Budgeting your finances for an easier life
Budgeting your finances helps life become easier for the present as well as the future, which may also eliminate various personal and financial stressors plaguing your life today. It can protect you against all the rampant materialism you face everyday.
In today's world we see how easy it is to spend money and how fast it can flow through our fingers. As our economy grows and expands, our lifestyles become more apt to stretch to meet the overwhelming demands that are placed upon them.
What makes it hard sometimes is sitting down with yourself and/or with your family members, and taking the time to evaluate those all-important aspects of your lifestyle that may include spending or saving money. When you make yourself keep tabs on your pocketbook, you can then review the inflow and outflow of your finances.
budgeting requires establishing needs from wants
I think a huge problem in our society regarding money and finances is determining one's true needs from wants. It can be difficult at times to establish this within our own lives.
For example, God designed simple basic needs for us to live by, which for the most part are: food/water, shelter, transportation, education, and a few other things that aid us in our daily lives. So, you could choose to live your life simply, not spending out a fortune on these necessities, or, turn these necessities into so much more! For instance, you could:
- Eat expensive gourmet meals, either by hiring a chef to cook your meals everyday, or by eating them at various fancy restaurants.
- Live in an upscale neighborhood in a beautiful, expensive home, with a nanny for your children, a chef, a butler, a gardener ( the sky's the limit here!)
- Drive the most expensive car, truck, or van--for that matter, you may think you need a few of them.
- Educate yourself at a very expensive college or university; perhaps you prefer to send your children to the most expensive and prestigious schools in the area or abroad.
Do you see how quickly your true needs can turn into wants that disguise themselves as needs? It's so easy to do within our culture and societal demands.
Well, I could go on and on about how much money you could really put out there in terms of how luxurious you want your lifestyle to be. I currently live in New York City in the US and have seen such opulence and great wealth among Christians and non-Christians alike. The temptations to live in such extravagance is endless!
budgeting: an easier solution
This concept for your finances may leave a bad taste in the mouth because, for many people, it denotes negative connotations, such as: lack, delayed gratification, saving money (some people really hate doing this, even if they think it's a good idea), not seeing it for a while, can't spend it like they want to, and so on.
Budgeting virtually means that you are designating various amounts of your income to be placed within particular areas of your living expenses, events, or savings. You still have the same income coming in, only you are being careful and guarded by how you spend it and where you will apply it to.
There are many kinds of budgets out there of which you can research over the internet, or get from a financial expert, or from word-of-mouth. All are designed to help you get a grip on your expenses and to make you more accountable of your lifestyle and family spending habits. Nothing can open your eyes to personal spending habits like doing a budget for yourself. I have found this so very true for myself as well.
christians and budgeting
As a believer in Christ and as a faithful steward, you are responsible for all that the good Lord gives to you. This includes everything, including your finances. Knowing this truth alone keeps us responsible and guarded with our money and possessions. Budgeting just makes sense to do when you think about it. At the end of your life, you will give an account to God for all that He has allowed you to have. This is made clear to us in these passages of scripture as we read from:
- Matthew 16:27 tells us, "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works."
- Romans 14:11-12 says, "For it is written, 'As I live, saith the Lord, 'every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
- 1 Peter 4:5-6 also says, "Who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." And also,
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 declares that, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
So, what is the idea behind budgeting that we as Christians should seek to implement within our own lives and those of our families? I believe it is the fact that we honor the Lord when we allow Him to be the head of our lives, including that of our finances and worldly possessions.
When we look to Him for guidance in our everyday spending, distribution, and saving of the blessings He bestows upon us, we are then demonstrating our obedience and faithfulness to God with the wealth and resources He gives to us. Budgeting provides the freedom and security of these resources He so freely gives. But when we spend them haphazardly and not thinking of these things, we lose sight on how these resources are to be distributed and where they are to be placed in our lives and in the lives of others around us.
Here are a few Bible verses that will make this clearer to you as you think on the importance of budgeting your finances:
- 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
- Matthew 6:19-21 reminds us, "Lay up not for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
- Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."
- 1 Timothy 6:17-19 tells us, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
- Matthew 6:33 instructs us, "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
- Proverbs 27:23 says,"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds."
- Luke 14:28-32 gives this account, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold him begin to mock him, Saying, 'this man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions of peace." And finally in,
- Luke 16:11 also says, "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?"
Committing your finances to the Lord requires your guarded trust and faithfulness to all that He has provided for you in this world. He has given you all that you need, as well as many of the things you may want.
As a steward of Christ, I would encourage you to continue to apply these principles while you spend, save, and budget your money and resources in the ways that God would have you do, all for His honor and glory as you share in His wealth and economy.
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