My
son-in-law has no problem asking questions - good questions:
How Can We Wisely
Position Ourselves for the Future when it comes to Finances?
This
is an excellent question, especially because of the mixed financial report card
coming out of the United States and other places. Two very important skills we
should have in order to be future-ready involve:
1.
Time Management;
2.
Money Management.
Truth
is that if you cannot handle time and money, it will also be a challenge to
handle the most important issues that money cannot buy, like family, learning,
faith and the future.
If
we are going to be future-ready when it comes to finance, we need to
harness the following mindset and skills:
Money Matters &
Financial Freedom
No
matter how ‘spiritual’ we want to be, we have to learn how to handle money. We
are not to worship it but neither are we to mishandle, either. Jesus Christ
spoke about money matters more than we realise. Our true spirituality can often
be measured with by our attitude and actions with money. Luke 16:11
Jesus says: If you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
who will commit to your trust true riches? Your goal is not to be wealthy
to cater to your greeds but to have ‘financial freedom’ to meet all your needs.
This means you are able to pay your bills, care for your family, enjoy the
future, without financial worries. Worse than a physical disease, financial
worry is depressing and distressing. The alternative is financial freedom; but
this does not happen by default, but by design.
Put God First
Many
Godly people endorse the principle of tithing, which means giving one-tenth of
your gross salary or increase to God. This practice was done by the favoured
patriarchs in Genesis (Abraham and Jacob explicitly tithed), which long
preceded the ‘Law of Moses.’ So it is not a legalistic issue; it is a faith
issue, since that was the great legacy of the patriarchs, who were exceedingly
prosperous.
Why
tithe? It
settles the ownership question - everything belongs to God. Truth is that
everything belongs to God (Psalm 24:1), and that includes our money, to which
we are mere stewards. Think about it - as long as it is ‘my money,’ you carry
all the burdens and baggage that goes with it. This includes not having enough
and worrying that what we do have will disappear. Proverbs tell us that money
has wings and flies away (23:5); try watching that happen. I have heard
of Christian multi-millionaires who, despite having lots of money in the bank,
worry nightly that the money will soon disappear. That’s not financial freedom;
it’s bondage! Owning the money means owning the worries.
For
this reason, we tithe on our gross income, not the net. Why? Because if you
tithe on the net, that means that the government took out its portion before
God gets His. Then how can He be first in such a scenario? In reality, your
gross income is your ‘real income,’ not what is left after taxes.
However,
when you settle the issue that everything you have belongs to God, then God
carries all the weights and burdens. You are free. Even if the money
disappears, God has this wonderful ability to make it reappear. Those who tithe
acknowledge divine ownership and they are freed from worry and fear. In the
famous tithing passage of Malachi 3:8-12), the following blessings are
promised:
1.
Open Heaven: God promises to open
the windows of heaven and pour out such a great blessing you will not have room
to receive it. You cannot out-give the LORD. What ever you give to Him, He will
return to you manifold (Luke 6:38 - Give and it shall be given).
2.
Devourer in retreat: God also
promises to rebuke the devourer for your sake. Whether it is a broken car,
malfunction of appliances in the home, unexpected accident, God will either
preserve you from these things or, if they come, He will deliver you.
3.
Blessing: All those who practice
tithing regularly attest to its blessed effects. I have never yet met a tither
who regretted his or her practice. References include Genesis 14:20; 28:22;,
Proverbs 3:9-10; Luke 11:42. If you think tithing is only an Old Testament
practice, do you seriously think that God would want you to give less in the
New Covenant than what He required in the Old? Through Jesus Christ God
gave us His all for us, and He is only requiring a tenth in return. Give it a
try. You only have your financial burdens to lose.
PART TWO, we will learn some other winning principles of money management.
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