By Pastor Warren Richardson
What do you want your legacy to be? A godly marriage? A lasting inheritance for your children? A tight-knit family? More than anything, you probably want to be remembered for being good to the people around you. Whatever you want to achieve, it will in some way require money. There are four key biblical principles you need to know about money. They are less about percentages and more about fulfilling God's plan in your life. If you will chase after God with the abilities and desires He has given you, then the amount of money you need will take care of itself. More importantly, you will be directly in the middle of God's will for your life.
1. BLESSED OR BROKEN
First of all, poverty is a condition of the soul, not the pocketbook. Your attitude is the number one key to you being blessed or broken. Proverbs 23:7a (NKJV) says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." You may not have much-money now; but you can still have a prosperous attitude. Why is this so important? It's because your attitude frames your expectations. A prosperous attitude is expected to be overcome in life. You can expect to make more money. You can expect to get a promotion. You can expect to get a better job. Your expectation will be based upon what you believe God will do in your life. What are you believing in? If it's nothing, then nothing will probably happen. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Once you start believing that God will do something in your finances, God then has the substance He needs to bring it to pass.
2. ORDER PRECEDES INCREASE
How do you find out what to believe in? That brings us to the second biblical principle of how money works. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NKJV), "Let all things be done decently and in order." How do you follow this scripture in your finances? When people come to me with questions about their finances, the first question I ask is, "How much money do you need?" Their response is almost always, "l don't know. We're just barely getting by." So I ask them again, "How much do you need to live better than just barely getting by?" You are going to have to find out how much money you need on a monthly basis. To do that, you need a budget. A budget doesn't have to be hard. Just start with one piece of paper and list all of your expenses. Add that all up and that's how much you need for one month. The first time my wife and I made a budget I thought, I knew I was broke but I didn't know I was this broke! It seemed like a bad thing, but then it turned out to be a good thing. Once I knew how much money we needed, my wife and I could start believing in more. Getting a number will help you start believing for more in your life. Once you have your finances organized, then you can ask God for the specific amount you need to increase. Getting your finances in order may be the biggest financial miracle you could ever experience.
3. CHANNELS OF INCOME
Once you get your attitude right and find out how much you need, then you need a job. Everyone needs at least one channel of income. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NKJV), "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." But more than just getting any job, you and I both know you need a good job. To get a good job, you need to find out the gifts and abilities that God has given you. Use those gifts to help build a career that enables you to earn the money you need. Once you begin using your gifts, you may still need to increase your knowledge level. When I was a factory worker, I stayed after work so I could learn different machines. I went back to night school to learn gear ratios and engineering. I did all this extra work for only one reason-I could get paid more at my job if I knew those things! Sometimes you have to learn something extra to get paid a little extra.
4. POWER TO GET WEALTH
Finally, Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV) says that God has "given you the power to get wealth" so that His covenant will be established on this earth. The supernatural power to get wealth comes through two practices: tithing,sowing, and reaping. God says that He will give the ability to increase. You do your part. He does His part. First of all, the tithe is 10 percent. When you pay your tithe, God gets involved in your money. Malachi 3:10-ll says this, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse ... and I will open the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be enough room for you to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake ... " (paraphrased). God responds to your tithe by giving you wisdom and by rebuking the devourer in your life. Sowing and reaping is about giving to others. You can give to your church, or organizations that help people in need, or even people that are in need. When you give you money, not only are you advancing the Kingdom of God, but you are also putting seed in the ground for yourself. God then brings a harvest of what you sow. Sowing and reaping is a combination of you doing a natural step and God doing the supernatural step. That's a common theme that runs through the Word of God. We do natural things, and God does supernatural things.
We walk around the walls of Jericho. God knocks them down.
We lay hands on the sick. He does the healing.
We preach the Gospel. He does the saving.
These four principles about money will help you start doing the natural and letting God do the supernatural. It's God's Word that changes lives - that restores, repairs, revives, and rebuilds families, but it's our responsibility to share that message.
Will you be part of the "natural" step in taking God's Word to your friends, your community, and even around the country?
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