, or “ours” when talking about possessions?  It reminds me of a child who says: it’s “mine”, “mine”, “mine!”  But according to scripture house, cars, money and all possessions belong to God.

Most commonly the idea of people claiming money as their money leads them down the road of poor decision making.  Think about all of the financially immoral acts in our society.  Ponzi schemes and corporate crimes have typically occurred because people are making decisions with the perspective of their money versus God’s money.  This excerpt from the Crown Financial Ministries Money Map participant’s guide, says it all well:

When we acknowledge God’s ownership, every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision.  No longer do we ask, “Lord what do You want me to do with my money?  The question is restated, Lord what do You want me to do with Your money?

Financial stewardship

What do you want me to do with your money?  Yes, that is the essence of financial stewardship and the perspective that God desires us to have.

It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)

If all of these things around us belong to God, we can then begin to understand that we only have them in our possession because God allowed us to have them.  But, there is a responsibility and a high expectation that we are to manage them faithfully, or wisely.

If we are not responsible, it is possible less could be entrusted to us or some of our responsibilities could be taken from us.

Jesus told his disciples: There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.  Luke 16:1-2 (NIV)

Is that not some good motivation to do our best in managing what has been entrusted to us?  But, what can commonly be mistaken in the area of managing finances is we are expected to manage all of the money entrusted to us.  Not just the first 10% or a giving portion which is much of the time the primary focus.

Unfortunately, the remaining 90% is often managed how we want to manage it and not how God wants us to manage it.  But if we ignore God in all of our finances we have the wrong attitude towards money.  Managing finances according to society’s principles leads to poor financial decisions and painful consequences such as debt.

Final thoughts

As you charge forward in managing God’s money, keep the following principles in mind:

• God is the owner of everything
• God wants us to manage everything he has entrusted to us His way
• We must be willing to let God be Lord to our financial matters.  God should be a part of this and all areas of our lives.

Looking for some practical guidance to move forward in implementing these principles?

One of the best things you can do to start exercising good financial stewardship with God’s money is to establish a budget or plan for your money each month.  You can create a budget in 3 easy steps!

Finally, don’t let 1 Chronicles 29:11 (everything in heaven and earth is yours) stray far from you.  I recommend memorizing it so that your spending decisions truly become spiritual decisions.

How do you feel about these Biblical financial principles?  Do you think there is a place for God or faith in finances?

Each of the posts from the Bible and Money series are based on principles discussed during Money Map Coaching sessions and the Money Map Coach participants’ guide.  You can learn more about Money Map Coaching at Crown Financial Ministries.  You can also visit my Money Map Coaching page.

Download the Financial Stewardship post here!

A recent Crown Financial Ministries Biblical Devotional points out we do have responsibility in this area of spending or investment management!

Boycotting products is good stewardship. It is spending God’s money in a manner that would be pleasing to Him and not supporting companies that use their profits to sponsor questionable programs.

“Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” (Philippians 2:2 NASB).

A steward’s mindset

How does a financial steward view money management?  A financial steward knows money in his or her possession only comes from God.  People can’t earn it under their own accord; God does the providing.  Therefore, financial stewardship is all about managing wisely the resources God has provided which includes money.  Having a purpose or plan for money and taking steps to avoid wasteful spending is pleasing to God under this principle.

A Christian strives to grow his or her relationship with Christ and to also be Christ-like in daily living.  If we purchase products that could harm us, others, or that may be misaligned with Christian values, we may be inhibiting our ability to be Christ-like or united in spirit according to the scripture and devotional.

Beyond the obvious, I think the challenge can be in knowing when we’re making such purchases or perhaps investments.

We certainly all have a choice to make at our local grocery store when it comes to purchasing inappropriate material or things that can be harmful to our health and to our relationship with God.  Without throwing out all the examples, such items are created by companies that typically aren’t thinking along the lines of bettering society or the expansion of Christian values.

Moral investing decisions

What isn’t as obvious and more difficult to use good judgment is when we invest our money, perhaps in our company 401k, and mutual funds.  When purchasing mutual funds we don’t directly purchase company stocks that are in the fund.  The fund manager makes these purchases for us, but it is still our investment.  Therefore, unless we’re paying close attention, there may be company stocks in our mutual fund for companies we would typically avoid supporting.

So beyond the trip to the grocery or convenient store, should we be concerned with what stocks our fund contains?  Some would say yes because they feel it’s a component of financial stewardship and being like-minded with Christ.  Others would be less concerned because of the indirectness of purchasing stocks in the mutual fund.

Most people, me included, don’t spend a lot of time analyzing every company in which a fund invests.  Truthfully, if we did spend the time identifying all the companies and reviewing their websites, we still might not be able to identify immoral activities occurring with a company’s mission or product.  And at the same time, these companies are probably not going out of their way to make this information widely known to the public.

How to make moral investing decisions

But the subject of product boycotting, including investments has got me thinking that there may be more I can do here.  After all, I do want to be the best financial steward I can be and I certainly don’t want to invest in a company that produces for example, pornography that draws people further away from God and wrecks havoc on families.

I came across a resource that can help when it comes to making moral investing decisions. Moral Moneyis focused on helping people be Biblically responsible investors.  It helps people build a portfolio of companies that only support Christian values.  I noticed on their website they have something called the “Integrity I-Dex” which is a benchmark for Biblically based portfolios.  Companies are screened for their involvement in things that go against Biblical Christian values.  If you want more information, Christian PF conducted an interview with Moral Money.

Final thoughts

Whether you are for or against boycotting products, I think there is something to think about and consider here.  More conscious spending or investment decisions can help put a stop to furthering the growth of companies with immoral missions.  While investing decisions may be more challenging, we can see through organizations like Moral Money, it is possible to do some screening to help with decision making.

What are your thoughts about boycotting products of questionable companies and perhaps mutual funds that include stocks of such companies?

Photo by dooley.

As a child, you might wear the teammate hat as you run across the soccer field.  Sometimes, you might wear the friend hat when someone close to you needs help or you just want to spend time with people with whom you have common interests.  At work, you might wear the hat for your role, but also wear hats for other roles as you increase your realm of responsibility and help others.  As a dad or mom, you wear an important hat.  It’s a hat that provides the opportunity to care for, raise and guide a child in life.  And as a husband or wife, you wear the hat that of a life long friend and partner.

Our responsibility to manage money

At some point along the way, we are given the responsiblity to manage money.  We put on the financial steward hat.  The responsibility is discussed in 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV).

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

When was your first money management responsibility?  Typically, we might think about our first job during our youth, or when we leave school.  But, in reality, maybe it’s when we were given our first allowance.  Although, we might have had parental guidance at that time we were still responsible for making a choice.

Unknown to me at the time, I was required to to wear the financial steward hat when I took a job in high school washing cars.  I remember being excited to receive my paycheck each week and run out and buy something.  At the time, I didn’t know anything about financial stewardship.  All I could think about was spending for myself.  Saving or giving, as a financial steward, never really crossed my mind.  I guess I didn’t wear the hat too well then.

Always be a financial steward

The financial steward hat is really a responsibility we can’t deny as a youngster or an adult.  As a parent, it’s our responsibility to teach our children.  And as an adult, it’s our responsibility to manage what we’ve been giving wisely, or faithfully.

We’re supposed to always wear the hat, but sometimes we forget to put it on in the morning.  I’ll bet you can think of a few times when you wish you would have had it on.  I certainly can.  These times usually resulted in putting wants before needs and they always resulted in slowing me down towards my quest to financial freedom.  In fact, if you add the expenses from these times up for me, our family would have been a lot further down the financial freedom path by now.   Oh well, we all have to move forward and for me, I now have the opportunity to teach what I’ve learned.

It’s our choice to be good financial stewards

As the day begins, it’s our choice to be wise managers of what has been entrusted to our care, or poor managers.  We have to be conscious of our decisions because they can have long-term impacts.  Sure, the mismanagement of a few dollars each day may not impact us much in the short-term, but over a month, or a year, the mis-management of a few dollars a day can result in delay in paying off debt and reduce what can be saved and invested.

It’s really easier to be wise, in my opinion.  Although, it’s not easy! We all fall into the temptation of coveting what our neighbor has which can lead us into the race of material pursuit.  That’s a hard race to run and by the way, it never ends.  I would rather not run that race.  Yes, I will have some nice material things, but only if my plan can afford them.  And never from the use of “want it now” leverage or credit.   The choice has to be conscious.  For it to be conscious it has to be in our thoughts daily.  Otherwise, we’ll leave our financial steward hat at home.

How do you remind yourself of the financial steward hat you must put on and wear daily?

Photo by Paul Stevenson.

Manage your finances wisely

1.  The Bible is the best resource for guidance in managing your finances

There are over 2200 scriptures about money, debt, saving and more.  If you get the Biblical financial principle of stewardship and follow it, you’re on the road to financial freedom.

2. There is no try in managing your personal finances

You must do it.  To many times I hear people say they will try to spend less or not use a credit card.  Unfortunately, there is often never any weight behind those words.  Tell yourself you will learn to manage your finances, control spending and get out of debt.  Don’t let there be another option.

3.  There are timeless financial steps that can be applied to your situation today

At the end of the day, it all comes down to one simple formula I always here Dave Ramsey talking about.  Inflow must equal outflow.  If you’re spending more, you’re getting yourself into debt.  Create a budget and manage to your plan.

4.  It’s important to keep it simple and find the tools that work best for you

Some people like pencil and paper and some people like software.  Also, if you try to over manage your finances, for example, 50 subcategories in your budget, you’ll almost certainly not find the time to keep up with it.

5.  You can’t hit the easy button to put your finances in order

Sorry, no one said it was going to be easy.  As in most cases, you can’t change things over night.  It requires work, commitment, intensity and perseverance to turn your situation around.

6.  Change starts with you.  No one else can do it

You have to decide when you’re going to get out of debt and start managing your money wisely.  Don’t think you have a problem with money or are doing just fine?  Consider looking at Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to see where you are and if you’re moving forward.

7.  Collaborative networks of people accelerate knowledge transfer and the ability to replicate best practices

Through the internet, blogs, forums and more, you have a real opportunity to learn from others who are on the road to financial freedom.  Take advantage of it.  Talk to them online and read what they are doing to mange their money wisely and live debt free.

Can you think of other guidelines?  I would enjoy hearing from you.

The owner of money

God owns everything which includes all of our possessions.

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Psalms 24:1).

The manager of money and resources (Financial Steward)

We are stewards of what God has entrusted into our care. Therefore, money belongs to God and we are expected to manage it well.

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).

Debt

Avoid getting into debt and if you are in debt create a plan to become debt free.

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7).

Saving

Plan for the future by saving.

The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets (Proverbs 21:20)

Spending

Learn to be content and thankful for your current situation. Place your focus and need in God and not material possessions.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

Giving

Put God first in your finances by giving. Giving shows are trust in God and that he will provide for our needs.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

How do you let God’s financial principles guide you in making financial decisions?