Be wiser with your money: Spend and save with intention
By Dr. Randy Carlson
Your choices become your habits, and your habits ultimately become your character. Decisions add up, which is especially true when it comes to how you spend money.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say a Christian is to pursue financial or material wealth—period. That doesn’t mean having a lot of money or possessions is a sin. But it does mean you’re not to chase after it, making money and things your life’s ambition or that which fulfills you emotionally.
Here are five tips to help you make good choices and spend your money wisely:
- If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6).
- If you don’t need it, leave it.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).
- Avoid impulse buying.
“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control” (Proverbs 25:28).
- Set aside enough for the future, and trust God.
The Bible says ants are “extremely wise” as they “are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer” (Proverbs 30:24–25). At the same time, we need to entrust ourselves and our future to God, and not live in fear: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).
- Don’t rob God!
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings” (read all of Malachi 3:6–12).
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