The everything

Why do we have such hang-ups about talking money? One thing is certain – Jesus didn’t! Jesus talks about money more times than anything else – except the Kingdom of God. There are more references to money in Jesus’ teaching than there is to Heaven and hell combined. Over half the parables Jesus tells are actually about money and stewardship. There are 2350 verses on money in the Scriptures: 1 in every 6 verses in the Gospels has to do with stewardship.

Karl Martin, Pastor of Morningside Baptist Church, says:

“The reason why Jesus refers to money so often, is that He knew, and He taught that if you want to understand a person’s walk with God, you can look at how they handle their money.  If you want to get to a person’s heart, you look at the way they handle their cash – whether they make spiritual decisions about what comes into their bank account.” 

Jesus knew that money has the potential to be a stumbling block or a source of spiritual growth for those who seek to follow Him. The truth is, how we handle our money – what we keep, what we own and what we earn, is so closely related to how we walk with God.  When we don’t get our relationship with money right it crushes our Spiritual growth.

We live in a world that has its values upside down. Jesus challenged that in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’.  He wants His Kingdom people to go against the grain. In a time of ‘credit crunch’, when the mantra “greed is good” is shown for what it is, we need to stand against the tide. More than ever, we need to adopt and display good, sensible Biblical principles and practices.  Stewardship practices that will enable us to walk with God, and extend His Kingdom, whether we live in times of plenty, or the current times of recession.

There’s one very simple principle to adhere to: God owns everything!

Genesis 1:28 “Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’”

Genesis 2: 15 “The Lord placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.”

It’s clear – we are not owners.  Our position is as stewards/caretakers of all the resources God gives us. Who gives us all that we have? God. I’d bet few Christians would disagree with that. However, we get distracted from our purpose. We start to talk about “My money” or “My house”. We stop holding things for The Kingdom and start to become owners of material things. Everything goes pear-shaped! The bottom line is God owns everything. We are just stewards. We don’t own anything and we must get that principle. If we don’t we’ll never manage our money and materials well. It’s failure to grasp this that leads to anxiety. It’s why we so often make stupid decisions about money and money matters.

Imagine what could happen if we all adopt God’s principles for our finances. So many people could be blessed beyond measure, because we handle our money well. We get to really live because we live over our finances and not under them. Most of the financial stress in the world springs from the fact that we think and act like owners, when God invites us to act as stewards.

I think God has provided us with a very clear steer on money management:

Earn money. Earn it honestly. Earn as much as you can. Live well within your means (accept that some people will seem to financially forge ahead of you). Avoid debt like the plague. Save as much as you can. Give as much as you can, generously. Honour God with your “first fruits”

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In short you submit to the generous hand of the Heavenly Father and you invite Him into your financial world and you follow His plan. You will know His blessing. It really bugs me when truths such as these are presented as a ‘get rich’ scheme! I believe very firmly that knowing God’s blessing does not mean that He will make you rich. It might but it usually doesn’t. One thing I certainly believe – whether you have more or less money after adopting these practices you will know His blessing – however that comes!

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