I have always enjoyed detective movies and shows. I envy people who can walk into a room and know minute details about your life just by looking around your desk at work. When I meet people I secretly guess what their subtle habits and practices include. My favorite place to go in someone’s house is their library. By taking a quick look at what they read you can get a good sense of what they are interested in. What they are interested in reveals a lot about their personality.
Many Christians have Statements of Faith. They verbalize what they profess about Jesus Christ. His deity, his resurrection, his relationship to God the Father. What if we were to consider our budgets a statement of faith? What if one of these insightful detectives looked at your budget. Would his conclusions about your faith be accurate?
A detailed budget may reveal:
- What you care about
- What you love
- What you are afraid of
- What you are planning for
- What you are looking towards
- What you believe about money
- What your needs are
On and on this list could go. These feelings and emotions are deep parts of who we are.
Thus, we could ask: is budgeting spiritual? It is spiritual in the sense that every dollar you direct reveals something about your relationship with God.
So here are some not-so-typical suggestions for spiritual budgeting:
- Pray when you set up a budget. Invite God to join you in the process.
- Review your budget from a spiritual perspective. Ask, what do these numbers say about my faith? What do these numbers say about my belief? What do these numbers say about my relationship with God?
What do you do to keep budgeting a spiritual discipline?
The decision to commit my finances to the Lord was one of wisdom and purposed knowledge.
I am not my own! As Paul said, “necessity is laid upon me” to follow the instruction of the Lord. Yea, woe is unto me, if I commit not my finances to the Lord!
The fact is… God is God. He knows all, He created us… I suppose He may then be the best one to look to for financial advice. :-) I’m just glad He gave us such clear instruction on the matter. Now I just have to follow it… that’s the daily duty and one that I gladly strive to adhere to.
Matt Jabs´s last blog ..Localvore – Eat Local Foods and Save Money
I’m like you, I love to look at someone’s library to get a sense of “who they are”. Something that God has been teaching me time and time again over the last few years has been the fact that our spiritual life and our personal life are one and the same, meaning that we cannot compartmentalize our faith into something we just “do” on Sundays and live the rest of the week however we want.
That said, our budgeting then is intensely spiritual because as you say, it reveals much about the heart. One practical thing my wife and I are going to start trying is to work in a “generosity fund” into our monthly budget. This is above our tithe to the local church, but we wanted to have some extra money to be able to give away when we see needs. If we don’t budget for it, usually that money gets spent elsewhere.
Jason @ Redeeming Riches´s last blog ..What is a Roth IRA?
Craig,
Thanks for the challenge! Yes, I know that our budget reflects our values and is very obviously spiritual in nature. But do we pray as we work on our budget? Hmmmm. We need to start.
Jason,
Janice and I started budgeting a “bless” envelope (in addition to our tithe) a couple of years ago. We put a set amount of cash in the envelope every month to use as the Lord guides. It is great having that “bless” money available when needs arise.
Joe Plemon´s last blog ..Four Benefits of Your New Budget
Joe,
That is awesome. We are both really excited to see how God uses this and we look forward to the joy to be had from it. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and we’re finally doing it!
Jason @ Redeeming Riches´s last blog ..What is a Roth IRA?
This is very true. I am glad I am starting to understand emotions and money better.
AJ´s last blog ..Major Break Through!-Hair Related
A budget truly is one of the best ways to discover your priorities. You can see where your heart really is when you break down your budget.
Budgeting is something God approves of you to do. It is biblical and it is a sign wisdom and spiritual maturity.