Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

We're continuing our series this week on God’s economy. We're joined again by Sharon Epps, our VP of Content and Media. If you missed the previous programs in the series, here are the links:

• Monday, 10/5, "Living in God's Economy?"
• Tuesday, 10/6, "God's Economy vs. Man's Economy"
• Wednesday, 10/7, "Making Money in God's Economy"
• God's Economy Charts (pdf)

Our late Co-Founder, Larry Burkett, wrote in 1991 that a future collapse of large banks and corporations will cause consumers to severely cut back their spending.

Larry didn’t know the timing of such a collapse but thought it might happen during the 90’s. He wrote that no economy can sustain a debt-growth cycle. One day it has to pay the price.

It's so important to help our listeners and the Body of Christ understand the traps of living in the debt cycle of man’s economy and to help them learn to live in God’s economy. We don’t know what will happen in man’s economy, but in God’s economy we can trust that He is in control.

I fear the shock of the financial collapse of last year is wearing off and people are returning to the ways of man’s economy. We want them to make permanent switch to God’s economy.

Living in God’s economy starts with being spiritually renewed. The next step is to be financially transformed. Learning to steward wisely impacts how we make money, manage it, and fulfill God’s purposes with it. Today will focus on stewarding wisely as it relates to managing money.

God’s economy is the divine integration of the mystery of God’s lordship, our stewardship and generosity.

Sharon says that sStewardship is learning to use God’s resources to accomplish God’s mission. It involves how you make money, manage it, and fulfill God’s purposes with it.

God expects us to work and take care of our families. He wants to be glorified through how we make a living. When we align with God’s purposes, we maximize our talents and gifts for His glory.

We aso have to be wise in how we manage the money we’re given. Decisions made in advance can simplify our lives and help us draw closer to Christ. It pays to plan ahead.

Th first principle of managing money wisely is to learn to live on less than you earn. The world's culture encourages us to spend. People have a "get it now" mentality and often live beyond their means. They want to live on a budget but don’t. If you want to live on less than you make, you need a written spending plan. It helps you spend money purposefully, intentionally.

You need to differentiate between needs, wants, and desires. Easy access to credit has blurred what true needs are. Once you separate needs from wants, look where you can lower your discretionary expenses.

Fixed expenses like your mortgage and car payment can’t be changed easily. Other expenses are variable and can be changed to have an immediate impact on your budget. Reduce them realistically, have balance, you usually can’t cut it completely.

Sometimes hard decisions have to be made about fixed expenses like downsizing a home or trading down on a car. But, it's so liberating to live beneath your means and have margin that you should do whatever is necessary to achieve it.

Once you’ve undergone a spiritual transformation, making those hard decisions is easier. Celebrate when you finish developing a spending plan to live beneath your means. Celebrations give you motivation to keep going.

Once you have a budget, the next step is to monitor your progress. It's simple, but it doesn’t happen automatically. You need to track your spending daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. Make sure you are making forward progress. Review your personal financial statement annually. For help, see:

• Crown volunteer Money Map Coaches
• Personal Financial Statement

The next step in managing money wisely is to get control of your use of credit. Years of easy credit have led to people digging deep financial holes. The best way to get out of debt is to stop borrowing and start paying cash. People who pay cash usually spend less than those using plastic.

Next step is to be sure you aren’t upside-down in your home. This is a time when home values are shrinking. You need to have financial margin that allows you to have equity in your home. The goal should be to pay it off.

Get out of adjustable rate mortgages. Have a meaningful down payment before buying a home. Consider being a permanent renter. You’re paying money to have a place to live. The tax benefit of home ownership is overblown. Don’t be upside-down in your cars either which means don’t owe more on your car than it’s worth after you drive it off the dealer’s lot.

You need a comprehensive plan to be debt-free. It won’t happen overnight, but God can get you out of debt much quicker than you would think is possible. Still, it won’t happen until you make that commitment. You have to tell God you want to be out of debt and man’s economy and ask for His help. There will be setbacks, but if you’re committed, you can get back on track.

The nt step is to learn to save money. Saving money will break the addiction to credit. Start with saving $1,000 for emergencies. Savings act as debt insurance.

Use savings instead of your credit card when you have unexpected expenses. After you reach $1,000 start saving one month’s living expenses. After you reach one month’s living expenses, increase to 3-6 months of living expenses. Keep emergency funds liquid and available for use as needed. Don’t depend on savings for security, it's available to be used for God’s purposes.

Th final step is to develop a plan for the surplus and wealth produced by living by God’s plan. The surplus is not for you to spend on yourself. It should be spent on the purposes God has for it.

You also need a plan for what you will leave on this Earth when God calls you home. Discipline and hard work will lead to abundance. If you don’t have a plan for what to do with that abundance, in man’s economy it will lead to indulgence and decay.

America has been in a season of indulgence and it’s now becoming decay. But we don’t have to be trapped by that. You need a plan to manage abundance God gives us. When we’ve been spiritually transformed to live in God’s economy, we see our assets are available for God’s use and His glory.

There may come a day when the most important thing you can do with any abundance is to contribute it to the advancement of God’s kingdom right now. Barnabas sold his land to give it to God’s kingdom. Believers need to seek the most strategic, important use of what God has given them. Go before the Lord and ask for His direction.

Along with lordship and stewardship, generosity is part of God’s economy. Generosity is a key expression of how we let God’s love flow through us to others. It's very evident during times of economic crisis. We must overcome our fear that makes us want to hoard and protect ourselves so we can freely give. We must trust God to be our Provider. God is our source, director, and counselor in God’s economy.

Steps to Making a Budget

In making a budget, there are several steps, each requiring individual effort.
.

• Read More

Need for a Spending Plan

Without a spending plan, it is impossible to know where your money goes each month and whether you will have available funds for the things you need.

• Read More

Using a Credit Card

There is nothing wrong with using credit cards if people are able to discipline their use by following some very simple guidelines.

• Read More

Rollover Method for Paying Off Credit Cards

There is a light at the end of the debt tunnel. By applying some simple principles, you can begin to pay off credit cards and become debt free.

• Read More

Other Resources:

• God Provides™ Film Learning Experience
• Career Direct
• Your Money Map Video Guide
• Business By the Book
• Crown Mvelopes