Sunday I preached the first message in our series “Money and the Christian.” You can watch the message here. In the message I laid out some basic principles from Jesus’ teachings and Paul’s letters. I mentioned some practical tips briefly Sunday and I’ll dig deeper on those in the bottom half of this post. To start, here’s the vision Jesus has for money:

MONEY IS A USEFUL TOOL, BUT A TERRIBLE GOD. Jesus and Paul warn about the dangers inherent with money. The bible doesn’t condemn or condone welsh. In some passages the abundance and wealth are celebrated when God blesses His people. In other passages and parables the hazards of wealth are clearly laid out. Money isn’t the issue, what it can do t our heart is the issue.

GRACE IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND IN A TRANSACTIONAL CULTURE. One of the dangers of wealth is pride. Wealth convinces us we’ve earned everything and anything can be purchased. The gospel is specially hard for the rich because it isn’t a transaction. We can’t earn this love or forgiveness.

HOW WE STEWARD TREASURE HERE IS HOW WE LAY UP TREASURE THERE. Jesus lays out a vision for laying up treasure in heaven in Matthew 6 and Paul picks that theme up in I Timothy 6 . Paul instructs the wealthy to use their wealth to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.

Practical tips when it comes to money

1 You Need a Budget

I know that inflation has made this harder, but the truth is: living below our means is never easy. It requires diligence and sacrifice. I once heard Tim Keller say in this powerful message that Xians are called to refuse the temptation to let their wealth determine their lifestyle. Instead they’re constantly living at the lower end of what their income could afford for the purpose of making generosity prominent in their lives. This is only possible with a realistic budget. Here’s a great resource on budgeting that gives an overview and has a budget you can input your numbers to get started.

2 Your Budget Needs Margins

Most people want to be generous, but feel strapped because lifestyle creep has robbed them of any margins.

Margins don’t just happen, they’re planned. What used to be a luxury, but now feels like a necessity? The moment we allow wants to become needs we kill margin.

Here are 3 margin killers

• Meals: Remember when eating out was a luxury? Over time we get used to the convenience and speed of just ordering to go or driving thru to get our meals. Our family eats home cooked meals most evenings and mornings. If we eat out it’ll be Friday night or Sunday afternoon. We budget for this. There have been busy seasons where we’ve leaned on restaurants and fast food. Every time we end up spending 2-3x as much for lower quality food. I know there are seasons of life that are busy, but cooking and eating real whole foods at home is better for your budget and your health.

• Vehicles: Our cars are one of our largest line item expenses in our budget. Often we just think about the car payment as the cost of owning a car. There’s insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. We’ve never had more than one car payment and that’s been on purpose. We always wait until one car is paid off to consider buying another. This forces us to be patient. We’ve also never spent what we were qualified for (goes back to lifestyle creep). Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean you need it. Dealerships shouldn’t determine how much car you can afford, your budget and spending goals should. We also research how much any vehicle will cost to insure. My daily driver is a small Honda that gets 46mpg. The temptation is often to purchase the most car we can afford because a coworker or friend got one and now we need one too. I am often tempted to buy a new truck, but our 1998 s-10 just refuses to die. As a result of delayed gratification, we can be generous, save for the future and rest easy in the area of finances.

• Random Purchases Retail therapy is real. We feel down or off and think, “I bet a new outfit, shoes or device would make me feel better!” And it does… for a while. When you’re living below your means you know you can do this occasionally, which makes it a constant temptation. I once heard it said that women splurge in several small shopping trips over time and men in one large purchase. Think the lady who constantly spends 100’s of dollars here or there but never in one huge shopping trip. Now picture the man who’s been pretty conservative fiscally, but comes home one day with a new truck, motorcycle, rv, or boat. There’s no remedy like the emptiness of dealing with the consequences of these spending episodes. It takes time and commitment.

3 You Need a Generosity Plan

Have you prayed about how much and where you’re going to be generous? Casie and I have always tithed and we automate that portion of our giving. Every week it comes out of our account via online giving. I’m for regular, disciplined giving, but we also want to be spontaneous in our giving. So when we give to missions, benevolence, or a major endeavor at church, we pray and consider how much to give and do it on a Sunday either by check or a one time gift online. We don’t want our giving to become mechanical or lazy. Our church operates the same way. Each month there are regular donations from our church to missionaries around the world, non-profits in our community and church planters around the nation. However, we also respond to needs as they arise. Our church gives to benevolence needs inside our church regularly. At the end of every year we’ve given single moms in our church a few hundred dollars to help with Christmas for their kids. Generosity has to be more than aspirational. It must be built into our budget and our lifestyle.