Wisdom For Managing Money Series

Wisdom for Managing Money

Series: Wisdom for Life (Proverbs)

Brad Bailey – August 19, 2018

Intro

We are continuing in our series entitled “Wisdom for Life.” Wisdom is defined best as the ability to know how life actually works…and what is the right response for the many choices we make. The Biblical Book of Proverbs became a means to share divinely inspired wisdom for life. (In particular it is believed to have been written with young men in mind.)

Today… Wisdom for Managing Money

It may be helpful to realize that when we consider money… it’s not simply about the object itself. Money itself is simply a medium of exchange. (Some culture used salt…some cheese… Aztecs used cocoa beans.) When we speak of money… we are really speaking of our relationship to material possessions and life’s resources.

Our relationship to money is not an easy one. It would appear to be a “strange relationship.”

We want it… and we resent it.

We believe it is the answer to most of our problems… and we believe it’s the source of most of our problems. We can attach enormous hopes on it…and worship it… and also feel it’s the most oppressive force in life and deem it evil.

In general… all that money represents…in managing life’s provisions and security… can be a source of stress.

In fact, it’s given as the number one cause of stress in America [1] (85 percent say they “sometimes” feel stressed about money, a full 30 percent say they’re “constantly” stressed about their finances. [2]0

And our different associations with money…and ways of managing money…make relationships challenging.

A recent poll (2014), found that 70% of couples argue about money, putting it ahead of conflicts over chores, sex, or snoring.

It’s also now the number one conflict that is given for divorce.

51% of all spouses that call it quits say their decision had something to do with their finances. [3]

(Today’s marital vows might be more accurate if they ended with until “debt to us part.”)

In the midst of it… we have a Creator who really cares about our relationship with money.

I have come to believe that God sees that what what’s been lost…is our whole role in relationship to life’s resources.

Our entire relationship to money and life’s possessions is one of being managers of what has been extended to us to care for.

Genesis 2:15 (NIV)

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Here God is revealing our true position in relationship to all of life’s resources. He is saying: “I have created a world full of goodness…and provision. I have created you with capacity to help manage these resources.

Our entire relationship to money and life’s possessions is one of being managers of what is not fundamentally ours.

Psalm 24:1

The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord.

We are managers. That is what the older word “steward” or stewardship refers to. It means managers. [4] This is the fundamental truth that defines every other aspect of managing money.

Jesus describes how we are managers… given a responsibility…and in every story… the owner is coming back. [5]

Jesus is leading us into a larger God centered life. His calling is from simply being rooted in this world …or enjoying this world but rooted in larger.

And so the wisdom of Proverbs reflects this larger understanding about life.

Wisdom in managing money is not simply about how I get rich…but how I honor God and truly flourish in the fullness of life.

So the first point of wisdom for managing money is this…

1. Make the goal of your relationship with money that of exercising responsibility and trust in relationship to God… the source of all life.

There are a million books or articles or blogs or shows that all want to help you develop your financial goals. Many may be helpful. But none will be more helpful than this wisdom from Proverbs,

Proverbs 30:8-9 (CEV)

Don't let me be too poor or too rich. Give me just what I need.

If I have too much to eat, I might forget about you; if I don't have enough, I might steal and disgrace your name.

That is a radically different goal than what this world will generally shape in us.

Yet it calls out to us…as exactly what will serve us in flourishing well.

It understands this….your relationship to God… who loves you…is the most important and powerful force that exists. So wisdom understands that our relationship to money should be that which lets us live in a dynamic connection to God.

When Jesus was asked…you live in such a powerful relationship with God… teach us to pray… …you may recall that he said such a prayer should include: