Thursday, October 20, 2022

You Need a Budget – The Vault

October 20, 2022/in Bible Study, Week 2

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My son’s birthday is at the end of the month. He is literally counting down the days—six in case you were wondering. He’s excited because he’s going to be eight, and he’s anticipating the presents he will be receiving. I’m sure he has grand visions of 1,000-piece LEGO sets or packs of Pokemon cards. The cost of these items mean nothing to him. He has a vague awareness of money and that it’s used to buy things, but in reality, things just magically appear in our house. Sometimes it’s from the Amazon delivery person, and sometimes it’s from the store. It really doesn’t matter.

This mentality is cute in a child, but it’s terribly dangerous when an adult lives by this mindset. The average American has almost $6,000 in credit card debt. We live in a culture that believes we can buy now and pay later. We have a vague notion of how much money we are making each month and that it should cover our monthly expenses. In reality, it never seems like we have enough.

To many of us, the thought of a budget seems restricting and, frankly, too hard to figure out. So, we continue in the spiral of spending, growing our debt. This is not how God designed us to function. Debt makes us a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). The only way to get out of debt is by budgeting. Budgeting allows us to use money as the tool it was meant to be. When we have a budget, money is not our master. We tell it where to go.

Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

Budgeting helps us discipline ourselves so that money remains the tool it was always designed to be. One key part of a budget includes giving. This sounds counterintuitive when you have a huge credit card bill staring at you, but God promises blessings when we honor him first.

Proverbs 3:9-10

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. 10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

Living within the parameters of a budget allows us to control where our money goes. It allows us to pay our debts, provide for our families, and give to our church. When we tell our money where to go, it loses its power over us—and God remains our master.

Questions:

Do you know where your money is going each month? Do you have a budget? Do you feel like there is never enough money to go around?

Next Steps:

If you have never been through Financial Peace University, consider signing up for one of the Groups starting up this month. If you don’t regularly give to the church, commit to it this month.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for being the giver of all good things. Thank you for the way you have blessed me in so many ways. Forgive me for allowing money to dictate my behaviors. Help me see that you have given me enough and it is my responsibility to steward it well. Help me develop a plan to use my resources in a way that provides for my needs and blesses others. Amen.