Why Should I Care About Money?

Why should I care about my money?

For starters we saw yesterday that God cares about how we handle our money. With over 2000 verses in the Bible about how we should handle our money and our possessions it is pretty obvious that God is very concerned about how we are handling money.

Statistics tell us that in 2005 over 2,000,000 households declared bankruptcy. In 2005 and 2006 we had a negative savings rate. This means that we as Americans spent more money than we made. (This is the first time this has happened since the Great Depression)

Daily we listen to the news and hear about the sub prime mortgage crisis and increased foreclosures on houses (Up 79% last year over 2006) and how this is now spreading to the credit card industry.

For many years handling the families' finances was usually done by the wife. He made it and she managed it (or should I say spent it). I do not believe this is the norm anymore. Now it is much more of a joint venture, with many times the husband and wife both working and sharing the responsibility of managing the families' budget.

So how about us men, should we care about how we and our family spend our money? We saw yesterday that God cares a lot about how we handle our money, and by the way it actually does belong to Him. Those statistics above tell us that the money management in our society is in deep trouble and with our wives asking for help in handling our money, I think the answer is obvious.

Why does God care so much about money? I think the answer is found in Matthew 6:21 where Jesus says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Jesus is telling us that how we manage our money reveals heart issues or the state or our relationship with Him. Let's look at our personal finances for a minute.

Do we have a lot of debt? Does this mean we always want more and are not content with what God has given us? Hebrews 13:5 says "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have".

Do we have too much savings? Does this mean we are trusting in our portfolios and bank accounts and not God for the future? Proverbs 23:5 says "Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle". Or are we trying to get significance by big bank accounts? Luke 12:15 says "... a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Are the needs of our family being met? God gives us some pretty strong words about not meeting the needs of our family. 1 Timothy 5:8 says "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". Our families will have emergencies and the question is are we ready to meet those emergencies? We better have an emergency savings account.

Do we want our family to be spiritually blessed? If God is going to bless our family with spiritual blessings we better handle our money God's way. Luke 16:11 says "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

Men, as the spiritual heads of our families, managing money is not a financial issue, it is a spiritual issue. Get involved in your family finances.

George Hutchison serves on the Board of Trustees of America's KESWICK and is an instructor and counselor with Crown Financial Ministries

Great Quote: We are called to live Coram Deo, defined as: before the presence of God, under the authority of God and to the glory of God. -- R. C. Sproul