The Christian way of financial management is the way of giving, for where our treasure is, that’s where our heart is also – our treasure is in heavens, and that’s where our heart is also; God doesn’t need our money – He wants us, the person, and He gains us by saving us from the love of money.
Many people nowadays are no longer merely working to earn a living; they work to accumulate some more things, to get a better house, a better car, a better job, more wealth, etc.
Especially these days with the “passive income” and “day trader” being something that people are seriously considering and even investing, we as believers in Christ need to realize what is God’s way of managing wealth.
His way is the way of giving, for He is the source, and He is the center, not the wealth.
When we bring our whole being with all we are and have before the Lord, He will shine on us and He will point out many things that we have in excess.
God wants us to live in a frugal way, not having things in excess, and not owning a lot of things, for the more we have, the more our heart can be glued to these things.
The Lord wants to gain our heart; He is not after material possessions or money – He wants to gain us, the person.
But how can He gain us when our heart is serving mammon? How can we serve the Lord and love Him to the uttermost when we still desire to gain more money, accumulate more wealth, and consider more way to increase what we have?
How can we serve the Lord with a pure heart when our heart is seeking something else beside the Lord?
Because are not fully saved and delivered from mammon, our heart is so narrow, and the Lord cannot flow through us in a free way.
When mammon is fully exposed and dealt with in our being, the Lord is no longer constrained in us; rather, our heart is enlarged, and He has a way to be expressed through a broad person, one who is a faithful steward.
We really are just stewards of what the Lord has given us.
Think about it: ten years ago we had so much less than we have now, and we were fine; now we have so many things, but our heart is held down and occupied with caring for all these things.
May the Lord gain our heart a little more today. May we exercise our spirit a little more today, allowing the Lord to make His home in our heart.
May we ask the Father to strengthen us into our inner man so that our spirit may be strong and Christ would house Himself deep down in our heart today!
The Christian Way of Financial Management according to the Bible is the Way of Giving, not Accumulating
If we were to return to what the Bible says concerning the matter of money and the way of financial management, we will be quite surprised, for God’s way is not that of accumulating but that of giving.
When we first meet the Lord and touch Him, we are enthralled with Him and we treasure Him to the uttermost; we simply hand ourselves over to Him, and we sell all we have to follow Him.
From the time we have touched the Lord for the first time, material possessions and money become secondary – He becomes first.
Even after we give all we have away, not keeping things in our own pocket but giving it to the Lord, the Lord will continue to give us money and things.
The way we should manage money is not by accumulating it, but by giving it away. Even after we offer up our money, we shouldn’t think that money has no influence on us.
Maybe the Lord touched us once through His word or through a speaking in a meeting we were attending, and we gave all we have to Him; after this, money may still have an influence on us.
In a very subtle yet sure way, whenever we have money, money starts to have a grip on us, and we desire to have more money.
We need to realize, however, that the Christian way of financial management is not like the way in the world.
We may listen to some in the world and how they earn their money, how they manage their money, how they invest and accumulate, etc. but this is not our way.
God is the source of all that we have, and what He gives us is not merely for us but for us to give.
The Christian way of financial management is the way of giving, not the way of accumulating.
We may be concerned, however, that we may end up in want if we keep giving away what we have; God, on His side, has promised us that we will have no lack on earth.
He promises that, even as He cares for the birds of heaven and the grass of the field, so He will care for those who trust Him and follow Him.
We, however, should not be anxious concerning what we should dress with and what we should eat; the Lord is the source, He knows our situation, and He will provide.
We simply need to do our best, work with our hands, and learn to give, and He will take care of everything.
Just as the birds of heaven have no lack of food and the flowers of the field have no lack of clothing, so we who are the Lord’s will not lack food or clothing.
If we, however, do our best to accumulate things, if we try to build up a certain well-being and wealthy situation for ourselves, mammon will be our master, and the Lord is limited in how He can work in us and through us.
On the other hand, if we are financially hard-pressed, we are not managing our wealth according to God’s principle.
There’s a great need among God’s people to learn to manage their wealth according to God’s principle, not according to the principles in the world.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should right now give all their money to the poor or to the church; rather, we all should contact the Lord and ask Him to teach us the Christian way of managing wealth, learning to rather give than to merely receive or accumulate.
May we be before the Lord concerning this, bringing our own situation to Him and telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to follow You. Thank You for taking care of us. You are the source of all that we have and own. Thank You for taking care of our food, clothing, and shelter; thank You for providing for all our needs. We bring all our needs to You, and we lay before You everything we have and everything we earn. We want to learn to manage our money and wealth according to God’s principle. Continually save us from the love of money. Save us from allowing the enemy to have a grip on us through our love for money. Save us from merely accumulating riches and wealth without giving much more. May we realize that the Christian way of financial management is the way of giving, and may we be those who give with rejoicing!
God Doesn’t Need our Money: He is Rich beyond Measure, but He wants to Gain our Heart!
Why does the Lord Jesus say that we need to sell all we have to follow Him, and why does God want us to give all we have to Him?
Some may say this is a bit much, for it’s impossible to just give up everything that we worked so hard up until now, just to follow Jesus.
Rationally speaking, it makes no sense to give up everything for an “ideology”; however, things are much simpler when we contact the Lord.
Our God is a rich God; He really doesn’t need our money.
All that we see on this earth and in this universe belongs to Him, and He owns even much more than this. He is the very source of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, and all the riches are in Him.
The cattle of a thousand hills and the goats of ten thousand mountains are His (Psa. 50:10).
He doesn’t need our pennies or our dollars or pounds or whatever money we have; He doesn’t need our wealth, neither does He need what we have to “help Him” in what He wants to do.
If God wants something, He can get it, and if He needs something, He can take care of it. However, though God is rich beyond measure, He wants to gain our heart.
Our heart, our very person, is at stake; money is outward, but money can enslave our heart, and God is after our very heart.
Though we may gain all the world with all its wealth, our heart is still empty indeed. Our heart was made by God to contain God, enjoy God, and be filled with God; Satan, however, usurps us and corrupts us by the deceitfulness of riches.
The Lord said that, where our treasure is, that’s where our heart will also be (Matt. 6:21).
When we contact the Lord, when we see Him, when we touch Him, we will realize how sweet, wonderful, and rich He is, and we will simply forsake all for His sake.
Then, every day, as we contact the Lord and spend time with Him, our treasure will be in heaven, and anything here on earth will lose its attraction.
This is why Satan wants to take away our time and cause us to work harder and invest ourselves in the things we can own and have: so that we have no time to be with the Lord.
But when we contact the Lord and enjoy Him in His word and in fellowship with the saints, we realize that our real treasure is in heaven.
The treasures we have here on earth can be eaten by rats, they lose their value, and they fade away; the real treasure is in heaven, with the Lord, and that’s where our heart should also be.
The Bible puts God and mammon together, for our heart can either be touched by God or usurped by money.
As those who believe in Christ and follow Him, we need to learn God’s principle of taking care of our money and practice the Christian way of financial management, which is to give rather than accumulate.
We may have a steady flow of income or our income may fluctuate; in any case, we need to give to the Lord first, as soon as we get our paycheck.
The Bible shows us that we should give at least a tenth of what we have and earn, and we should add to this as much as He shows us in our fellowship with Him (Num. 18:25-29).
Our giving is before the Lord and not before man, and our reward is also before Him, not before man.
The more we give, the more our heart is enlarged; the more we practice the Christian way of financial management by giving, the more we are free to serve the Lord, and the more our heart is gained by Him.
May we open our heart to the Lord in our time with Him and tell Him,
Dear Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, we just love You! We give our heart to You! You are the real treasure of our heart. We love to spend time with You and enjoy Your riches, Your sweetness, and Your life. We love You so much, dear Lord, that we are willing to give up everything for You. Nothing in this world compares to You. Our heart is for You. Continue to gain our heart. Continue to draw us, Lord, with Your beauty. Save us from the love of money and the desire to accumulate wealth. May we remain in oneness with You as we give what we have. Thank You Lord for giving Yourself up for us; we give ourselves with all we are and have to You for Your purpose!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 43, ch. 85, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 2, entitled, Principles of Material Offerings (2).
- Hymns on this topic:
– Each time when I dream of the goodness of life, / I pray Thee, dear Lord, that Thou in it may be; / O do not allow me to choose by myself, / Nor seek any pleasure that’s other than Thee. / Each night when alone in the stillness I lie, / I pray Thee, Lord Jesus, that Thou wilt be near; / Each morning ere dawn comes, while still in my sleep, / Then whispering call me and open my ear. (Hymns #389)
– Dear Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, / Thou hast won each love from me; / Who like Thee—so fair and comely? / Who like Thee—so sweet and lovely? / Matchless One, unrivaled beauty, / None can e’er compete with Thee! (Hymns #1158)
– Oh, the blessed rest it brings us / To belong to Christ alone; / We can draw on all His fulness / When we’ve nothing of our own. / Blessed Jesus, take me, own me, / Make me, keep me wholly Thine. / Deign to find in me Thy portion, / While I joy to call Thee mine. (Hymns #452)
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