Faith And Finances: the tightrope of balancing god and gold
Over the last few weeks I have had some conversations with people about finances, budgeting, and the role that faith should play in the way that we manage and steward the resources that God has given us.
It’s a tricky subject especially in the economic climate that we are living in. The line between being fiscally responsible and greedy is often razor thin.
Am I relying on God to provide or am I taking unnecessary risk?
Am I trying to be a good steward of the blessings God has given me or am I hoarding the blessing?
I believe most of us have to address this issue from time to time in our lives and it’s not an easy subject to gain 100% clarity on in terms of specific financial moves that we should make.
However, I believe there are certain principles, or guidelines that can help make these difficult types of financial decisions.
Posted on June 8th, 2011 by David | 10 Comments »
1. Plan
2. Plan
3. Plan
Most of us are poor stewards of money because we fail to plan effectively. We should plan to provide for our families, plan to provide for the poor and needy, plan to give to the Lord.
I agree with that Moe. We need to be intentional about how we give and spend money. It’s easy to take a laissez-faire approach, but that an often times get us into trouble.
1. Bless others
2. Modest Spending Habits
3. Bless others
If only we all had that same perspective Cindy. Can you imagine how different the world would be if we were passionate about truly blessing others with our time, talent and in this case finances. Talk about revolutionary.
1. Tithe
2. Others
3. Self
A lot of times I lose prospective on this, and they are not always in that order like I plan.
I can totally relate to losing perspective on that as well. I’d like to think that I manage my finances in that order all the time but, it truthfully doesn’t always happen. I’m good about tithing but that second category of “others” often takes a back seat unfortunately.
I think the image of a tightrope is very appropriate. As I’ve become a husband and father my relationship with money has definitely changed. We went through Dave Ramsey’s program Financial Peace University last fall and it is changing our future.
1. Plan – If you don’t plan where the money goes, it’ll disappear
2. Don’t spend more than you make
3. Give some of it away
Dave Ramsey is both hardcore and genius. I love his stuff and Monika and I have worked hard to implement some of his principles. I can’t say we follow things by the book, but we definitely heed much of his advice.
Wise advice that I heard a while back (and how we try to manage our finances) is:
1. Give
2. Save
3. Live
Helps with priorities and planning out where things are headed.
Hey Dustin, I am definitely familiar with your categories. I would say that I try and follow those pretty closely. I don’t always succeed but I think they are solid in terms of helping you prioritize the way you spend.