Common Sense Financial Advice for Believers
It’s no secret that many people wrestle with their finances. Even Christians go through financial struggles. We are not exempt from financial trials just because we’re believers. Keep reading for common sense financial advice for believers!
If you were to ask people what their number 1 struggle is in their lives, most would answer that finances are their biggest challenge. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from or what kind of job you have. Finances, and the proper management of them, can be a truly daunting task in today’s world of high pressure and slick marketing.
So how do we get a handle on our finances and take charge of them, instead of them holding us hostage every day of our lives?
Well, there’s no hard and fast answer that’s a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. But there are some very good practices that we can all put into place that will go a long way toward fixing the vast majority of our money woes.
So let’s talk about them!
First and foremost, one of the biggest areas where we see people dropping the ball is in their giving. Most of the time when people are struggling financially, the biggest common denominator is the fact that they’re not giving. And when we say “giving”, we mean tithing. Most of these people are not paying their tithes on a regular basis, or at all.
Why is this so important? Because God has told us that if we will tithe, He will rebuke the devourer for our sake.
Malachi 3:10-11 (NKJV) 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;
So what’s that all about and how does it cause problems for people when they’re not tithing.
Let’s take a look at this and see what it’s all about. First off, by tithing, we’re telling God that He comes first in our finances. We’re taking a stand and declaring that we trust Him enough to actually give part of our hard-earned money away, to support His work and further His kingdom.
Second, by giving, we’re getting in the face of the enemy and telling him that he can’t intimidate us or cause us to shrink back in fear when it comes to our money. We know Who we belong to and what he says to us will never cause us to doubt or fear.
And by tithing, we’re invoking a spiritual financial principle, a God-made principle, and setting it into motion. This principle says that by giving, we will also receive. It’s called the law of reciprocity. What you give, you will also get.
But by tithing, we also invoke a kind of protection over our finances. Notice in the verses about where God said He would rebuke the devourer for our sake. That’s right, He will protect our finances when we trust Him enough with our money to tithe.
And another thing. This isn’t so much of a spiritual principle, so much as it is a common sense fact. If we’re dedicated to giving 10% of our money back to God, and we understand that our money is not really our own, we’re less likely to spend it foolishly. First, because we have less “play money” to spend. And second because we feel accountable to God for what we do with the money He has entrusted us with.
So that’s the tithing aspect of the equation. Now let’s talk about some other things that cause many of us problems.
Foolish Spending.
Yes, foolish spending is a MAJOR problem, even in the lives of believers. In fact, it is probably second in line, right behind not tithing. But what exactly is foolish spending? Let’s take a look.
A loose definition of foolish spending would be something like this: Money spent impulsively on things that were not planned for or we don’t need. Spending money to buy things we can’t afford. Money spent without counting the cost before spending it.
Luke 14:28 (NKJV) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it…
Counting the cost isn’t a spiritual principle. It’s just good old common sense. You see, being good stewards with our money isn’t a supernatural thing. It’s not a super-spiritual thing. It’s based on common sense. God has given all of us a brain to reason and understand things. And He wants us to use it!
We shouldn’t over-spiritualize simple things, such as whether we should spend money we don’t have or not. Buying something we can’t afford while racking up debt isn’t a good thing. And we should never expect God to pay for our foolishness by boldly proclaiming that we’re walking in faith, as we pray and ask God to foot the bill for the things we buy that we can’t afford.
We may think we’re walking in faith. But before long we will be walking in large amounts of debt if we’re not careful. And debt is never a good thing. Debt is bondage. Debt is slavery. But that’s a topic for another day. Let’s stick to the topic at hand, for now.
So what are some of the things that we could classify as foolish spending?
Well, let’s list some of them. This list will not be exhaustive, nor will it be perfect. What some people see as foolish spending might not seem so foolish to others. But be careful before judging and brushing any of these off as extreme. You’ll be amazed at how much money can be spent in a year’s time on some of these things.
So here we go with our list, in no particular order.
- Cigarettes
- Coffee
- Alcohol
- Unnecessary Gadgets
- Eating out
- Movies and other entertainment
- Junk food
- Cable TV
- Unnecessary use of lights in our homes
- Buying brand names when generic will do just as well
- Hobbies
- Impulse buys
So there are a few, in their most basic forms. But from that list we could pull dozens more. For example, coffee. We’re not referring to coffee itself, although it’s really not good for us. But if you look at the habit that so many people have of running to the local coffee shop every morning, instead of making their own coffee, you can see pretty quickly how much money can be spent on something like this over the course of a year.
Let’s do some math.
1 coffee per day from the local coffee shop, on your way to work, costs you an estimated $3. Now we know that some people might spend more or less than this, but let’s use the $3 for demonstration purposes.
You spend $3 per day, 5 days per week. That’s $15 per week, at the very least. Now let’s look at that on a bigger scale. 4 weeks of that adds up to $60 in a month. And 12 of those months adds up to $720!
Hmm.. that’s a lot of money spent on coffee. And remember that $3 is just an average estimate. Some people are spending more than $3 per cup. But you get the point.
So what could you have done with that $720 if you didn’t buy coffee? Or let’s say that maybe you start making your coffee yourself, before you leave home each morning. So now it costs you only $1 per cup. It’s much likely very much less than $1. But lets use that $1 for example’s sake.
Now you’ve spent $20 per month, instead of $60! That’s $240 per year instead of $720!
Congratulations! You just saved yourself $480! That’s a big chunk of change, no matter how you look at it. Now imagine how much money you could save if you take this principle and apply it to every aspect of your finances. The possibilities are pretty endless!
Let’s look at another big one that many families spend a lot of money on. Entertainment. But for the sake of keeping this brief, let’s look at cable TV.
Most homes these days have big TVs and cable TV with hundreds of channels. This is an area where people spend a LOT of money each month. The average household spends around $150 per month on TV alone, never mind what’s spent on other forms of entertainment.
Did you know that a $150 monthly cable bill will cost you $1800 per year? Yep! $1800. Now that’s a huge amount of money! You get 400 or more channels, most of which are worthless or of little interest to you. But you pay $1800 for it, nonetheless.
And, sadly, much of what gets piped in to your home is laden with content that’s not even close to suitable for you or your children. But the bill gets paid every month anyway. And $1800 slips away every year. This is akin to flushing money down your toilet.
Maybe you’re asking how you can save money and still have some kind of entertainment in your home. There are many options these days. Online streaming has become the best way to get programming that you want at reasonable prices.
You can stream programs on your computer, tablet or smartphone. And with devices like Roku or similar products, you can stream just about anything to your TV now, too. Chromecast and other similar devices are also an option. These devices allow you to stream content from your computer onto your TV.
The options are quite endless and the money you can save is incredible when compared to cable TV prices. A Roku player, for example costs around $50. With that device and a Netflix account, you can stream hundreds and hundreds of movies and TV shows to your TV for pennies on the dollar compared to cable TV.
If you’re concerned about the content coming into your home, which we all should be, there are also Christian movie services that offer subscription-based movie streaming for about $8 per month. Their selection isn’t as broad as Netflix or Amazon, but they also don’t offer the immoral stuff that’s so prevalent with the other services.
So take the leap. Cut the cable and save yourself upwards of $1500 per year. That’s a healthy savings that can be put toward many other things, like paying off debt, opening and building a savings account, auto repairs, or home maintenance and repairs. Or it could even be used to grow God’s kingdom or help the needy.
Let God direct you when it comes to where to put the money that you’ll be saving when you start cutting costs.
And if you go down the list of items above, I promise that you’ll find places where money is being wasted every day. And if you add it up, it’ll blow your mind when you see how much it’s costing you each year. Seriously.
Now, we could go on about this for quite a while. But that isn’t our goal. Our goal is to get everyone to look at what we spend, and why we spend it. And then to do something to change that!
Nobody can change it for us. We have to do it. We have to take charge of our finances and stop the bleeding before it’s too late and we bleed to death financially.
And most important of all, we need to make sure we’re being good stewards with the money that God has given us charge over.
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it with others and comment below. And if you’d like to see more articles like this one, comment and let us know! We’d love to hear your feedback 🙂
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Thank you Pastor Curt and Pastor Ellie for your insight. I have been receiving your emails with daily Bible messages for some time now and thy have been a real blessing. So to get an email directing me to this has instantly answered a prayer of mine. It’s not merely consistently tithing that will move things forward, it’s taking responsibility for my follish spending
Hi Sade,
thank you for your comments. We’re glad to know that the daily emails help you!
God instructs us to be diligent with every aspect of our finances, including our spending, so keep up the good work with giving and being responsible with what you spend.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
This is an excellent article. It helped me to see how I got to where I am with my financing. I do need help with the tithing. How do you tithe when there is only 10-15 dollars left out of your check after you pay rent. I like giving. I don’t have much money left after the bills, and a lot of the time I don’t have enough for all the bills. I lost my home, and now I have rent which is $1,300 a month. With my other bills and car note. Things are so tight that I cry sometime. I would like to give more when I go to church, but how? I realize now that I created this mess. I need help to get out of it. I have prayed for a job making more money. I work for a company that has us working 10-12 hours a day 5-6 hours a week. The overtime pay is $7 to $8 an hour. It a retail company that has you there open to close. I sit all day waiting on people to come in and buy mattresses. I dislike this job, but I have stayed 15 months, in search of new employment. I cry some morning when I have to go to work, because it makes it difficult to work part-time, or even drive Uber. I have asked my District manager for 2 days off together, and she makes it difficult. One day off a week or one day Monday and another on Friday is hard. When I’m off I am so tired from sitting all day. Please pray for me that God, Blesses me with a job making more money, and normal 8 hour days, where I can do other things to get myself out of this bind. this experience has taught me about my impulsive spending habits, and I recognize ways that I did not recognize before. Praise God! I want to give and save, and I pray that I am able to do so. Sorry for the long comments. Thank you for this article.
Hi Birdie,
No need to apologize for your long comment. It’s good to write what’s on your heart if it helps you express yourself and get further help.
You’re not alone in the situation you’re in. Many, many others are in the very same boat. It’s one of those things that happens slowly, a little at a time. And it can be hard to spot it until it’s too late and we’re in over our heads with debt and bills.
As you mentioned, you can see now that it was poor money management that caused your situation. It took time for you to get where you’re at, so it will take time for you to get out. It will take grit, determination, perseverance, diligence and unwavering faith in God to get out.
At various times in our past when we were struggling financially, we would always tithe first, and then pay the bills. Sometimes it meant that a bill or two would be paid late, but we paid them when we could. And we watched as God helped us through those tough times, even when the math didn’t add up.
In fact, we first got revelation about tithing when we were very much in debt and very behind on our bills. We had never tithed previously. Then we heard a message on covenanting with God. We knew that morning that God was speaking to us and that we needed to make some changes.
We got home from church, stacked our bills on our bed, repented and prayed over them, and asked God for His help with our mess.
Now, we’re not advising you to be late on your bills. We’re also not telling you that you have to tithe before you pay your bills. We’re simply telling you what we did and what worked for us. As we took those steps of faith, we saw God work in ways that blew our minds.
So you have to do what’s right for you, in your situation, based on your convictions.
Keep pressing in to God. Keep working diligently to make changes to your finances, including looking for other employment if you need to. And remember that it might get harder before it gets easier.
Feel free to give us a call or email us directly if you’d like to talk with us. We’ll be happy to speak with you.
Whatever you do, don’t give up hope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaGsEwY4r4
Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
401-315-0902
I really appreciate this contribution to my life. Please address an issue in African culture where even pastors can’t share money with their wives. So they frustrate spiritual life in the family. They find it better to spend to spend the offering or his earnings with relatives who are non believers than with his family so that he will be praised by the relative. Another wrong spending which cause children to misunderstand the calling. Come up with a lesson pose. Blessings!
Hi Christer, Thank you for your comment.
Regarding the problems with various cultures, such as what you’ve mentioned in the African culture, people need to understand that the gospel transcends all cultural barriers. It doesn’t matter whether it’s western cultures, African cultures or eastern cultures, truth is truth. And if we start running the truth through cultural filters and traditions, the truth will become watered down and useless over time.
Galatians 3:28 (NKJV) 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
God’s word clearly shows that as followers of Christ, we are to shed the cultural traditions that conflict with His word.
Anyone who does otherwise is following only part of the gospel and His word.
This has inspired us to write a lesson for the Bible Verse of The Day on this topic.
Be blessed in Him.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
All this is so very true and true fully spoken
An area I have long struggled with and tried ignoring because of circumstances as a single mom. But no more, I began tithing a few months now and am trusting my Father to continue to direct me. Part of that direction is your message tonight. Thank you so much to you both. May God continue to bless you.
We’re happy to be able to help you, Dor, and glad that God used this blog post to confirm the direction you have taken.
Thank you Pastor Curt and Ellie this a blessing to us and thank you for encouraging us each new day with the living bread of life its a a great inspiration and i would everyone in the world to get to be blessed by the words of wisdom each new morning.God bless you and may he empower you with new revelations and more visions as you serve him in the mighty name of Yeshua we pray.
Thank you so much, Bonny. We value your prayers for us 🙂
We’re happy to know that the daily emails are helping you and drawing you closer to God.
Be blessed and be strong in Him!
I myself must say you two pastors really know what your readers would like to read and clearly understand where to after reading your mails as send by you pastor Curt and Ellie
Thank you, Kagisho. We truly appreciate your feedback and we’re happy to know that the daily emails are feeding your spirit!
Thank you so much! This is very important blog that helps me to know many things . Please keep it up! God Bless you!
thank you very much i have tried this method before and i had money left till i get my next pay.
Thank you for this article… THis is my biggest struggle right now….we have just bought a house and we are not getting to make ends meet and although i know i need to tithe i am not only because if i do i wont have enough to pay all the debtors and then i get legal fees added onto that and and and… i need to ignore the enemy’s hold on me with the law coming down on me and tithe 10% as I should but it so hard…..
first I want to say thank you for taking time to do God’s work! Thank you HOLY SPIRIT!
I would love to read these on a constant basis this was an eye opener for my family I. If you could give me some links or names to the Christian networks that offer services for television please that would be great. Thank you and God Bless!
Hi Elizabeth, thank you for your kind comments. We’re glad you enjoyed this blog post 🙂
Here is a link to a very good Christian streaming service, with what is probably the biggest selection of Christian and faith-based movies, TV shows and documentaries available anywhere.
http://www.adailybibleverse.com/blog/PureFlix
This is the best service of this type that we’ve found anywhere in all of our research. Not only do they have the largest library available, but they are constantly adding new movies and programs.
Oh, and best of all, they give you your first 30 days 100% free!
We hope you enjoy it! http://www.adailybibleverse.com/blog/PureFlix
Be blessed in Him.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Excellent! When you sit down and actually do the “long multiplication” you realize just exactly where all the money ends up…in someone else’s pocket. Wonderful blog and good to hear these things are being discussed out in the open instead of shrugged off every month! Thank you!
Hi Suzanne, you’re very welcome! We’re glad you enjoyed the blog post.
And you’re right. Sitting down and taking the time to look at the numbers in detail can shed a lot of light on where our money goes.
Thank you for your Bible Verse of the Day. I have been reading them regularly for years and I get so much out of them. I appreciate your ministry.
Tami
Thanks for your insite on tithing. My pastor taught a sermon on tithing last week. I am excited that God has given me another chance to be a better steward over the resources that he has given me.
I thank you very much – it is a wonderful blog and it is a real blessing for these bible devotionals , realizing where our money goes and to hear these things
Thanks you so much for allowing God to use you to convey such powerful messages in your blogs and daily verses. They have continued to enlighten my spirit and nurish my walk. I am forever grateful!
For anyone interested in a streaming TV and movie service that shows faith-based and family-friendly movies and programs, you should check out Pure Flix. http://www.adailybibleverse.com/blog/PureFlix
They’re the best streaming service we’ve found so far (and we’ve tried a few of them!).
They have the biggest selection of them all. And they add new stuff every month, including movies that are pretty recent. Pure Flix is the company behind movies like God’s Not Dead, Old Fashioned and Do You Believe, to name a few.
And we found it to be very affordable, at just $7.99 per month. What’s even better is that they offer a free 30 day trial, so you can give it a try without paying anything 🙂
Here’s the link again. We hope you enjoy it.
http://www.adailybibleverse.com/blog/PureFlix
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Thank you Pastors’. Once again you have provided me confirmation in your teaching/message. I receive the lesson. “GOD” is to come first! I will give first to my Father’s Kingdom. 10%. is all that he requires in return for all he gave. How does the scripture read again? “Prayer without works”—-? (Please finish that for me.) We know that we can pray for anything but many times action is still required. You have enlightened me and made it clear what those actions are!
I Love the BLOG please keep it coming.
I’m already in line for tickets to your “Seven Seas Christian Crusade”!
Please tell me how long I’ll be standing here? ????
May GOD continue to bless us ALL. Amen
Hi TanyaMarie, thank you for your comments. We’re glad you enjoyed the blog post!
The scripture says that faith without works is dead.
James 2:18-20 (NKJV) 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[a] works, and I will show you my faith by my[b] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
Be blessed in Him!
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
It is so very good I’m a widow and I needed this very much
Thank you for your insight and this blog. Many of us struggle with our foolish choices as far as spending what the Lord has given us on a daily basis. We are to be good stewards of His provisions to us. Tithing is very important and we are told many times in the bible, but as you said we often let our monthly and daily costs get in the way. Often what we think are necessary things such as cable TV, eating out if only buying lunch everyday at work–even if we go for an inexpensive sandwich–all adds up per week, per month. Thank you for the reminder of how we need to be good stewards of what the Lord has provided. In my life, when times have been tough and I have remembered to still tithe my 10 percent, the Lord has always blessed me. Extra hours or pay have come, a new job with better pay or someone out of the blue has given me what I needed. Prayers have been answered. That has not always happened when I tried to do it on my own and not prayerfully sought Christ’s guidance and direction. Those times taught me the importance of daily seeking the Lord’s word, importance of daily prayer and praising God for what he had given all of us & tithing. Thank you also for all the time you take each day to help all of us who get a daily bible verse, your videos and blogs. They are truly a blessing.
Thank you for this blog. I use to struggle with tithing. But the closer i walk with God I’ve learned to really understand FAITH and I will Tithe and just turn my finances over to God. He has not failed me yet. Pastor Curt and Pastor Ellie I so look forward to receiving this daily word from you. We are all work in progress and this is truly an instrument I need on this life’s journey. I receive other daily words, but I enjoy yours the best. It’s like getting a special daily word from God through a Friend. May God continue to bless you both because you are truly a blessing to so many us. Thanks again for all you do in Christ. May he bless all your works ten fold.
Hi Carol, thank you for your comments and encouraging words 🙂
We truly enjoy what we do and love to hear the ways that the daily emails are helping people draw closer to God! May He continue to bless you and help your faith grow, as you press in to Him.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie