NIV Devotions for Women Myth: “My money is my money.” ============================= Romans 14:12 4—That’s the number of credit cards I maxed out by the time I turned thirty. 18—That’s the average annual percentage rate I never bothered to check when I applied for credit. 441—That’s the number of payments it would take to pay off what I owe in unsecured debt. 36—Believe it or not—is 441 months translated into years. And 26,615.17—That’s the total additional interest I’d owe at the end of that time, assuming I wasn’t already in jail for credit fraud, hiding as a fugitive in France or on the streets panhandling for money to make my minimum payments! Oh, I believed my money was my money alright. And so was my debt—I had only myself to blame. As a pharmaceutical sales rep, I was amazed when I received my first commission check. After a few more checks rolled in, I signed a lease on a fully loaded SUV. I don’t know why. My husband earns a good living as an engineer, so my money became the family’s play-money. We took a trip to Hawaii for the honeymoon we’d never had. The kids enjoyed the best Christmas ever. I’d never had so much fun spending money—in fact, I’d never had so much money to spend. Eventually, however, the money I was spending was no longer my money. It actually belonged to creditors. Soon, every penny that came through my hands was going out the door to keep the bills at bay. At one point, I was tossing the credit bills in the air each month—whichever ones landed face-up got paid. I ignored the rest and used Caller ID to block calls from creditors threatening to sue. I didn’t tell my husband how bad it really was. I wanted him to think I could handle it. I believed if I manipulated, juggled and plotted enough, eventually I could. —Elise This isn’t just another reminder that “it’s all God’s money.” Of course, money does originate from God’s hand. However, practically speaking, he has put you in charge of a certain amount of it. In that sense, your money is your money to manage. And God expects you to use it well and not to abuse your responsibilities. The Old Testament tells how the Israelites gave offerings to God out of the abundance he’d given them. In one of Jesus’ parables in the New Testament, he likened spiritual faithfulness to being a responsible manager or steward of funds (see Matthew 25:14–30). In this story, only two of three managers graduated from God’s Business School with their MBAs. (The other flunked out.) One of the prerequisite “courses” in this prestigious university underlines the principle that money is for managing first and spending second. The difference between the two is the difference between the financially foolish and financially confident woman.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 14:41:28 +0000
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