In order to manage your money correctly on a day in and day out basis, you must have a short term plan. This means you need to know what income is coming in, what's going out, and how you plan to spend your assets in order to fulfill God's purpose for your life. This attitude is summed up in Proverbs 27:23 where it states "be sure to know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds." In short, you need a budget which is quite simply a stewardship plan for the next year.
A budget is an essential part of good stewardship. It is a plan that says how you are going to direct the money the Lord has for you to spend. As you develop your plan, consult the Lord in prayer. As you do this and start to work on your plan, the Lord will give you His wisdom and direct your paths (Proverbs 16:9). As you then develop the budget, you will have a freedom from worry as you know the Lord has helped you develop a solid plan.
In planning your budget, you will have to know the following:
- What income do you have? This is fairly easy for most people to predict, though some business owners or salespeople will have fluctuating incomes from month to month.
- What do you spend each month? The best way to determine this is to get a journal and record all your spending for one month. In addition, you will want to list all of the bills you pay sporadically over the year (car insurance, house insurance, Christmas presents, etc.).
- What you want to accomplish in the next year? As with all things, you will need a plan. What do you want to do? How soon? You will need to consult the Lord on this and seek His guidance.
- Where you can go to get help? There are teachers, books, classes, tapes, counselors, etc. that can help you develop your budget. As with any major undertaking, it is also wise to seek the counsel of fellow Christians (Proverbs 15:22) and prayerfully consider it. One of the best sources for budget planning on the market is "The Financial Planning Workbook" by Larry Burkett.
While this entire process may seem overwhelming, it is necessary in order to be the best stewards of God's property as we possibly can. Proverbs 12:27 says "the lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions." This doesn't mean that we should trust in or worship our finances, but as God's stewards we need to prize the possessions he has put into our control and manage them according to His principles to the best of our ability. As we are diligently doing this, the Lord will bless us as it says a few verses later in Proverbs 13:4 "the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied".
For more information on budgeting, see these links from Free Money Finance:
What's up with all the religious crap? I'm really into the personal finance posts but the religious stuff needs to go.
Posted by: | January 29, 2006 at 09:36 PM
Then don't visit on Sundays/read the article posted then. Every Sunday I post on The Bible and Money.
Posted by: FMF | January 30, 2006 at 07:14 AM
I really appreciate the "religious" posts. Please continue them. I believe that the Bible contains much wisdom concerning finances.
Posted by: Jem | January 30, 2006 at 08:56 AM
These posts are some of your best, FMF. Thank you.
Posted by: mbhunter | January 31, 2006 at 01:09 AM