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contentment

3 Ways To Keep God In The Center Of Your Financial Chaos

By //  by Sherrian Crumbley

With the beginning of a new year, the internet is a-buzz with resolutions about saving money and getting out of debt. We have a few of our own goals, and since our savings challenge went well last year, we are doing it again this year with a few changes.

As Christians, we share a lot on this site about finance from a Biblical perspective. We believe the Bible has answers for many of the financial situations people find themselves in, and that God’s desire is for us to have a healthy relationship with money as a resource, while not allowing the love of it to take root in our hearts (1 Timothy 6:10).

3 Ways To Keep God In The Center Of Your Financial Chaos

When we are weighed down by financial stress, or are singular-minded in our desire to overcome debt’s hold, it can become easy to focus on our own abilities or helplessness and forget that we have a heavenly Father who sees our situation, is in control of it, and actively involved in working it out for His glory!

I have to be reminded that my finances are not separate from anything else in my life, and certainly not separate from my spiritual life. The same Biblical truths that govern everything else, should apply to how I view my financial situation.

1. Remember That God Cares About Your Situation

Whether I’ve made made poor financial mistakes and gotten myself into a mess, or am doing well and trying to decide what to do with the surplus funds I am taking in – God cares! In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds the people that our Heavenly Father knows what we need and that he will take care of us (Matthew 6:28-33). While we should (prayerfully) plan and be diligent, those things should not lead to unhealthy anxiety and worry. Whatever is out of our control can never be out of His!

We are not alone in our sea of financial concerns just as we are not alone in our relationships, in our problems, in our struggles with sin. As you consider your next step on your financial journey, remember Who is walking with you, and already has the future all mapped out.

2. Remember That God Has Given You the Ability to Be Content in Any Situation

Many Christians struggle with contentment: the inward state of satisfaction (regardless of the outer circumstances), yet that is what God wants from His children. Contentment does not equate to complacency or surrender, nor does it mean that you have to put on a pretense of joy in times of hardship.

In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul says, “ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

In many places, including the passage above, the Bible exhorts us to look to Christ as the source of our strength and our joy. Your happiness shouldn’t be determined by whether you can afford a certain luxury, or pay off your student loan. Those things are nice, but the contentment in your heart should not be affected by them, not if the true source of your happiness is the Lord.

3. Remember That God Will Use Your Life For His Glory

One of my favorite passages, and one I’ve heard many times in my life is Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” It used to make me feel great because it meant that eventually things were going to be okay.

But there is more than just the first half of the sentence, the last part is equally important  “called according to His purpose”. Being a Christian means that my life is not my own, I follow and serve Christ. There are other passages that talk about the need for our focus to be on God and glorifying Him, like 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, or the end of the passage from the sermon on the Mount that I mentioned earlier – Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you“.

Even though things may not happen in the time frame you’d like, or the way that you’d like them to turn out, remember that God’s plan for you is bigger than what you have for yourself. The things that we go through serve reasons that go beyond our temporal success or satisfaction. While we are alive, we are also being made holy, and sometimes that happens through trials (James 1:2-3). That is only one of many possible reasons,  we may never know the answer to until we meet the Lord.

As you go through your financial journey this year, whether with hope, gusto, or trepidation, please remember that God is your source. He is your strength, and your great reward.

Every Sunday I am blessed to look at this scripture on a banner in front of me during our service, and it is one I think of daily. I pray it will bless you also as you focus on God:

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight”.

Filed Under: Bible, Christian Living, Personal Finance Tagged With: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Biblical Finance, christian living, contentment, finance, James 1:2-3, Matthew 6:33, money, Personal Finance, personal finances, Philippians 4:11-13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:28

How to Choose A Career Path

By //  by Khaleef Crumbley

When considering a career path, one can feel overwhelmed by the various choices. In order to help you narrow down your choices, some well-meaning friend will tell you, “do what you love”, while another will say, “choose a career that will pay a lot of money”. Who is right in this case? How can you determine what path to take?

 

I was reading an article titled, “Doing What You Love Versus Doing What Pays” that looks at common advice on the subject. In reading the comments to that article, it seemed as though most of the readers would advise someone to choose a career path based on the potential income. Others still stuck with the “do what you love” advice that many hold to.

But is it really that simple? Let’s take a look at a few of the pros and cons to both of these views, and also see if there isn’t some other choice that we can make.

A Career Path that you don’t love but pays well:

Pros:

  • You will make a good amount of money
  • You will more than likely avoid the stress that comes from having a lower income (of course this ultimately depends on your financial discipline)
  • The added income may give you the financial freedom that you need to pursue what you love, as a hobby – or at least to not focus on the income it generates
  • You may be able to retire faster and then do what you love full-time

Career Path
photo credit: HikingArtist.com

Cons:

  • If you dislike a particular field, it may be harder to gain enough of an expertise in order to be highly compensated (for instance, those who hate math will not make top notch engineers)
  • You may be required to give up quality time with family and friends in order to accomplish your salary goal
  • Some people with higher incomes find it harder to exercise financial discipline than those with lower ones
  • Many high paying careers paths are also considered to be the most stressful
  • This stress will impact your relationship with family and friends over the long run

A Career Path that you love, regardless of the pay:

Pros:

  • Your love of that field will make you a great student, and so you may excel to the point where you are a top earner in that sector
  • You will have a sense of fulfillment and happiness from your work
  • The lower salary may force you to develop financial discipline
  • You may have lower levels of work-related stress

Career Path

photo credit: icadrews

Cons:

  • Lower salary – you may have to live a much simpler life
  • May take you longer to retire – this may not be a big issue for you if you absolutely love your job
  • If you lose your job, it may be harder to find a new one – although there are a few low paying jobs that are in demand

A couple of things to note. First, this is by no means an exhaustive list. Actually, I am counting on your comments below to help fill in the missing pieces. Second, you will notice that many of these points use uncertain terms like “may”, or “many”; this is due to the fact that many of these will not be true in EVERY case.

My take on choosing a Career Path is this:

I think that the answer to this question is different for everyone and is a matter of prospective. My initial reaction to this question was, “If you can get paid a ‘decent’ living wage for doing what you love, go for it! We wouldn’t have teachers, social workers, or pastors if people didn’t follow this line of thinking.” I also said to myself, “Money isn’t everything, and if you have to be miserable for 10 hours/day just to make a few extra dollars, it probably isn’t worth it.”

Do what you love, and if the pay isn’t great, lower your standard of living to match your pay. You can’t determine your standard of living apart from your income. In other words, LIVE WITHIN (or actually below) YOUR MEANS! This is true no matter what your income turns out to be.

However, for many there is little to no career opportunity in what they “love“. In that case, find a balance. Do something you like, and if it doesn’t pay enough to maintain your desired standard of living, try to make a few bucks from what you love. Like others have said, don’t choke the life out of what you love by focusing on money, but maybe you can be a consultant in that area or start a blog giving advice about it.

Ultimately, we should be content with whatever financial/work situation in which we find ourselves. In the words of the Apostle Paul:

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ~ Philippians 4:11-13

We see from this passage that our situation should not be able to determine our satisfaction or contentment in this life – especially if we are slaves to Christ!

Personally, I happened to “like” a field that is in good demand (Economics & Finance). However, my true love is Theology, and that may be something that is in my future.

What about you? What choice did you make? Any regrets? How would you advise someone in choosing a career path? Would you tell them to look for money, happiness, or both?

To help you in your choice, Payscale.com has released it’s list of “Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary”:

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary
Degrees Degrees
Methodology
Annual pay for Bachelors graduates without higher degrees. Typical starting graduates have 2 years of experience; mid-career have 15 years. See full methodology for more.

Not an engineer or an economist? Here is the full list: http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/degrees.asp

Be sure to leave your comments below.

 

photo credit: jeremy.wilburn

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Filed Under: Bible, Career, Education, Personal Finance Tagged With: Biblical Finance, Career, contentment, Education, Personal Finance, prosperity

Is It a Sin to be Rich? Find Out What The Bible Says

By //  by Kevin M

Is it a sin to be rich? This is a tough question if you’re a Christian. Our faith tells us that God is to be our first love, that He provides for our needs and we’re to trust Him in all that we do. The world tells us that we need to strive to be the best that we can be in all that we do, and that includes finances.

When it comes to money, the world tells us that more is better—the more money we have the better protected we’ll be, the more opportunities we’ll have and even that the more we have the more we’ll have to share with others.

Truth be told, it’s hard to argue against the worldly compulsion to have money, and plenty of it. In fact the entire financial realm is based on the idea that money is something to be nurtured and grown. Look at all the articles and advertisements for retirement planning; they promise us millions of dollars for a secure retirement. I know all about the inflation thing, but from where I sit, having millions of dollars sitting in a retirement account looks a lot like being rich.

The pursuit of financial security itself seems more like a money chase than anything else.

Is It a Sin to be Rich

So here are the relevant questions: if we need a certain amount of money to achieve some level of security in life, how much money will be enough? Is it possible to carry the pursuit of financial security too far? Can the pursuit of “financial security” turn into—or mask—the quest for riches? And finally, is it a sin to be rich?

Is It a Sin to be Rich? Biblical Positions Against Riches

Most of us can easily cite passages that warn against wealth and its potential for sin. Proverbs deals a good bit on wealth and has a lot to say on the subject, both good and bad. Among the bad ones,

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.—Proverbs 11:4

He who trusts in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall blossom like a branch.—Proverbs 11:28

From Jesus we have one of the most famous Biblical rebukes of wealth in Matthew 19:24:

”…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Perhaps scripture contains so many verses warning against riches precisely because we’ll be drawn to it—our sin nature virtually guarantees it.

Biblical Positions Favoring Riches

Less well known however is the fact that there are times where the Bible portrays wealth as a virtue, such as in Proverbs 10:15:

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the ruin of the poor is their poverty.

I could be interpreting this verse incorrectly, but it seems as if Solomon is according wealth to be the rich man’s reward—the very insulation we see money to be today.

Another example from Proverbs 19:4:

Wealth makes many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbor.

Once again, Solomon seems to pointing out a benefit of wealth, that is “makes many friends”. This too appears like a reward for being rich.

Finally, in Matthew 27:57-60 we have the story of Joseph of Arimethea:

”As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”

Like many figures in the Bible, we know very little about Joseph of Arimethea—in fact, we know nothing about him other than that he was “a rich man” and he was from Arimethea. Yet this rich man did something that will exalt him forever—he provided for Jesus’ burial at a time when even his closest disciples had abandoned him for fear of their own lives.

Clearly not all rich people are outside of God’s love and there’s a message in there us all.

The Christian Conflict On Riches

There’s a notion in some quarters of the faith that we’re to swear off earthly riches and maybe even to live a life comparable to monks in monasteries. There is merit to this: if we aren’t participating in the pursuit of earthly riches we won’t be corrupted by them. But for the majority of us who feel that we need to be out in the mainstream of life to be the “salt and light” that Jesus called us to be, money IS a factor.

We do need a certain amount of money just to function in the world, and beyond that there is also the question of providing for our loved ones. Since the vast majority of us no longer grow our own food and barter hardly exists, we must earn money in order to survive in the world. But beyond basic necessities, we also need to educate our children, provide for our old age so we don’t become a burden to others, and to leave sufficient assets to our loved ones that they’ll have a fighting chance when we’re no longer around to take care of them.

Just exactly how much each of us needs depends on our individual circumstances, but there is a need for a certain amount of money—of riches—in order to accomplish those goals. To that extent, riches aren’t necessarily bad; they’re how we handle our responsibilities.

This Is A Complicated Subject—What Are Your Thoughts?

I don’t think there’s a right answer to the question, is it a sin to be rich. But the question is hardly irrelevant. There’s a line we can cross that can turn being rich into a sin, yet there is a certain level of wealth that we need just to get by in the world.

What do you think?

Is being rich a sin? Or is it only when we cross a line?

If so, where is that line? Is it being rich, or is it something about the pursuit of being rich?

Or is there a better question that I haven’t asked?

photo by pasotraspaso

Filed Under: Biblical Finance, Christian Living Tagged With: Bible, Biblical Finance, contentment, riches, Wealth

Financial Independence and Eternal Salvation – Is There a Connection?

By //  by Kevin M

In so many ways, a blog that deals with personal finance from a Christian perspective is a perfect marriage. Successfully managing personal finance is largely about adopting a life based on delayed gratification. Christianity meanwhile, teaches us to move steadily closer to God through Jesus Christ throughout our lives, and to rely completely upon Him, which ultimately will result in eternal salvation.

There seems to be a connection then between pursuing financial independence and attaining eternal salvation. If this seems like a stretch, consider some of the following points.

Bible_and_Money

The Gospel Does Not Promise Us Paradise This Side Of Heaven

When you first become a believer in Jesus Christ your worldly troubles don’t magically disappear. You will not yet enter the Kingdom of Heaven, nor will you be sinless or made perfect. Quite the opposite! It is usually the beginning of a process that is sometimes referred to as patient endurance.

The Apostle Paul spells this point out clearly:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” – Philippians 3:12

In fact, in 2 Timothy 4:7, he likens the Christian’s life to a race:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7)

If you have ever run in a race, you know that there are times when you will be making incredible progress – and other times when you seem to be getting nowhere. There may even be times along the way when you will stumble and fall, and need to collect your wits before going forward. But your overriding objective is always to focus on the goal.

Our job as Christians is to press on toward the goal of salvation in the midst of living an imperfect life in an imperfect world. But always we have to have faith in the outcome, that we’ll have eternal life with our Savior in Heaven.

Financial Independence Comes From Doing Without Today For A Better Tomorrow

One of the reasons why so many people never achieve any level of financial independence is because they are consumed by the issues of the moment. There are bills to pay, things to buy, and fires that need to be put out. They can soak up all of our time, energy and money. The problem with that arrangement is that we never move forward toward the independence we hope to achieve.

But in order to have that independence, we have to become more future oriented – we have to let go of some preferences and habits today, in order to pave the way for a better future. If we are never able to grasp that concept – and to put it into action – the likelihood is that tomorrow will look just like today.

Both the “race” for financial independence and eternal salvation involve a large dose of delayed gratification, to always be focused on the goal at the end, rather than the troubles and desires of the moment.

The Key To Attaining Both: Letting Go Of What Tempts Us

Whether it is eternal salvation or financial independence, temptations always have us surrounded. On the financial side, we will always have unlimited wants. We want a bigger house, a better car, and yet another vacation. But unless we are willing to let go of those forms of instant gratification, our financial futures may not get any brighter.

The same is true with eternal salvation. We have to let go of much of what it is that ties us to the world. The world may put a premium on chasing money, power, popularity and even fame. But if we hope to obtain eternal salvation, we need to be ready to let go of earthly pursuits. Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is the key to our salvation, but our willingness to let go of everything else is proof that we are His.

Both financial independence and eternal salvation call us to delayed gratification. It’s about sacrificing today for a better tomorrow – and believing in our mission along way.

Am I saying that the pursuit of financial independence might – or even should – be easier for Christians? Maybe, maybe not. But the direction is the same with both, which should be a major clue.

Can you see a connection between eternal salvation and achieving financial independence?

photo credit: skambalu

Filed Under: Christian Living Tagged With: 2 Tim. 4:7, bible and money, contentment, financial independence, gospel and wealth, impluse spending, Philippians 3:12, sacrifices, salvation

Strength Equal To The Day – Crushing The Sin Of Anxiety

By //  by Khaleef Crumbley

Each Sunday, I try to post a devotional thought for you to meditate on. Sometimes it will be something out of my own studies and prayers. Other times – like today – it will be from another source.

Today, I am posting an encouragement and warning about worry and anxiety concerning the future by Theodore Cuyler, courtesy of Grace Gems:

(Theodore Cuyler, “Beulah-Land” or, Words of Cheer for Christian Pilgrims)

Matthew 6:34

“Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34

Faith does not shed tears over sorrows which may never come. God never made a Christian strong enough to stand the strain of today’s duties–and all the load of tomorrow’s anxieties piled upon the top of them.

The apostle Paul himself would have broken down, if he had attempted the foolish experiment. We have a right to ask our Heavenly Father for strength equal to the day–but we have no right to ask him for one extra ounce of strength beyond it!

Faith . . .
carries present loads,
meets present battles,
feeds on present promises, and
commits the future to a faithful God!

We should not penetrate into the secrets which tomorrow hides–if we could. It is far better to know Whom we trust, and that He is able to keep all that we commit to Him, until the last great day.

We cannot live on yesterday’s meals. As the children of Israel gathered fresh manna every morning–so must we look upward for a fresh supply of heavenly rations for the day’s march. The secret of happy days is not in our outward circumstances–but in our own heart life.

A large draught of Bible taken every morning, a throwing open of the soul’s windows to the precious promises of the Master, a few words of fervent prayer, a deed or two of kindness to the first person you meet–will brighten your countenance and make your feet “like hinds feet” for the day’s march.

“As your days–so shall your strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:25

Filed Under: Devotion Tagged With: anxiety, christian living, contentment, Deuteronomy 33:25, faith, God's promises, God's Provision, grace gems, matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 6:34, Theodore Cuyler, worry

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