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1 Corinthians 10:23-33
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. When I was a teen I was reading the Farmer’s Almanac and read in the quips section “if your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep is your downfall.” I thought it was just funny then, but now I understand it is profoundly true! Dave Ramsey is a renown Christian financial “councilor” who says the key to financial success is “make more than you spend!” That’s deep isn’t it! Contrary to what many Christians believe the Bible does NOT teach money is the root of all evil. Scripture teaches us the love of money is a root of evil, not the root! See 1 Timothy 6:10. Throughout Scripture God teaches us how to acquire and distribute money in a Godly manner.
- ACQUIRING MONEY! Working is not the result of sin. God created Man to work. In Gen. 2:15 we learn God created a Garden and put man in the Garden to work it and care for it. That was before the Fall! Nowhere does Scripture ever teach it is a sin for Christians to acquire (much) money. We need the stuff to live! Sin enters into the picture when a Christian begins to focus on and accumulate wealth more than focusing on God and accumulating His wisdom from His Book! When a Christian delights himself in the Lord, the Lord then gives that person the desires of his/her heart. We learn from Scripture that a Christian’s first pursuit must be for righteousness, loyalty, wisdom and understanding. Those principles teach a person how to properly acquire and manage money. There are four truths that govern our quest for wealth. A= God owns everything, B= we own nothing. Read Job 41:11; Ps. 24:1, 2; 1 Tim. 6:1-10; and most importantly 1 Cor. 6;19, 20 which tells us God owns us! C= we are stewards of all we have; D= we are accountable to God for our stewardship. A Godly person “gets it” because they understand all they have is from God. What that means to us is everything we have is on loan 2 us, and one day we have to “settle” with God. Are you making plans that will cause that to be a fun time? We also
- APPORTION MONEY! Read 2 Cor. 9:6-11. When we live as God teaches us, the Holy Spirit’s direction over our lives extends to how we spend our money. The first responsibility in distributing our money is that it be done with desire that begins in a cheerful heart, not out of compulsion! The second responsibility is that we do it as God directs. Read 1Cor. 10:13. When we apply “tempt beyond what you are able” to our finances it means God will never direct us into debt! From a Biblical viewpoint debt is “frivolous, unnecessary spending beyond your needs.” The old saying fits– “if you have too much month left at the end of your money” you are probably not spending wisely. The best plan I’ve heard for budgeting is 10% of gross to The Lord, 10% of gross to savings, and live off the remaining 80%. No matter where you are financially, consider working toward that principle. IF you are in debt, only God can help you out, but in order to do that you must first give all of you to Him, including all of your finances.
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