Wisdom with Money

We aren't able to know the future, and therefore it's wise to save and spend wisely. Giving to God and those in need is some of what should be done with money, but beyond that it's important to prepare for the future.

Many people might say that it's fine to not care how money is spent because God will provide for our needs. But God does care how we spend our money. God asks us to be good stewards. That means if we have money that can be saved, and its wise to save at that time in life, to do that.

Part of being humble is knowing our limitations. We are limited in knowing the future, and in response we should prepare for our future by working and saving. Not in a stressed out way, but in a way that is consistently making wise choices. God is sovereign and knows our future and directs our lives, but that doesn't mean that we don't have responsibility and aren't graciously allowed to play a part in God's story.

God cares about things that we consider to be small things. Some people may think that money seems to be such a small, unimportant thing in matters of spirituality. But God made money, and it's one way that allows people to interact and to show their heart.

God wants us to enjoy things too that we can have by spending money. And some money can be spent on enjoying things of life if there is money to do that and we're carefully considering the best way to spend money. That's why wisdom is important. Wisdom helps us to know how much to save, to give, and to spend on needs and wants.

Often, though, enjoying things doesn't require much or any money. Spending more times with those we love often costs nothing. And we may find ways that are much cheaper, compared to what we currently spend on having fun, to have fun.

How to Gain Wisdom
You might be wondering how one becomes wise or gains wisdom with money. I'd say if you know you need wisdom in that area, one thing that helps is praying for it.

The second thing to do would be to take a careful look at how you spend money and how much you have in savings and ask questions like how prepared are you for things like less work or an emergency.

When you're carefully looking at how money is spent and planning how you will spend and save money, don't compare yourself to others, like feeling like you need something that you don't because almost everyone you know has something or does something. It could be that people do these things but never need them. The only reasons some of them do them is because everyone else is doing them. And if they didn't, they might save a whole lot of money that they need. One example is buying coffee from a coffee shop very frequently. Often making coffee at home saves money. Or feeling the need to go with a group that goes out to eat every week at lunch. That might be very important in a way, depending on how it relates to your work and life, but it might be something that's not needed. And not doing it could save so much money.

I wrote a post on how to know things with your heart. I'd suggest everything in that post. One thing I included there is that it takes time. Patience is important in the process. Because you will be learning and growing as you go along. It takes time to get better at these things. So try your best now and grow when you see chances to grow.

The Christian View of Money and Vacations

Post by
Michelle Dowell, Co-Contributor

Spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on vacations is viewed as normal and even in some places expected in our culture. It's as if when we take time out of work, even on weekends, it might seem odd to others if we don't spend some money doing something "significant" like going to a fancy restaurant or traveling to some popular place.

Is this the way Christians should spend a large portion of their money or a large amount of money? It's good to rest and to desire to see God's beautiful creation outside of places we normally see it. But it's also good to be sure we give some money to God and to the poor, as the Bible tells us to do this--and God also desires for us to be healthy financially, to be good stewards of what he has given to us.

Here are three questions to ask when planning a vacation to help determine if we're following God's instructions to us in his Word:

1. Is the money that will be spent on this trip going to make it hard to be financially healthy?

2. How much money has been given to God and to the poor? If the answer is nothing or not much, it'd be much better to do that and rest at home than to spend the money on the vacation. Also, is what you're going to do something that can be done closer and be mostly the same?

3. Will this vacation help you feel more rested? Rest is a part of life that is needed. Vacations often can be crammed full of activity.