THE FIRST THING
It's important to understand that the money we have is not our own. It is God’s money, and He has entrusted it to us to manage. A good money manager will responsibly do four things with the money God has given him:
-
Worship God (Lev 27:30)
-
Meet our needs (Phil 4:19)
-
Meet the needs of others (Acts 2:45)
-
Have a little fun (1 Tim 6:17)
Interestingly, two of the four areas of money management involve giving: worshiping God and meeting the needs of others. We do both through regular tithing.
GIVING BRINGS LIFE
Have you ever wondered why God would have us give our stuff away? Greed and materialism run rampant in today’s culture as in just about any culture across the globe and throughout history. God hates greed and materialism because they rob us of the abundant life He wants us to have. Hoarding money will not buy us freedom in life - it actually buys us slavery to possessions. Generosity is the only way to experience life as God intended us to.
THE TREASURE TEST
Do you remember when Satan dared Jesus to jump from the roof of the temple, forcing God to save Him? (Matt 4:6-7) Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 when He replied, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” It is not holy to test God; it is sinful and faithless. However, and this is a big however, there is one and only one place in the Bible that God invites us to test Him.
THE ETERNAL INVESTMENT
The stock market goes up and down. We gain money, and we lose money. The poor man today may be rich tomorrow; and the rich man today may be poor tomorrow. There is only one safe place to store our treasure.