North of Normal

In our “Google” series @ C3, people have been writing in questions about the topics we’re covering.  I’ll try to address a few each week that I didn’t have time to deal with in the messages.  You asked… so here we go:

1. I tithe 20% but don’t save.  What should I do, reduce and save, or continue the same?  First you need to follow what you feel God is leading you to do.  Having said that, the Biblical standard for the faith gift is 10% - anything over that is a generous gift or sacrificial gift.  Also, the principle of bringing (what’s God’s) and giving (what he allows us to manage) is consistency.  So, if you’re not saving, then if you hit a tough spot financially it will be difficult to be consistent.  I would say to consider a 10% faith gift and putting 10% in savings.  Again, you have to pray through this… these are just my thoughts.
2. What do you do when your spouse doesn’t “trust” God in the financial department but you do? That’s an incredibly difficult question without knowing more details.  The issue may be a struggle to trust God, or it may be a struggle to trust you or themselves, or the church.  I would suggest a discussion with your spouse to get to the heart of the issue.  It would also be important to know are you earning this income or is your spouse, or both of you.  Also, whether your spouse is a Christ-follower or not is a factor.  The bottom line is I would try to come to some harmony on the issue.  Begin with a give/take solution - something like, “I understand this is a struggle, could we just begin with this percentage and see what happens?”.

The financial climate right now is incredibly challenging.  Just today we’ve read that Circuit City is filing bankruptcy and DHL is laying off 9,500 employees, while the government is now buying into AIG at a price of 40 billion dollars.

In these challenging times and markets, if stability is our desire, our foundation must be stable.  God has never lied and lays out a clear plan.  If we all followed the simple wisdom of bringing 10% to the local church, saving 10% and living on 80% we wouldn’t be here.  While we can’t go back in time, we can begin today to understand that everything I have is God’s and I’m just a manager of his stuff.  While I enjoy it, I need to be wise with it and he will bless me so I can bless others.