Comments on: What To Do When God Gives Bad Financial Advice

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:15:57 +0000

@Teresa
Thanks for your encouraging words and your encouraging story. Keep it up.

By: Teresa @ Too Many Heartbeats

Teresa @ Too Many Heartbeats — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:32:16 +0000

Wow, Craig, this is such a POWERFUL post! It is full of wonderful advice and great information. I have to admit, though, your title is what brought me here, because when I read it I was thinking, ‘Whoever wrote this is out of his/her mind and surely does not know much about the Lord!’ LOL! :0)

My husband and I have been tithing for almost 10 years and then began following Dave Ramsey’s ‘Total Money Makeover’ about 3 years ago. We are now debt free except for our mortgages (one on our primary residence and the other on an investment property we already owned before we started our debt snowball). I also have medical bills that arrive frequently due to a very serious neurovascular illness that has left me 100% disabled, homebound and bedridden. Regardless, we feel exponentially better about our financial situation than we ever have in our 20 years of marriage! God is SO good!

Thanks for your inspiring posts. I can’t wait to read more. Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Teresa <

♥ Too Many Heartbeats ♥

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:53:55 +0000

@Kevin
Thanks for the comment. Your right the world of the Bible is a strange one.

I love the idea of following the person of Jesus Christ. When we do that then we need not worry about the least of these …

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:36:29 +0000

Great post. I loved your examples of our strange world. I was thinking of Hosea marrying a prostitute, and Judas whining about the Mary’s “waste” of expensive oil.

My take away on it is this. If Christian Personal Finance is about living according to biblical financial principles that we lift from the Scriptures, it may make us better off financially, but we have missed the point.

Please forgive my alteration if you find it offensive. “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you find the answers on how to plan and manage your financial life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.”

We follow a living person, not a set of principles or teachings. Sometimes that person asks us to follow him in ways or places that don’t make sense in our earthly wisdom. Paul writes that each one must give as he has purposed in his heart. There is no law there. It is full of grace.

If you are seeking to follow Jesus, live in the way God has put on your heart to live and you cannot go wrong. Even if you are mistaken in some ways, who am I to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (See Rom 14:4)

By: Gholmes

Gholmes — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:41:56 +0000

Enjoyed the post. God’s family is diverse, each balancing and honing our walk through this life.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:34:47 +0000

@Paul
Guilt is never a good motivation for giving – agreed.
God does sometimes call the poor to give generously – agreed.
We’d better be sure God is talking – agreed.
Thanks for the good comment.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:28:20 +0000

@Gary
Thanks so much for your comment. I really enjoyed your perspective as it does share the unique giving situations in plenty and with little. I like how you use the word trust as I do think that is an important aspect of the giving journey.

By: Gary H

Gary H — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:34:21 +0000

This is one of my favorite topics, and I have struggled with this issue for my entire marriage. Now at 59, my wife of 20 years is a Native American, and I am from the midwest. Our views of money and material belongings are miles apart. My family saved and scrimped for every penny we could and were considered poor. We attented church every service, and tithed. I thought compared to the other kids in school, we were average. My wife on the other hand grew up very poor in a very small village above the Arctic Circle. She never saw herself as poor, although they often lived on dirt floors when it was 45 degrees below zero out side. When I married her she was a professional, and commonly would take her entire check on payday and buy what ever she wanted. I appalled at this behavior, as I would mathmatically take the tithes our, then figure how much was needed for groceries, gasoline, etc. From her I was reminded that when God took the Israelites through the desert for 40 years, their instructions were to gather Mana for one day only. Those who gathered more ended up with rotten food. On the day before the Sabath, God instructed them to gather enough for 2 days. I don’t know about you,but I like my cabinets and pantry full of food. I like a bank account full of money incase of an emergency. I like my gas tank full also. I struggled with this and I still do. When I asked my wife what would happen if she needed the money later for food, she always replied God will supply, and he always did. When my sons were growing up, I couldn’t afford health insurance, so I was forced to trust in God. They did fine, but it was conscious trust every day. I can say I didn’t like it though. Since that time of my children being young, God has taken us from poverty to riches. Our three sons are all doctors or engineers, and we live in a 6000 square foot house with plenty.
I heard once a minister tell about a man who tithed regularly while he was poor. At $500 per month he found it easy to pay $50 per month in tithes, once he made $5000 per month it became harder to tithe $500 per month, but he did. When he made $50,000 per month, he found it almost impossible to give $5000 per month. I completely understand that now. Although I still tithe regularly, paying tithes now is a lot harder than when we were poor, and accepted God’s provisions. Basically now that we have money, I find myself trusting it rather than God.
Craig, you are right, God is not a mathmatician, but “he owns the cattle on a thousand hills.”

By: lencib: Falling into Favor

lencib: Falling into Favor — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:46:58 +0000

Love this!

I just try to acknowledge God when I spend money and pre-spend money (make a budget). I know for a fact that if people saw how much we give they’d be telling us not to, asking us if we can afford to give that much, etc. The people (family) who know now do it all the time. I’m just going to focus on acknowledging God in it, and letting Him be my guide and compass. Hopefully I get it right for the generation that I will bring up.
.-= lencib: Falling into Favor´s last blog ..Stop & Listen =-.

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:56:25 +0000

Great article, Craig! You’re hitting some major key points on what the Bible says about money. On my website, I’ve written that you should care for your family’s needs (which are often over-stated in America) first before giving.

But I also make the exception that you do – sometimes God calls the poor (those who can’t meet their family’s needs) to give generously and sacrificially. My caution was simply that 1 Tim 5:8 makes it clear that we better be sure it’s God talking if we’re going to give at the cost of our family’s needs.

Too often we can get guilted into giving by men and their teaching. Sometimes that guilt can be legitimate and from God, but other times it may not. It is our duty to seek God’s will when we experience such feelings and then act on what God directs us to do. We must commit ourselves to the Lord first, and then to whomever He would have us give to.
.-= Paul Williams´s last blog ..Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 8 =-.