Seeing it like God does – Thursday, 21 September

Jesus spoke about money more than He spoke about Heaven and Hell. It’s a topic which has been greatly abused in the church for centuries, but it is something we need to take note of.

 
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
Luke 16:10-11 KJV
 

In this passage of scripture, Jesus is showing us the importance of the way in which we handle money. He is reminding us that we are stewards (or managers) of our finances. Everything we have is from God and belongs to God (1 Chronicles 29:12). In order to be entrusted with greater things, we must first be proven to be faithful in the smaller things. If you can’t lift 10kgs, you certainly won’t be able to lift 20kgs. The way we handle our finances is the smallest use of our faith, but it has enormous implications. If we won’t be faithful in wisely using what we receive from God, then He can never entrust us with more.

God values people (John 3:16) and people value money. When we embrace God’s value for people, then we will start using the “least” (money) to reach that which is truly valuable. Then God will make sure that we have the money it takes to reach the people. But if we are not faithful in using our money to reach people, then we won’t be entrusted with more. Money is a tool to help accomplish our mission of reaching the World with the message of Jesus’ unconditional love and grace.

Many people aren’t prospering like they could because they haven’t started trusting God in the area of their finances and don’t have the correct view of it (that it is a tool for our mission as believers). Since faith for finances is the least use of our faith, many people struggle to trust God in other areas because they haven’t learned to trust Him in their finances.

Trusting God in our finances starts with realizing that God is the source of our provision and prosperity and that He has already blessed us (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3). When we believe that we are blessed and God is our provider, it results in generous giving.