Want to know the secret to financial prosperity? It starts with managing your money--held in trust for God--wisely. Learn biblical principles of wise money management.
When you preach on stewardship you should make sure to include teaching on wise money management. Most people around the world violate these principles and suffer the consequences. To help you in the preaching task, I'm including the first two points from the second sermon in the stewardship series presented in Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving.
I. Use a Budget (Prov. 21:5a).
A. "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage"
1. The plans that the "diligent" (determined, steady worker) make lead to financial prosperity.
2. The verse doesn't say, "Use a budget," but the principle of diligent planning implies the need for a budget.
B. A budget is simply a way of planning your financial life.
ILLUSTRATION: The late Larry Burkett was a Christian financial planner. He made a wonderful contribution to the church with his books and tapes on biblical principles of money management. In his book, Answers to Your Family's Financial Questions, he writes about the purpose and value of a budget:
A budget is nothing more than a short-range plan for how you will spend your money during the coming year. A budget should not restrict your freedom to enjoy life; it should expand it.
"How," you say, "can living on a budget expand my freedom?" By helping you live within your means and not go into debt. If you're already in debt, a budget will help you out of it.
A budget is not magical, and living on one won't permit you to spend more than you make and avoid debt. But a budget will tell you when you have spent all you can afford to each month in each category, such as entertainment, food, and gasoline.
A budget also tells you how much you must save each month for one-time annual expenses, such as car insurance, property taxes, and clothing.
ILLUSTRATION: My wife is wonderful at handling money and she takes the responsibility for planning our budget. We have lived on a budget since the first day we were married and the careful planning involved has enabled us to avoid financial trouble.
1. If you are not using some kind of budget in your family, you cannot be obeying God's word, which teaches us to carefully plan our lives.
2. There are many fine resources in Christian bookstores about how to make a budget for your family.
(The second principle of wise money management is to. . .)
II. Have a Savings Plan (Prov. 21:20).
A. The footnote on this verse in the Ryrie Study Bible makes this comment: "The wise man plans and saves for the future, but the foolish person squanders what he has."
1. A wise man doesn't spend everything he makes.
2. He saves some of it for unforeseen emergencies and for future anticipated needs.
ILLUSTRATION: Again, Larry Burkett gives sound advice: "I believe that every family should allocate a percentage of its income to savings. If you don't have any savings and your car breaks down, or the washing machine goes out, or the refrigerator quits, then you'll have to rely on credit and ultimately end up deeper in debt."
ILLUSTRATION: We have always tried to save something on a regular basis. For several years we were saving for a future car purchase. Then, one year I had a major surgery. Our insurance covered most of the bills but we did owe a significant amount. We were able to pay those unexpected costs out of our car savings. By enabling us to save that money, God had provided for our medical bills in advance. We are now going to trust God to meet our need for cars when our present ones quit working.
B. If you spend everything you make and never save anything, you are not being a wise manager of God's money.
1. Save something, no matter how small, out of every paycheck.
2. It will add up over time and it is a good habit to develop.
