From Dream to Destiny: The Ten Tests You Must Go Through to Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life (21 page)

Not long ago I preached a series on marriage, and in that series I shared something that I believe is important for married couples to understand if they are going to pass the Prosperity Test. Husbands and wives must realize that they sometimes put pressure on each other to buy things that they really cannot afford. Wives put pressure on their husbands and husbands put pressure on their wives for things that
simply are unwise for them to have at that point in their lives.

Sometimes the reason is just greed or selfishness—but often the reason is pride. They want to have the expensive things that other couples have, and they feel a need to keep up with the Joneses.

As I said, that is really just pride. And it can lead to financial problems if it is not recognized and dealt with.

Can You Afford It?

But there is a very simple way to defuse that type of conflict. You can prevent pressure from dominating your financial decisions if you just have a budget.

Joseph understood God’s principles of financial management—and Joseph had a budget! Joseph said,

Let [the Pharaoh] appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh (Gen. 41:34-35).

Joseph didn’t just vaguely say, “Well, I think it would be a good idea for us to save some of the grain during the years of plenty. Yes, maybe we should think about doing that.” No, Joseph had a
plan
in advance, and that plan involved very
specific
amounts—one-fifth to be exact. Joseph’s plan also involved
accountability
using Pharaoh’s officers. Likewise, a budget will help you to define
specific limits
for your spending, and a budget will also help to keep you and your spouse
accountable
to those limits.

It is hard to say no to your spouse when he or she wants something—I understand that. But you can both keep emotions out of your financial discussions if you simply make a budget and stick to it. Your spouse may come to you and say, “Can we buy a bigger house? Can I buy a new car? Can I have this or have that?” And there is a correct and peaceful answer that goes like this: “I would love to see you have that—but let’s see what the budget says.”

Then you look at the budget and say, “Oh. I’m sorry. I guess Mr. Budget says, ‘No.’ I would gladly buy it for you, if it fit into the budget. But Mr. Budget says ‘No.’ ” When you let the budget make the decision, you will have a much more peaceful discussion—and a much less stressful financial life!

Without a budget, it is very difficult to know where your money is going, or even how much money is coming in and going out. So if you don’t have a budget, you are not going to be able to succeed financially. You are not going to be able to plan financially either.

I’ve had people ask me, “Do you think we should buy this new house?” Before they ask me that, they need to understand that the decision to buy a house is not a matter of thinking. It is not a matter of feeling. It is a matter of numbers! Usually it is not really my advice they want, but rather my blessing or endorsement of their decision. But I will not even offer an opinion until I have asked at least one very important question:
“Can you afford it?”

And all too often the answer I get back goes something like this: “Well—we
feel
like we can.”

You can’t make your mortgage payment with feelings. It takes money! Financial management isn’t about opinion. It’s about math! That is why a budget is so important.

This is the way a budget can work to make that sort of decision quite simple: First you calculate all your expenses and compare them to your income. You set aside your tithe and determine how much you want to give in offerings. Then you subtract your taxes, insurance, bills, food, clothing and so on. Finally you come down to a number that is left for the mortgage—and that number will tell you whether you can buy the house or not. It is that simple. Make a budget!

Change Your Life—Make a Budget!

There are certainly more reasons to make a budget than I can list here, but I want to mention seven reasons that will help you see how valuable a meaningful budget can be. If you implement the principle of budgeting, it will change your life in the following ways:

1. It helps you see things more clearly and objectively.
   A budget puts a number on everything, which helps you see financial issues more clearly and objectively. Questions about finances are reduced to the simple comparison of income versus expenses. This helps you keep emotions out of the picture and differentiate between reality and feelings. Without a budget, many people have no idea what their actual monthly income and expenses are. But if you put all the numbers down on paper, you will see your financial situation very clearly. A budget shows you in black and white what exactly you can and can’t afford.
   
2. It makes you examine and clarify your values and priorities.
   When you look at your income and have to make a decision about how to spend it, that forces you to examine what is really most important to you. How much do you value expensive clothing versus saving or giving? How much do you value driving a certain kind of kind of car versus sending your children to college? Which one is a higher priority? How much do you value letting your children have braces as you drive that five-year-old car versus getting that new one? A budget helps you clarify the answer to that question. A budget helps you see the difference between needs and wants, now versus later and important versus unimportant.
   
3. It provides a basis of discussion and agreement.
   The most powerful tool you have in marriage is unity, yet few married couples are in unity where their finances are concerned. A budget can help you find a place of unity because it provides an opportunity for listening, talking, praying and hearing each other’s hearts. When you are able to talk and pray about your budget, you have a basis for finding a place of agreement about your finances. Agreement is the most powerful tool in marriage, while strife and division are deadly.
   
4. It provides a basis for accountability.
   Mr. Budget helps keep you from overspending, because he has already decided how the money is going to be spent. Mr. Budget can say no to an
   impulse purchase by providing accountability that helps keep your finances on track. When you have already determined not to spend outside of your budget, Mr. Budget will tell you whether you can buy something or not.
   
5. It helps you live within your means.
   A budget provides clear and impartial numbers—letting you know what your actual income is and what you must to do to live within that income. In this way, a budget helps you to live in a land called Reality rather than the lands called Fantasy or Denial—in other words, to live within your means. Many people live with unnecessary stress because they have foolishly taken on financial obligations that are bigger than their actual income. A budget helps by revealing the lifestyle your income can realistically support. Many people could greatly reduce the stress in their lives if they would simply downsize their lifestyle to fit their income.
   
6. It helps you live without debt.
   God wired you to benefit from patience. He wired you to enjoy looking forward to things. He wired you for something called hope. Do you know what debt does? It robs you of the opportunity to hope. When you borrow every time you want something, you don’t have to hope for it anymore—instead, you just go put it on the credit card. This is why people who are in debt are the most discouraged people in the world. They have no opportunity for delayed gratification, and that robs them of the joy and happiness that come when a hope is fulfilled. If you just pull out the credit card every time something strikes your fancy, you will live in continual discouragement. That discouragement can start a cycle of debt in which you want to buy something every time you feel discouraged. Then the debt increases, which creates more discouragement, and the cycle goes on. Perhaps you know exactly what I am talking about. When you get a little low, you just want to buy something in order to create that short-lived surge of excitement. It’s seductively easy to get in the habit of buying things without hope.
   
7. It builds character and discipline in your life.
   A budget holds up a set of numbers and asks you to live within them. Will you stick to the commitment that you made to God and to your spouse when you prayed and set up that budget? Or will you go back on your word when the pressure is on, when the temptation to spend is tugging at you? Sticking to a budget is like sticking to any other commitment. It takes character. It takes discipline. And these are vital qualities to have if you’re going to fulfill God’s destiny for your life.
   

I want to emphasize that last statement because it is so important.
You will never fulfill the spiritual destiny that God has on your life if you cannot pass the Prosperity Test.
If you can’t handle money correctly and according to biblical principles, how will you be able to handle the other issues that are important to your destiny?

As with everything else God has given you stewardship over, He is watching to see if you will handle money wisely and for Him. Having a budget is a first step toward taking responsibility for your money, and showing God that you will be faithful with those things He has placed in your care.

Joseph had a budget. And Joseph developed his budget so well that after seven years of savings, he fed the entire world during seven years of famine. Now that is God’s style of budgeting! And one way Joseph did it was by living on less than the amount that was actually coming in—what I like to call living below your means.

Live Below Your Means

Most people think they understand what it is to live below their means—but most people really do not. Living on 90 to 95 percent of your income is not living below your means.

Truly living below your means actually requires living on about 70 percent of your income. Just add it up and you will see what I mean: If you tithe 10 percent, put 10 percent in savings, put 10 percent in retirement or other investments, and give something in offerings above your
tithes, you’re going to be living on 60 to 70 percent of your income at the highest level. Yet rather than living below their means, many people are living above them.

Many people do not have the income to support the lifestyle they are leading—and the reason they are living that way is pride. They want to drive the same type of cars their friends are driving, and they want to live in the same type of homes or apartments that their friends are living in. But they do not make enough income right now to do that, so they get themselves into all kinds of financial difficulties.

God never intended our financial decisions to be dictated by what other people are driving or wearing. In fact, God tells us quite clearly the approach that He wants us to have toward our money and our lifestyle.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Tim. 6:6-10).

God says that if we have food and clothing, we are to be content. He does not say that we are to be content with these things if we live in India or Africa or Haiti. The Bible doesn’t put forth a different standard for those of us who live in the United States. No, He simply says that believers are to
be content
with those things. This is not a cultural issue—this is the Bible! As long as we have food and clothing, we are to be content!

But the love of money and the desire to be rich will tell you that you should not be content with mere food and clothing. Greed will tell you that in order to be content you must have more. It will tell you that you can never be happy unless you buy “this” or have “that.” Greed is never satisfied—and that is why this Scripture passage says that those who are greedy “fall into temptation and a snare,” and “pierce themselves
through with many sorrows.”

Ecclesiastes 5:10 says: “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase.”

The love of money is never satisfied. Greed will push you to buy things that you don’t really need. Because of this, many Americans put themselves under a burden of debt, and they end up with ulcers and other health problems brought on by financial stress. But God never intended us to live that way! God does not want us to live in debt, continually stressed out about our finances. God wants us to be content. As believers we should walk in more contentment than anyone. We should be content with God’s provision. True godliness brings with it contentment.

But greediness will rob you of contentment. Greed will push you to live above your means. When you live above your means, you are making a declaration to God. You are saying, “God, I am not content with Your provision—and I am not content with You. I know You have said there are certain ways You have of doing things—but I am not willing to wait for You to work in my life. I am not willing to wait for the things that I want. I have to have them now! So I am going to figure out a way that I can get more, without You.”

Do you think God is going to bless a person like that? When God looks down and sees a selfish, greedy person who is violating His scriptural principles, do you think He says, “I’m just going to give him more?” No. A person like that may end up getting more—but he is getting more by working more, not by the blessings of God.

Make no mistake about it: God
wants
to give us more. He
wants
to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts. But as with everything else, in order to have God’s blessings, we must be willing to do things His way and abide by His principles.