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…For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Let’s apply God’s truth to our view of material possessions and then to our financial decisions. Previously we said: Principle one: “God owns everything,” The fifth principle is: “Satan will seek to put me in bondage to money.” Why? Because as Jesus says in Matthew 6: “No one can serve two masters . . .. You cannot serve both God and money.” If Satan can get you to serve money, you won’t be serving God. How will he do it? He may appeal to you on the appetite/pleasure level. He may appeal to your ego, to your sense of identity. He may appeal to your perceived need for security or freedom. He will try to get you in a position of bondage to money. He doesn’t have to do this by making you poor. He may do it much more effectively by giving you tremendous success in business. Or, you may grow up with wealth and begin to think you’re entitled to it. He will seek to tempt you to put money as Sovereign over your life. You’ll begin to make your decisions based on financial considerations rather than direction from God. Many church people are in bondage to money, never dreaming this is preventing them from serving God as they should. What God wants is to set you free from that bondage. If you believe God is your provider, then you are not going to be devoted to the acquisition of wealth anymore. Does this mean you won’t work hard? No. Does it mean you can’t become wealthy? No. Some of the godliest people I know are wealthy. People who can write a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to build a house for children at Wears Valley Ranch are clearly wealthy. But their motivation in daily life is not the acquisition of wealth; it is the service of God. They work hard! But, they aren’t working for money; they are working for God. They are living lives of obedience. When someone gives ninety percent of their income away – more than the IRS will let them deduct – they are definitely not motivated by money. If you are living for money, you are living for something that can’t satisfy and will ultimately destroy you. Because you cannot serve God and money, you end up unable to serve God. So, Jesus warns, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasures in heaven.” Clearly, you have to make a choice. But how can you store up treasures in heaven? Give it away! Do you want to break the back of greed and materialism in your life? Learn to give. The more you give, the more free you become. Does this mean you can’t have any nice stuff? No, but everything you have needs to be put to the Master’s use, because God is the owner and we are stewards. When we learn this principle of stewardship with regard to our finances, it will help us to remember it with regard to everything else. My children are on loan. They belong to God. I will give an account for how I treat them. My time belongs to God. I will answer to Him for how I spend my days. Years ago, I was introducing Joe Edwards as the guest speaker for a men’s prayer breakfast at our church in Atlanta. As I began my description of his business accomplishments, I referred to him as the owner of Edwards Baking Company, a successful and well-known company headquartered in Atlanta. When Joe stood to speak, he thanked me for my remarks and said, “But I need to make one correction. I am not the owner of the Edwards Baking Company.” Embarrassed, my mind raced as I considered how I could have been mistaken. Joe continued, “God is the owner of the Edwards Baking Company. I’m simply a steward.” From some men such a remark would have been glib hypocrisy, but Joe has demonstrated a determination to live the truth of these words. He is one of the men and women whom God has brought into my life to teach me about stewardship. The sixth principle is the key: “The path to freedom is obedience.” “We are in a bind financially, and until I get it straightened out, I can’t tithe.” “Tithing didn’t get you in that bind. You didn’t get into trouble by obeying God. What makes you think you’re going to get out of trouble by disobeying God? You need to be obeying God whether you have financial difficulties or not.” The path to freedom is obedience. Obey God. Tithing is basic; it is not the goal for obtaining Christian maturity. You don’t prepare to tithe; you just do it. “If God owns everything and I owe everything to Him, if He has a plan for me and will meet my every need as I obey, and if I know Satan is the one who is trying to put me in bondage to money, then why should I ever fear obeying the Lord?” What kind of God do we serve? Do we serve a God who loves us, or a God who wants to trick us? Do we serve a God who is able to meet our every need, or a God who says, “I’d love to help, but I’m a little short this month.” Do we serve a God who always keeps His promises, or a God who is unreliable? “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 I want to work with God. The path to freedom is obedience. Tithing is not the pinnacle of obedience. In Scripture, tithing is the minimum. Tithing is for beginners. It is basic. It’s the easy part. It’s putt-putt in the world of golf. It is training wheels in the world of cycling. Tithing is designed to give you a systematic reminder that one hundred percent belongs to God. By giving back the first ten percent of my income, I remind myself that God is the owner and provider of everything. An offering is what you give over and above the tithe. You might be saying, “I’d love to tithe, but we don’t have any income.” Can you tithe when you have zero income? Sure you can. Ten percent of zero is zero. That’s a good time to start tithing. We don’t tithe because the church needs money; we tithe because God wants to bless our obedience to Him. He wants us to learn to trust and obey. I have heard innumerable testimonies from people who began tithing and said, “I wish I had started this years ago.” I have never heard anyone complain that they wish they had given less of their income to God. The seventh principle is: “God wants me to be a channel of blessing, a vehicle for His grace.” If God has blessed you, you’re supposed to pass it on. God didn’t give you what He gave you so you can build bigger and bigger barns. Do you remember the rich fool Jesus talked about? God kept pouring out the blessing, and he thought his job was just to build bigger barns. Jesus said, “You fool. You’re going to die this very night.” The reason God pours out blessings on us is not so we can hoard; He pours out blessings so we can pass them along. He wants us to be a vehicle of blessing for others. The people who are really happy are the ones who let God pour his blessings through them. These seven principles provide a framework on which we can build a lifestyle consistent with scripture and free from worry. There are many other scriptural principles that involve specific applications of God’s truth to financial decisions. And, there are many wonderful resources within the body of Christ offering practical, godly counsel. Everything you need to develop a household budget and a basic financial plan is available. Get the help you need to obey God with your finances! Featured Resource:
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