I have been listening to Dr. Charles Stanley’s podcast (thanks to my boyfriend’s advise) and I would like to share something about his view on Money Management based on a biblical scale
Money is a topic that interests most people. I too for one, have had crazy antics (and often unsuccessful ventures) in trying to make my money grow. *sigh.. as my friend said, if only money would grow on trees.
Believers and unbelievers alike will benefit from this principle so I encourage you to look at it with an open minded view point. There are a lot of pointers you can learn from no matter what your faith is. However, if you are an unbeliever, I’d appreciate if you could respect mine J
Principle 1. Luke 16: 10-15
“He who is faithful in least, is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in least, is unjust also in much”
POOR MONEY MANAGERS OF A LITTLE, WILL BE POOR MONEY MANAGERS OF A LOT.
If you are poor in managing a dollar a day, you will be poor in managing millions of dollars a day. We always wonder if only God would give us more, then our financial problems would be less. That is not so based on this principle. God says “Don’t worry about the large bank account, look at what you got in your pocket, if you become a good money manager of what you have, then we can talk about increasing it”
Principle 2. Luke 16:11
“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
FAILURE TO BE FAITHFUL WITH GOD’S MONEY WILL DEPRIVE YOU OF THE GREATER RICHES
If we are poor money managers, we have no right to anticipate and expect God to give us true riches – that of which is immaterial. When we fail to manage that which is tangilble, how do we expect ourselves to seek and find the true riches which is above and beyond the material? Why should God give us the capacity to understand that which is beyond the material when we can’t seem to deal of that which is the material? We think science is the answer to all questions but what about those that are beyond scientific? Logic, reasoning, vs. the sense of humanity, balance, reality, tranquillity.
How can we have higher knowledge of something priceless if we could not take care of our most basic needs which a ‘higher’ being has provided us?
Principle 3. Luke 16: 12
“And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?”
FAILURE TO HANDLE FAITHFULLY THAT WHICH BELONGS TO ANOTERH, WILL DEPRIVE YOU OF OWNING YOUR OWN
If you do not carefully use anything that which was borrowed, loaned, or rented, don’t expect God to give you your own. If you tear apart that rented apartment, wrecked your brother’s car while driving drunk, or tried to squeeze your way out of paying a loan, don’t expect God to answer your prayers even if you worked really hard for it. God wants you to learn to respect other people’s property before He would think of giving you your won. He would sense that you are not ready to take care of the things He is about to give you.
Principle 4: Luke 16: 13
‘No servant can serve two masters. For eirhter he will hate the one and love the other’
YOU CAN NOT BE COMMITED TO CHRIST AND BE DRIVEN BY LOVE FOR MONEY
Sometimes the most greedy people end up without having any, on the other hand, sometimes the person who is not that greedy but very generous has a right perspective of financial wealth. The truth is, if you are a child of God, you are rich in ways the world would not understand, and rich in ways that what you have will never be taken away from you.
Ask yourself, what part does money play in your life? Are you working hard so you could keep up with the latest trends, gadgets and whatever your friends have? Or do you make your money work for you to tend to your most basic needs first? Do you use money as a sign of power? or do you use it to help other people? Money (tied with emotions) can either make you a Warren Buffet or a Hugh Hefner. Will your money inspire others to lead a rich life filled with inner peace? Or will your money influence people on the path of destruction? Remember, you can’t have too much of a ‘good’ thing. It becomes nasty, like candy.
Principle 5 Luke 16 : 14 – 15
“ The Pharisees, who are lovers of money, having heard of these things are scoffing at him and He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men but God knows your hearts, for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God”
THOSE WHO PUT UNDUE EMPHASIS ON MONEY WILL SCOFF AT THE PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURE AND JUSTIFY THEIR ACTIONS
Jesus forbids this whole idea of ‘loving; money, If you make excuses about your behaviour towards your cravings, your possessions, if you are obsessive of owning a ‘signature item’ beyond your means, then you are OWNED by money. It is written that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money in itself is not evil, but GREED is. Greed is what pushes a person to kill his brother for a land and princely titles, a woman to sell her body, and a person to go bankcrupt in loans he couldn’t afford to pay just so he could live the ‘lifestyle’ he wanted.
We should all acknowledge that everything in this world is on ‘loan’. Remember this while you are breathing your last breath. We can not take everything we own to the grave, (though it can give us a pretty lavish funeral). We are mere delegators of what was bestowed upon us. What matters is what we would leave behind and how, in our simple ways can we make our own little space in this world a better place for the next generations to come. Do we impart something that they can squander? Or do we leave a message of sharing and continuous learning? The world is young and is at the palm of our hands, what are we to do with it?
For further insights on other life principles, check out Dr. Charles Stanley’s website at www.intouch.org
