Money

Ancient Advice on Money

Ecclesiastes 5:10
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity [Heb., emptiness].

Ecclesiastes 7:12
For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, but the advantage of
knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Ecclesiastes 10:19
Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.

1 Timothy 3:3
An overseer [manager of others], then, must be . . . not addicted to wine or a fight picker, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief's.

Hebrews 13:5
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, " I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU"

The Love of Money vs. Healthy Money Management

The ancient proverbs and sayings above indicate that money is not the problem. The “love” of money is the problem. . Both rich and poor people can make money an object of worship and idolize it in their hearts. People who build their life values around an identity of wealth will usually be driven toward a shallow focus of attention on material expressions of owning and/or operating the “best” compared to others. Owning and operating the best things is not the problem. Being owned and operated by the need to have the “best” [whatever and whoever defines that] is the problem. The possession of money is not evil in and of itself. Being possessed by a spirit of love for money is evil. This is just good old fashioned idolatry dressed up in status symbols.

Healthy money management must be contrasted to the idolatry of loving money. Money management is not based upon “how much” money we have but upon how we handle the amount of money we do have. Whether I possess 10 cents or 10 million dollars is the measure of a person in many people’s eyes. But the person who manages their 10 cents or 10 million wisely is the more mature person when it comes to money.

Learning to Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide - Money

Learning to manage our money well is not publicized [but it is respected] in a materialistic culture driven by affluence and advertising dollars like our consumer driven culture in America. Training ourselves and our children in healthy money management techniques is exactly what the ancient wisdom writer says above. It is protection. If we are going to protect ourselves and our loved ones as well as help others protect themselves, we must be introduced, educated in, apply, and reproduce healthy money management practices.

Add

Healthy money management means learning the basics of adding income to our pocketbooks. There are a variety of ways to do this in a monied culture and yet the majority of people know only the basic “pay by the hour” approach to making money. This is perfectly legitimate and satisfactory for many who have never learned other ways of adding to their income. But an hourly wage approach is only one way to make money in the world.

Subtract

Healthy money management requires that we learn the disciplines of subtracting from our income the faithful payment of our bills and monetary obligations. The subtraction of dollars from our income when our resources are limited can be frustrating. To offset this frustration, the use of credit has become a large industry around the world. But the misuse of credit can lead to a life of financial slavery. Each time a person uses their credit card they receive the “illusion” that they have gotten something for nothing at the time. In effect they are gambling that they will have the money needed to pay their debts when the time of requirement for the payment comes due. The truth is, that every time a person purchases something on credit, they are subtracting from their known resources and entering into servitude to the creditor. Do you want to be a slave?

Properly managed, credit can be used to one’s advantage. But only a disciplined, well-planned and consistent use of credit will keep a person or group from drowning in debt if the basics of healthy money management of actual resources are not developed yet. It is wise for individuals and groups to never use credit until their actual income is properly managed. In this, they do not subtract from themselves what they do not have to subtract.

Multiply

Healthy money management also includes learning how to multiply one’s monetary holdings. This is usually done through a number of investment plans available in the money markets of today’s world. Like credit however, investment of one’s money to get more money is only wise if there is a surplus of funds beyond your regular budgeted needs to work with. People who try to invest and use needed money that can be locked up or lost in contractual obligations are not acting wisely. Investing wisely is a form of healthy money management. Investing foolishly is like throwing away what you have in order to hopefully get something you do not have and can’t be sure you will ever get.

In the Bible, giving in light of the sovereign control of a real personal God over circumstances is described as a means of positive investment.

Proverbs 11:25
The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 19:17
One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.

Proverbs 22:9
He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.

Proverbs 28:27
He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

The focus on a prosperity gospel in our consumer oriented American Church culture has become a “get rich scheme” for many false teachers and false prophets. Using these perfectly legitimate giving principles from the Bible, these “sheep-fleecers” have turned what is an honorable way of investing before God into a means for supporting their own lives and so-called ministries for self-motivated gain. Discernment is called for in today’s money marketplace before Christians and non-Christians. What some do with pure motives, others do for selfish gain. Even charitable donations to non-Christian causes can be to shams and scamming deceivers. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water here. But be discerning before you invest in something or someone that bears no fruit but personal profits. This kind of financial discernment is another form of healthy money management.

Divide

Healthy money management requires that you learn how to “divide” your monetary holdings in a healthy way. This is called by financial managers a “budget.” By budgeting our income, monitoring our expenses, and keeping tract of our giving and receiving from day to day, we learn how to properly divide our money for its best use toward God, others, and ourselves.

Money is not an evil thing. But improperly managed or coveted, it becomes an evil pursuit born out of a greedy heart. We are all prone to want to get what we want when we want it. Therefore, healthy money management is a way of planning our wants around safe, legal, and appropriate ways of handling all that God gives us for His glory and our care and pleasure.

Jesus taught that you cannot serve God and money.

Luke 16:13
" No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

So healthy money management requires that we learn how to serve God and have our money serve us properly. Finding healthy money managers to help us make wise decisions with our money is a good thing. But remember, wisdom is found in many counselors [Proverbs 15:22], not just in one or a few. Take the time to get advice from many trusted money managers and then compare what they say with what you have come to know is right in your heart. But before you let go of a dollar, go to the greatest money manager in the universe first and ask Him about your decision. Pray for the wisdom to make healthy money management decisions [James 1:5].