“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.” – Proverbs 3:9 NLT
When my wife and I were first married, we were very young and lacked budgeting experience. In short, we often felt like there was too much month at the end of our money. We weren’t making much, but we also weren’t accounting for what little we had. And when our card was declined for a minor purchase, the bank fees quickly escalated, and we found ourselves in deep trouble.
One thing that I wish I had known during my financial struggles, was the gift of being a good steward and honoring the Lord first with all my increase. It’s common to struggle with this concept of honoring the Lord first, and it’s easy to look at the mountain of bills and expenses and be filled with fear and anxiety. Sometimes all of it may even seem so overwhelming that the financial burden outweighs the call to honor Jesus above all. This mindset is unbiblical as it will eventually lead you into financial instability and cause you to trust in your finances more than you trust in God.
The most important step on the wise path toward financial stability is giving the Lord the first 10% of your earnings, which is called the tithe. It means setting aside God’s portion first and then living responsibly on the other ninety percent. Ten percent of what you earn is given to God as a way of saying, “I trust You to always provide.” Here are the positive outcomes of honoring God financially:
– Stress is reduced.
– Priorities are defined.
– Budgets are managed.
– Giving and serving others increases.
– Confidence in the Lord increases.
When you seek to honor God first, your heart will be pointed in the right direction. It doesn’t mean all your financial issues suddenly go away overnight, but it does mean your stresses and anxieties will calmly resolve upon God’s faithfulness.
The Lord helped my wife and me out of a difficult situation, and you can bet we decided to change our lives from that point forward. Now we get excited about tithing and giving the very best of our income to Him for His purposes. We don’t use credit cards and don’t buy things that don’t fit into our monthly budget. We wait to make purchases and are determined not to do anything on impulse. Is this always fun? Nope. But it keeps us out of trouble.
So, no matter what bad decisions you made in the past, consider them fully forgiven and remember that today is a great day to restart in the grace of God. He loves you with all His heart and will see you through, trust me.
Dig Deeper
1. If you haven’t taken time recently to make a financial accounting of your outgoing expenses, sit down and write out everything so you can clearly see it all. Ask God to help you gain awareness of your needs versus your wants.
2. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, contact someone from your church’s finance team (they should be good with money) and ask them to pray for you and offer any advice regarding your specific situation.
