Blessed By Parental Teaching

I'm truly blessed because my parents, now deceased, taught me biblical attitudes and practices about money from my early childhood. Throughout the decades of my life, God worked through those teachings to bless my Christian life and calling in many ways. 

Tithing—the biblical habit of giving 10 percent of my income every month—set the foundation for God to bless my finances and life, through His great love and grace. For example, after I took an 80% pay cut to go into vocational Christian ministry, and then my husband and I suddenly needed to support his mother for two years in a nursing home before her VA benefits kicked in, God stretched our diminished income further than we ever thought possible. From a purely objective perspective, we're still clueless how our checking account stayed in the green. We do know it was only by God's grace.

Also, God opened more doors through my lifetime habit of saving—setting aside and investing money each month—than I could ever count. So many times, when financial emergencies arose—car repairs, home repairs, medical bills, etc.—the money was there because I had saved. Also, because I never had to go into credit card debt longer than a month or two—and even that was only a few times—I was able to keep saving and investing. God worked through those savings and investments to enable me—and later my husband and me—to contribute to many significant ministries, help many individuals in need, and eventually move from Pennsylvania to Florida where God is fulfilling His purposes for us here.

I feel hesitant to give this testimony about financial stewardship, because I never want to take credit for what God does. My husband and I are fully aware that everything we have comes to us as a loan from Him. Nothing we have is truly ours. We are merely caretakers of it.

Nevertheless, our attitudes about finances, and our practices of tithing and saving are indeed our part of God's work in our lives and ministries.

So in general—not only for me but also for you—not only do our financial attitudes and practices impact our own personal lives, but they also impact our Christian calling. Our opportunities in Christian calling will be greater when we manage money biblically. This is because when we trust God with our finances, fewer obstacles stand in the way, and more opportunities are possible.

Is Money the Root of All Evil?

You might think the Bible says that money is the root of all evil. That is indeed not true! The Bible does say this:

• The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Did you get that? The love of money—not the money itself—is the problem. What’s wrong is not that we have money, but our attitude toward it, which is revealed by what we do with it.

You know that it’s wise to save money, give money to the poor, and give money for God’s Kingdom purposes. And you also know it’s not wise or biblical to live beyond your means, get swamped in unnecessary debt, or be stingy with money.

What you might not have considered is how financial practices can impact ability to fulfill Christian calling.

Today, I’ll first present a biblical perspective about money. Then I’ll show how practicing those principles impacts Christian life and calling. I’ll end with some questions for thought and prayer about your own financial practices.

A Biblical Perspective About Money

The Bible’s teaching about money started with the fact that we do not really own anything that we have. We are merely stewards—which means managers or administrators—of everything that God allows us to use:

• The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, famously summarized God’s teaching about biblical stewardship:

• “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” (John Wesley)

Earn All You Can

When John Wesley said, “Earn all you can,” he did not mean, of course, greedy and selfish accumulation of wealth.

Instead, the Bible tells us always to remember that it is God who enables us to earn money, and we honor Him when we do that in ways that honor Him and do not exploit others in the process:

• Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:18)

Save All You Can

John Wesley’s maxim, “Save all you can,” is not an admonition to hoard, which would mean we trust our money instead of God for our ultimate security and happiness.

The Bible teaches us to save, often through story and example, and often combining the principles of prudent saving with diligent work:

• Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)

When we save—instead of spending everything we earn—we meet unexpected financial emergencies with peace, not unfairly depending upon others or unwisely falling deeper into eventually unredeemable credit card debt.

Also, when we save, we can respond to more of God’s opportunities in life—opportunities to help other people, give to causes we believe in, live our values and uniquely created identity by doing things we love to do, move to a new location, go to school for new skills, start a new business venture, etc.

Give All You Can

John Wesley believed that we earn all we can and save all we can so that we can give all we can.

God Himself is the ultimate giver:

• Since [God] did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? (Romans 8:32)

Jesus taught us to give:

• Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8)

When we give, the Bible tells us to give to God first. This biblical principle is called the tithe. It means giving 10 percent of our income off the top. (Click here to read my blog about tithing, including how God provides when we obey Him in the tithe.)

The 10/10/80 Principle

A biblically practical financial principle to live by is the 10/10/80 rule:

• First, give 10% of your earnings to God (His Kingdom work through your church).
• Second, set aside 10% of your earnings in savings.
• Then live off the remaining 80%.

The 10/10/80 principle is a starting place for Christian stewardship, not the ultimate goal. As we grow in Christ, many of us are able to give away more than 10% of God’s material blessings. Also, the Bible speaks of both tithes and offerings. Offerings are monies given in addition to the tithe. The tithe is given to the church. Offerings can be monies given to the church in addition to the tithe, or monies given to other charitable organization.

The New Testament does not mention tithing, but encourages Christians to give generously, as our heavenly Father has given to us, and as Jesus freely gave His life for us. Our life with God is not a matter of finding the right rule to live by and then sticking to that in a legalistic way. It's about love—living in love, giving in love, serving in love, and living in joyful community with God and others.

So in my opinion, it's wonderful to have the basic 10/10/80 principal as a starting practice, but to give even beyond the 10% out of love and gratitude for God's bountiful blessings:

• Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

Biblical Financial Stewardship Opens Doors in Christian Calling

When we manage God’s money—which is indeed all of the money we have—according to biblical principles, He gives us blessings that we would not otherwise receive. (For example, click here to discover the uniquely miraculous blessings of tithing.)

Practicing biblical financial stewardship opens unexpectedly exciting doors in Christian calling.

For example, Mason recently retired after 35 years at 4 different companies in the technology industry. For the last 20 years, after he became a Christian, Mason and his family have tithed. Twice during that time—first because of serious illness and then because of an unexpected layoff—Mason had no idea how the family would pay its bills. Even now, he has no idea how the checkbook balanced during those lean years. But the family continued to tithe, and God came through, as the Bible says:

• [God said,] "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." (Malachi 3:8-10)

After Mason retired, he felt called to offer his technology and administrative skills to help churches and other Christian organizations. He felt especially called to certain economically deprived geographical areas in the United States and other countries. He even led several mission trips to areas devastated by hurricanes. Because Mason had long practiced the biblical principle of saving, he now had the financial resources to do that.

Is It Too Late to Change?

What if you sense God prompting you to change your attitude and practices about your finances, but you wonder if it's too late to change? Perhaps you already have too much debt, not enough income, or even the aftermath of legal bankruptcy.

Or perhaps you have indeed mostly followed God in your financial life, but you're still struggling with financial problems?

Even when we follow Christ, we don't escape difficult times—even financially difficult times. Following Christ is no guarantee of financial wealth. But following Christ does guarantee His presence with us in our difficulties—and that is true wealth.

If you have not followed biblical attitudes and practices in your financial past, start now! Our God is a God of grace and power, and He will bless you in your commitment to follow Him!

• [God says,] "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Building up to tithing is the place to start changing your financial discipleship, even before beginning the regular practice of saving money. If you've never before tithed—giving 10% of your income back to God—start by giving 1% or 2% or 3%, etc., and build up to 10%, especially if finances are currently tight. Just try it for 90 days and see what happens. (Click here to find out how to do a 90-day tithe challenge.)

• Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." (Malachi 3:9-10)

What About Your Money and Your Christian Life and Calling?

Financial questions for thought and prayer:

• How has God financially provided for you and/or your family in the past?
• What did God speak to you as you read this blog?
• If you continue your current financial outlook and practices, how will that affect your Christian calling—positively and negatively? How will it affect your personal life and your family?
• What changes, if any, do you sense God prompting you to make about giving money, including tithes and additional offerings?
• What changes, if any, do you sense God prompting you to make about saving money?
• What financial blessings do you now have from God? Thank Him for all of His blessings to you—financial and otherwise!

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