| Submitting to God - with our finances... |
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Well, how does this SUBMISSION stuff play out on the rugged plains of reality? How does it play out when you’re walking through the rain? Let’s talk about the big three, beginning with FINANCES...
Let’s talk about authority and submission over finances,
because financial turmoil is one of the number one causes of divorce.
Usually when two people get married, one is more of a free-spender and
the other one is more conservative. And all that causes us to
start fighting.
"I want to spend money and forget the umbrella. You save too much and
you try to control me with finances and….” Let’s get ready to rumble!
Call in the lawyers to pick up the
pieces. That’s what happens, isn’t it?
One of the biggest, wisest choices Krista and I made was to get couples counseling when we first got married that helped us identify some potential problem spots in our relationship in this area. We both had to learn what it meant to yield to God’s authority with our finances. With our finances, God says the first thing we’re to do is we’re to bring the tithe into the local house of worship—10 percent. Remember from In the Zone, we’re not talking about giving. We’re not giving. We’re bringing it. As married couples, you will not be under the authority of God until you bring 10 percent of your income to the local church. It’s not going to happen for you. So Krista and I started doing that 16 years ago. Ten percent. “Okay God, here it is.” The Bible also says we should save money. This is a tough one, but Krista and I, through 401K’s and IRA’s have saved up just a little bit of money throughout the years. But we are working to be able to save ten percent. And then you have 80 percent that you can enjoy. And don’t freak out over that. Enjoy the 80 percent. You can shop and spend money for the glory of God. Some of you are all conservative and tight. Loosen up. Some of you are like, “Okay, I’ll go buy this and buy that, ching, ching!” Don’t do that. There’s a balance there. 10, 10, 80. In order for some people to get to that point, they might need to downsize or sell a car. But once we do this and live by this pattern, we can enjoy the fruits of God’s blessings, even financially. Are you doing that? Have you as a married couple submitted to God’s authority with your finances? Do you need to recommit yourself today to living in the zone? It’s a big issue. Next time we’ll talk about KIDS.
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