12 Steps to Managing your Money God’s way

Welcome to our Financial Matters weekly blog post. Today we will be discussing 12 steps to managing your money God’s way.

A Question to consider:

How can I handle my money God’s way?

Today I want to look at 12 practical principles that come straight out of the Bible on how to conduct your financial affairs. I really believe that they can add value to your financial management, while helping you to build on your relationship with God.    

God is interested in you. You can look to Him for wisdom and advice. You can put your hope in God.

12 Steps to Managing your Money God’s way

I really believe that these principles can help you build wealth.    

Put God 1^st

God knows what is up! He wants a personal walk with you. Put Him 1^st!

Matthew 6:33-34: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So, don’t worry about tomorrow…”

You need a Plan

You need to know what your objectives are and how you intend to reach these objectives. It is crucial to get your priorities in the right order.

Proverbs 21:5: “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty short cuts lead to poverty”. 

It is important to Budget

Keep a track of your income and where it comes from as well as what you are spending and where it is going to. That way you can ensure you spend less than you earn.

Matthew 14:28: Jesus said… “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.”

Watch out for Debt

Do your best to limit your exposure to debt. Face it. Deal with it!

Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

Romans 13:8 “Owe nothing to anyone—except love”

Don’t be a slave! You can be free!

Give to God

Give to God with joy in your heart! You need to honor Him with your money.

Malachi 3:8-18 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me. 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 there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

Get into the habit of Saving and Investing

Once you are committed to saving you won’t even miss the amount you put aside each month. And you will be surprised how quickly your savings grow. You might think you don’t have ‘spare’ cash to save – but just go back to your budget and list the items that were satisfying “wants”, and by cutting back on these expenses you will create surplus cash. It might be difficult at first, but it is do-able. Build it into your budget.

Proverbs 21:20 “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.” 

Set up a Contingency Fund

You need to have cash available for those emergencies &/or opportunities that occur from time to time. Consider your car, it has a reserve tank to ensure that you have a back-up should you run low on fuel. In the same way, you need to build a reserve.

Proverbs 6:6-8: “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.” 

Invest over the long-term

Over the long term you can generate explosive growth due to compound interest.

Proverbs 13:11 “…he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” 

Diversify your Investments. Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket.

Rather spread your investments. Diversity reduces risks. By diversifying your investments you can also save towards specific goals over the short, medium & longer term. Diversify your investments across asset classes. 

Ecclesiastes 11:2 “Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”

Watch out for Crooked Schemes

If it is too good to be true it usually is!

Proverbs 11:13 “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows.”

Be wise with your Money

Think twice before you make any financial decision. Consider your options. Review your scenarios. Pray. Remember that the decisions you make today will impact your tomorrow.

Proverbs 14:16 “The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.”

Proverbs 27:12 “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.”

Commit your plans to God. He wants to walk the Journey with you.

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your work to the Lord & then your plans will succeed.”

Psalm 37:4 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

If you apply these God given money principles, you will set yourself up for a blessed and brighter tomorrow. 

Interesting Fact:

According to Earth Easy, a “single semi-dwarf apple tree, can produce up to 500 apples in a season, with a productive life of 15 to 20 years.” 

To put this in perspective. 1 apple tree can produce enough apples each season to make 62 apple pies, or to ensure that you have 10 apples per week to eat.

Isn’t it amazing that one apple seed can grow into an apple tree that can produce multiple apples each season? If the seeds were replanted, you could grow an apple farm over time.

It got me thinking… Why not invest your money? Over time you could build a “money farm” that will be able to generate compound growth and passive income over time. 

Galatians 6:7 “A man reaps what he sows.”

What are you planting? 

Luke 6:37-38 Jesus said … “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Power Quote of the Week:

King Solomon, known as the wisest man in the world in his time said …

Proverbs 10:4 “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”

Proverbs 13:4 “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” 

Proverbs 10:23 “Hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty”    

Hard work pays off. So don’t be lazy. Be disciplined and work hard.

What does God have to say?

Be a blessing and refresh others

Proverbs 11:24-25: “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”

Trust God

Rest and rely on God. Live to please Him!

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Psalm 37:25 “Once I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”

Life is short. Make certain of your eternity.

James 4:14 “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot” 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world (YOU) that he gave his one and only Son (JESUS) , that whoever believes in him shall not perish (HELL) but have eternal life (HEAVEN). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”

Let’s Pray

Father, today I surrender my life to you. Jesus please be my Lord and Savior. I ask you to lead, help and guide me. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Conclusion

When you manage your money in line with God’s principles how can you not set yourself up for a blessed future.

Have a blessed day!