"I Love Me Some Me"

"For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  Gal. 5:13.

Joy and I have taken the Crown Financial class 3 times.  I wish I could say we’ve got our finances totally under control, but in all honesty it’s a work in progress.  The good news is that we’ve come a long way.  Whereas we use to not track our spending, we now track just about everything... almost everything at least.

One of the lessons that left a lasting impression on me (each time we took the class) is that all spending decisions are spiritual decisions. In other words, when I choose to spend money a certain way, I'm choosing not to use it for some other purpose.  No matter how you look at it, that has spiritual implications.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought of our tithe as the first fruits devoted to God and the rest was MINE to do with as I please. 

1 for You, 9 for me! 

When you put it that way it sounds unsettling.  But thinking of it that way helped me realize that none of it is mine – it’s all God’s.  I’m only watching over some of it for a little while. 

Although Joy and I continue to struggle with how we spend money, we have shied away from several purchases over the years.  We certainly want nicer things (you should see our sofa), but on some occasions (emphasis on some) we’ve decided against a purchase (mostly lifestyle choices) in hopes that we may be able to use the money to serve other Kingdom purposes.  

And we've been grateful to see God's hand through it.  Here are just a few blessings we've received by choosing to spend less on ourselves:

1.    We have been free to give more to other ministries.

2.    We have been free to travel to Uganda to minister with SixtyFeet.

3.    We have been free to help friends, family and others in need of financial support.

4.    We have been free to help other missionaries or those in seminary.

5.    We are free to adopt!

Honestly, I can’t imagine giving up these blessings for anything, especially for some of the junk we spend money on.  And man can we buy some junk.  As I said, work in progress.

The way we give says a lot, but the way we (Joy and me) spend says a lot as well.  In many cases, it can speak to a love affair we have with ourselves.  The tithe can become just another item on our list or budget that we check off before we focus on our true love... us.  The NFL receiver Terrell Owens (known for his high opinion of himself) once said, “I love me some me!”  Don’t we all... don't we all.

Here are are some great principles grounded in Scripture that have helped Joy and me (from Randy Alcorn's "The Treasure Principle" - which I highly recommend).  I pray they speak to you as well.

1.    God owns everything
2.  My heart goes where I put God's money
3.  Heaven, not earth, is my home
4.  Giving is the only antidote to materialism
5.  God prospers me not to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving