I read a lot of blogs and from time to time I will read something and wish I could have said that because it is true and good. In those cases I will just re-post their thoughts here because they said it better than I could. Shawn Lovejoy is a pastor in the Atlanta area and today on his blog he posted some financial advice.
As I've mentioned before, my family and our church is not exempt
from the challenges many people in our community and world is facing.
Our giving has been affected some. However, I have to tell you that we
are weathering the financial tsunami better than just about any person
or church I know of, right now! One of the reasons our church is
weathering the storm more effectively is because of a Biblical
financial principle we have practiced since we launched Mountain Lake
8 1/2 years ago. We call it: "Balancing Faith with Wisdom." And we talk
about it ALL THE TIME!
First of all, did you know that the
Bible talks about WISDOM in regards to our finances WAY MORE than it
talks about exercising FAITH in regards to our finances? In fact, when
the Bible talks about faith in the Bible, it often has NOTHING to do
with money. However, almost every time God speaks about wisdom in the
Bible, money and possessions will be mentioned somewhere around it!What
does this tell us? That wisdom should be the driving factor in our
financial decisions as Christians and churches. However, I have to be
honest with you in saying that I've heard many Christ followers and
church leaders talk about their financial decision making process, and
by their words, I could tell they were emphasizing FAITH at the neglect
of wisdom! For instance, I've heard people say: "Well, the numbers
don;t add up, but we're stepping out on faith," OR "Well, we are not
meeting budget, but somehow, God will provide," OR "We're just praying
for a miracle." While these phrases may express our desire to trust
God, we have to be careful we don't abdicate our responsibility to
exercise WISDOM by being GREAT MANAGERS of the resources God has
already entrusted to us!
I believe far too many Christians
and churches have overemphasized the idea of faith in regards to our
budgeting and spending practices, at the neglect of exercising wisdom
by practicing the Biblical principles given to us in black and white
(and red and white) in the Bible!
For example, in the Bible God teaches us that we should:
- Seek lots of counsel before making financial decisions.
- Gain as much knowledge on a subject as possible!
- Pray before financial decisions.
- Estimate the full cost of a project before we start.
- Know where ALL of our money goes.
- Store up savings for tough days ahead.
- NOT co-sign on a note with a family member.
- Avoid debt where possible.
- Make financial plans.
- Not only have a plan, but be diligent to live by that plan.
- Discern the times and adjust our plans according to them.
- Foresee danger and take action.
Are you and your church balancing faith with wisdom? If you ARE,
you'll be OK! That's the promise from God! If you're not, start today!
P.S. For your reading pleasure, here are some snippets from God's Word that emphasize wisdom in regards to our finances:
Proverbs
24:3-6 (NLT) 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. A wise man is mightier than a strong
man, and a man of knowledge is more powerful than a strong man. So
don’t go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many
counselors.
Proverbs 27:12 (NLT) A prudent person foresees the
danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and
suffers the consequences.
Proverbs 6:6-8 (NIV) Go to the ant,
you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no
overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers
its food at harvest.
Proverbs 21:20 (NIV) In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
Proverbs 21:5 (NIV) The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 12:15 (NLT) Fools think they need no advice, but the wise listen to others.
Luke
14:28-30 (NLT) “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would
begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and
then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?
Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of
funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you! They would say,
‘there’s the person who started that building and ran out of money
before it was finished!’
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