Relationships/Marriage Part II - Finances

Compelled by: I Timothy 6:9-10a

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  NIV

One of the last relationship enrichment classes (6-week series, July – Sept. 2005) that my ex-husband and I did was at the Union Missionary Baptist Church, in Muncie, IN, for Pastor WJ Jackson, Sr. This series was entitled “Marriage God’s Way”, and included the following key points:  God’s Design; Intimacy; Priority; Transparency; Love; Encouragement; Faithfulness; Esteem; Permanence; Respect; Kindness; Forgiveness; Gratitude; Communication; Finances; Sexuality and Spirituality. Without fail the topic that seemed to create the most friction, decision and conflict was finances.  As I reflect on our marriage relationship, finances always seemed to be a playground for Satin.

Yes, the Bible has declared, “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10a NIV) and we declared that the mismanagement of money can lead to ALL evil. In 1st Timothy 5:8, we learn that, “but if any one does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever”. The Bible holds us accountable for managing our finances so that the basic needs are meant.

Tithing was never our problem, we were always devout tithers and gave God the tenth, but we were guilty of mismanaging the ninety due to lack of training. The lack of communication also had a great impact on our finances. We had several warning signs……. Individual purchases were made and often lies were told about the amount of purchases or items hide or kept in secret. Often, when one of us made a purchase, the other would go out to make a purchase; we seemed to always be in opposition. Tension seemed to be present during any discussion regarding money and I became apprehensive to bring the subject of finances up. Money seemed to be used as a weapon…. “keeping the other partner in place”. Often there was no idea how much money we really had because the correct information was not always shared; (I had pay stubs for proof of income, whereas he, being a pastor would receive cash in many instances). 

We allowed Satin to destroy us financially and it took several years to recover. God did smile on the relationship and our obedience to His Word. We were so blessed to be introduced to Wade Westfall, Financial Advisor (founder of Genesis Finances, he was a modest man who was a millionaire). Wade had a ministry to educate couples about #finances, giving them a new beginning. Wade would always say, “Do the math”, and he introduced us to the “10/20/70 plan”, that blessed our life tremendously.  I was encouraged to write a covenant with God regarding our financial management and debt freedom. Eliminating debt and becoming #debt free was never a problem (we did so several times). It appeared that every time God allowed us to become debt free, my spouse would go out and make a major purchase. We were also introduced to Larry Burkett (How Much Is Enough; 30 days to Personal Revival, with Kay Moore). 

The “10/20/70 plan”, that blessed our life tremendously, always began with giving God ten percent of our gross income and the balance was used for our savings and debt:

10 % – God

20 % – Savings

70 % – Towards debt structure

According to Larry Burkett, the testimony of tithing is that, by obeying God, 90 percent of your income blessed by God will last longer than spending 100 percent of your income without His blessing. Malachi 3:11 states that God opens a new degree of protection over us, including economically, when we honor Him in tithing. Our choosing not to give, for whatever reason, limits God’s ability to bless us. There are spiritual consequences of not giving. You must demonstrate to God that you will faithfully use all your material assets - not just your tithe - to glorify His name (Luke 16:11).  The way you manage resources directly relates to your spiritual growth! 

With encouragement from Wade and the Holy Spirit, the following is the covenant agreement that I wrote:

 We hold that the Bible contains the greatest financial plan that one could carry out.

Therefore, we have elected God as our Chief Financial Officer…over ALL…of our financial matters.

For we know that God is the Owner of everything (Psalms 24) and we will recognize Him as such.

God is faithful, and we will stand on His promises ….

       …We will seek His Kingdom and His righteousness first (Matthew 6:33)!

       …We will ask in prayer for those things we need, believe and receive (Mark 11:24)!

       …We will have plenty (II Corinthians 8:14)!

       …We will continue to be good stewards and receive more from God (Matthew 25:14-30)!

We believe that God uses material blessings to glorify the body of Christ, therefore we will be obedient, allowing God to use us in a mighty way to glorify His body.

Given the above…we choose not to be a servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7) and will be debt free in five years (February 5, 2005). We will leave a legacy!!!

We now enter this covenant with our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ, our Chief Financial Officer. Signed on this day February 9, in the year of our Lord 2000.

How we handle #money – no matter if we have a lot or a little – gives a clear indication of our relationship with God. Satin often uses money – or the lack of money – to separate us from God. True financial freedom only comes when we yield our finances to God.

Money is a big deal for many people; obtaining wealth is their reason for living. Some of us think that we can’t live without money…. can we live with money? Is the real question “what do you own” or “what owns you? Everything we own – houses, cars, jobs, etc. should be for God’s use.  God allows us to accumulate things and everything we have should be recognized as a gift from him. We can enjoy the blessings that we receive from God, however, we must be ready to use them for His service. We cannot serve God and love money (Matthew 6:24).

As usual, I leave you with a challenge – Trust God in your finances; I have always taught that our money is tied to our heart…. ask God to change/bless your heart. Your decision to tithe is an act of faith that leads to blessings that you could never even think of or believe.

 According to #LarryBurkett, tithing is a worship matter of the heart and begins with your heart attitude. It is a mistake to live your lifestyle at the expense of what rightfully belongs to the Lord: the tithe. Ask God to create in you a generous, cheerful attitude about tithing; Determine areas of overspending, in you budget; Pray for God to give you strength to make the necessary adjustments; and watch for God to bless you beyond your imagination (Malachi 3:10, Ephesians 3:20-21).

 “God is not impressed with your dollars; He’s impressed with the worshipful attitude of your heart” …Larry Burkett

Be Blessed,

Pamela S. Jackson