God's Responsibilities
The Word of God reveals two sets of responsibilities in the handling of money: God has certain responsibilities and we have others.
1. God's ResponsibilitiesGod is the owner.God created all things. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth " (Genesis 1:1). He never transferred the ownership of His creation to people.
The Lord owns everything. "To the Lord your God belong ...the earth and everything in it" (Deuteronomy 10:14). "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1).
God owns the all the land: "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine (Leviticus 25:23). God owns all the gold and silver: "'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty " (Haggai 2:8). God owns every animal: "Every creature of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills ...the creatures of the field tire mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it" (Psalm 50:10-12).
God is in control.Our loving heavenly Father is in ultimate control of every event. "The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, " (Psalm 135:6). "I praised the Most High... He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35)
It is comforting for those who follow Christ to realize that God uses everything, even difficult circumstances, for ultimate good. "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
God provides our needs. The Lord is the one who provides our needs. In Genesis 22:14 God is spoken of as Jehovah-jireh, which means, "the Lord will provide." "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
The Lord promises to provide our needs if we put Him first in our lives. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [food and clothing] will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). The same Lord who fed manna to the children of Israel during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and who fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish, has promised to provide our needs.
[The text is from "Principles of Financial Success", a seminar presented by Crown Financial Ministries.] Next issue, we'll talk about "Our Responsibilities".
Money and the Bible
[Note: This is a series on the "Principles of Financial Success" based on a seminar presented by Crown Financial Ministries.]
God loves us. And because He cares for us, He gave us guidelines in His Word for handling money in a way that would be best for us and please Him. In fact, the Bible contains more than 2,350 verses dealing with money and possessions. Jesus taught more about money than almost any other subject. The Lord said so much about money and possessions for spiritual reasons and very practical ones.
1. Spiritual Reasons
Money is a primary competitor with Christ for first place in our lives.
As our loving Creator, God understands us perfectly. He knows that people often choose to put possessions ahead of Him. In Matthew 6:24 he tells us, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. "
It is important to understand that money or possessions are not evil. 1 Timothy 6: l0 says, "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Money is not evil, but the wrong attitude towards it is. For example, money can be used for good to help people in need or for evil to purchase illicit drugs.
How we handle money affects the intimacy of our fellowship with Christ.
Jesus Christ told us, "If you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? (Luke 16:11 NASB). What are the "true riches " in life? The true riches are a close relationship with Christ.
How we handle money is an indicator of our true relationship with Christ. It demonstrates whether we believe in God and obey the principles revealed in the Bible.
2. Practical Reasons
Every day we make decisions about money. The Lord knew we needed His insight to use it wisely. Scripture reveals His principles for working, earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, getting out of debt, and teaching children how to handle money. Everything you need to know about money and possessions is found in the Word of God.
Unfortunately, most of us have not been taught God's way of handling money, so we do it from the world's perspective rather than God's.
Next issue, we'll talk about "God's Responsibilities".
