Dollars & Sense

Most people have more month than they do money. Every year they fall just a little further behind, working harder and longer and still not making any headway. Without a plan for life’s emergencies they make it from paycheck to paycheck with a little help from their plastic ‘friend’. They delude themselves into thinking that things are going to change (without making a change) and their plans for the future involve little more than wishful thinking. If it’s not working for most people then maybe we should consider a different approach.

Sound fiscal management isn’t rocket science but it does require a purposeful approach. In a nutshell here is God’s plan to win with money -

1. Measure - You have to know what’s coming in, what’s going out and where from/to. Every dollar needs to be accounted for.

“Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.” - Proverbs 27:23 NIV

2. Manage - You need to give every dollar an assignment. Instead of asking ‘where your money went?’ it’s time to tell it ‘where to go’. This is where the tide turns. This is where you take control of your financial future and make a change that makes a change. If you don’t want to be like everyone else then you can’t do like everyone else. You must choose to go against the grain, live beneath your means and free yourself from the bondage of debt.

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

3. Multiply - You’ve worked hard for your money. Now it’s time for it to work just as hard for you. There are a number of different ways to invest (business, stocks, real estate, etc.) but the first investment you should make is in educating yourself. This is not about making a quick buck but about systematic sowing and reaping.

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” - 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 NIV

The reason most people struggle with money is not an issue of education or even economics, the real issue is Lordship. See money has a way of getting its hooks in our hearts like few other things.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” - Matthew 6:19-24 NIV

The best advice I can give you in keeping a right relationship with money is to actively cultivate your own generosity.

“One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” - Proverbs 11:24-25 NIV

Making your money count for more than just yourself is a great investment and pays dividends in both this life and the next. After all, ‘what comes around goes around’.