You may be surprised to learn that God has a plan for your money. You may have the idea that money is too sordid for spiritual people.
Like some of us, you may have grown up with a religious background that referred to money as "filthy lucre." However, this is not a biblical view of money.
In contemporary culture, money plays a large role in each of our lives. If God does not have a plan for our money, then a major part of our lives is not under His control. In turn, this circumstance will inevitably affect other areas of our lives. The truth is that many Christians, whose lives are not really under God's control, try to solve their problems by becoming more spiritual. However, many times the answer is to be more practical.
If you are not handling your finances in line with God's plan, then your whole life is out of joint. No matter how spiritual you may be in other areas, you will never know the real blessing and overruling of God in your life until you bring your money into line with the will of God as revealed in His Word. You see, the Bible clearly reveals that God does have a plan for our money. As a teacher of God's Word, it is my responsibility to share with you God's plan for your money just as I would share His plan for any other area of your life. In Acts Paul said this: 20You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 27For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. (Acts 20:20, 27)
In other words, Paul was saying that he had declared to them the "whole will of God," and that he had taught everything in the Word of God that would be helpful to God's people. The whole will of God includes His will for our money. It is part of the total counsel or plan of God. I want to point out in a general way that God really does have a plan that covers every area of our lives. In Romans, Paul said: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
Notice that spiritual worship includes our bodies; it moves right into the physical world. Some people think the body is not spiritual. Being spiritual includes doing the right thing with your body— presenting it to God as a living sacrifice. Paul continued in the next verse, 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(v. 12:2)
God's will is unfolded in three successive phases by three beautiful words. The will of God is "good, pleasing [or "acceptable" KJV] and perfect." These three words represent three phases in our perception of the will of God. When we first begin to perceive God's will, we discover that it is good. God never wants anything bad for any of His people. Then we learn that His will is pleasing or acceptable. The more we perceive it, the more we want to embrace it. Finally, as we move on in the perception and the application of God's will, we realize that it is perfect or complete. The whole, complete will of God covers all areas of your life—and that includes your money. Paul pointed out two essential steps to finding God's will. First, surrender yourself without reservation to God. Paul said to place your body on God's altar "as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). He was comparing the body with the Old Testament sacrifices in which the animals that were offered were first killed and then placed on the altar. In this manner they were set apart for God. Paul said that you must do the same with your body: put it on the altar of God's service without reservation. The only difference is that you do not kill the body, but rather present it as a living sacrifice. The second essential step to finding God's will is learning to think God's way. Paul called it being renewed in your mind. This means changing your whole outlook, including the way you think, your values, your standards, and your priorities. Only as your mind is renewed can you perceive what is God's will.
I want to point out something else about your money that is very important. Do not underestimate your money, belittle it, or think it is unspiritual or unimportant. What does your money really represent? I suggest that it represents four very important aspects of you: your time, your strength, your talents, and, quite possibly, your inheritance. Your inheritance may be money or other valuable things, like houses or lands, which were passed on to you from people who loved and cared for you when their lives came to an end. Perhaps you went to college and had a fairly elaborate education. All those years of education are represented by your money because if you did not have the education, you could not make the money that you do. Or you might have special talents or abilities that are not in the academic field, that are more practical in nature. Those talents and abilities are represented in your money. Certainly, too, your money represents your time. If you work eight hours a day, five days a week, that is forty hours of your life invested in the money you earn. When you invest your money, you are investing a major part of yourself for good or bad. I hope you can begin to see how important it is that you invest yourself through your money in that which is good and in accordance with God's will and plan. God's plan for your life, including your money, is summed up in one beautiful word: prosperity. This idea is stated in 3 John, where the writer said to a fellow Christian,
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2:2 NAS)
Notice that the key word in this verse is "prosper." It covers three areas: your soul, your physical health, and your finances or material needs. In each area the revealed will of God is prosperity or success. God wants you to succeed in the area of your soul, in the area of your physical body, and in the area of your finances. Failure, defeat, frustration, and poverty are not the will of God. I grew up in a religious tradition where being holy meant you had to be poor. I respect people who hold that view, but it is not a scriptural one.
God or Mammon?
Chapter Two
God or Mammon?
We need to see that our personal attitudes toward money are very important. This truth can be stated as the following principle:W
Your attitude toward money actually reveals your attitude toward God Himself.
I want to quote to you the words of Jesus on the subject. In the Sermon on the Mount, we find that Jesus stated the following about this topic:
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
(Matthew 6:24 NAS)
First, let us look for a moment at the meaning of the word "mammon." The New International translation says, "You cannot serve both God and money "but that does not fully express the meaning of the word, because mammon is more than just money. Mammon is an evil, spiritual power that grips men and enslaves them through the medium of money. Mammon is not money itself, but the spiritual power that works in the world and the lives of millions of people through their attitudes toward money.
Jesus said that you cannot serve God and mammon. Then He said, "Either [you] will hate the one and love the other, or [you] will hold to one and despise the other." In each case, Jesus naturally put God first and mammon second. Either you will hate God and love mammon, or you will hold onto God and despise mammon. That is a serious thought. If you love mammon, you hate God. On the other hand, if you hold onto God and your life is committed to Him, you will despise mammon. This attitude is not hating money, but loathing that satanic force that enslaves men and women through money. You will detest it, and you will not let it dominate you. You cannot maintain a position of neutrality on this subject. We must acknowledge in our lives the claim of one or the other. It is not a choice of whether we will serve; it is a choice only of whom we will serve—either God or mammon.
Jesus said that it is a question of priorities:
But seek first His [God's] kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
(Matthew 6:33 NAS)
Jesus did not say we have to be without "these things," but He says we must not put these things first. We must put the kingdom of God and His righteousness first in our lives on a consistent basis—that is, commitment to God, His kingdom, and His purposes. Jesus said that if we do not run after mammon and make it our god, but if we serve the true God and seek His kingdom and righteousness, then God will see to it that all the material and financial things we need are added to us.
Pursuing money is such an awful strain and leads to so much frustration. Do not chase after money. That is what Jesus says. Let money pursue you. If you have followed the right course in your life, then the money will be added to you. You do not have to lie awake at night or spend hours hatching plans to get rich.
Having followed that principle for more than forty years, by the grace of God I can attest that God is faithful. Sometimes my faith has been tested. Sometimes I have had to deny myself things that the world esteems very highly. But, as I look back at all I have gone through, I have to say God has been totally faithful.
The principle of putting God first runs all the way through the Bible. In the third chapter of Proverbs, we find two beautiful verses that say the same thing:
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
(Proverbs 3:9-10)
The "barns" and the "vats" are all of your material needs. They will be abundantly supplied and will overflow when you honor God with your wealth. The way in which you honor God with your wealth is by giving Him the "firstfruits."This means setting aside the first (or best) portion for God. We either honor or dishonor God with our money. There is no neutral ground.
Let me say, lovingly, that God does not want your tips! When the offering plate comes around at church, do not drop a quarter in. That is insulting God. As a matter of fact, for most people today, giving a dollar is an insult to God. You would slip a dollar into the hand of the restaurant parking lot valet who parks your car. Do not treat God like that, because you are insulting and dishonoring Him. Similarly, the Scripture points out that putting money ahead of God is also idolatry:
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
(Colossians 3:5 NKJV)
Notice that Paul said covetousness is idolatry. When you seek money first, you are making money your god, which is rightly called idolatry. The Lord said to Israel, "Thou shalt have none other gods before me [or "besides Me" AMP]" (Deuteronomy 5:7 KJV). In our contemporary culture, far more people have made money their god rather than the true God. They are guilty of idolatry.
Notice that in Colossians Paul put covetousness side by side with many other unpleasant things such as fornication and uncleanness. Most churches would not accept people who live in fornication (sexual immorality), but, frankly, our churches are full of people who are guilty of covetousness and idolatry.
Another Scripture, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, carries a warning against making money your God and desiring to be rich:
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil [money is not evil; the love of money is], for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness [or covetousness], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(1 Timothy 6:9-10 NKJV)
Now here is the remedy or alternative:
But you, O man of God, flee these things [covetousness, love of money, materialism] and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
(1 Timothy 6:11 NKJV)
No vacuum can exist in our lives. If we are to be clear of the love of money, we must pursue something else. Something else must take its place. Paul said, "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness."
Faith is necessary to break the control of mammon in your life. At some point or other, you are going to have to do something to release yourself from the domination of mammon.
Personally, I can look back on a point in my life when I gave to the Lord's work everything I owned financially and materially. I gave up a prestigious, well-paying job with a tremendous future and stepped out in naked faith with nothing to uphold me but the promises of God. When I did so, the control of mammon over my life was broken. I refused to be a slave of mammon.
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