Gods Money Matters – Articles
We Need To Plan Our Finances As Adults
Do you ever wonder who taught us to spend as much as we earn? It seems that most of us living in the Western World do exactly that.
Have you noticed that no sooner do we receive a pay rise than it’s already taken up with extra spending? As our income grows – so does our spending. And then we wonder why at the end of the year there is nothing to show from our extra earning
What does the Bible say?
- Proverbs 24:3-4 says… A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.
- So it seems that we need to grow our homes and our wealth through good sense, knowledge and wisdom. The question is, how do we do this in practice?
- Proverbs 21:5 gives a practical solution… Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
What’s needed is a plan. It is wise to plan. An adults’ plan.
You need a budget
A plan for your money is called a budget. A budget tells your money where to go
Most people don’t have a budget and therefore their money just comes in, and goes out, and nothing remains for the one who worked for it.
- A budget protects your wealth. If you are constantly spending more than you earn, then you’ll be eroding your wealth. Either you’ll have to redraw on the home loan to cover the difference, or even worse you’ll be using credit cards to cover the gap. THIS IS NOT A GOOD PLAN!
- I hear people saying time and time again that they don’t want to live to a budget because this is restrictive. Frankly this is a childish response.
- Who sets the budget! Adults and grownups plan. If you don’t have a budget then grow up and start putting one together.
You might think this is harsh, but it has been proven time and time again that we need a plan if we want to succeed… and this plan must include a budget.
Closed Circle Budget
A plan to make sure we use our pay rises well is called a “Closed Circle Budget”.
- A closed circle budget is a commitment to God that you will live on a certain amount of money each month – which will include tithing, savings, housing, and all necessary living expenses plus some fun stuff… and the rest – the overflow – will be used for giving, offerings, generosity and Kingdom work.
- I believe a closed circle budget can be likened to a cup. God fills our cup to meet ALL our needs, being our closed circle budget.
- Because we are being good stewards, God then overflows our cup – not because He is wasteful… but because He is generous. With this generous overflow we get to do some really great stuff, like helping others and giving it away… and Building God’s Kingdom!