Trusting God with our Finances - Setting the Agenda

When it comes to money, this world has an agenda for us all. We can see it everywhere we go. Advertisers spend millions and billions of dollars each year to put their products and services before us to ensure that we are exposed to what is available to be purchased. Where there is no need for a product or service, they even create a need by telling you about a problem you didn’t even know you had. Ever seen a commercial for a kitchen gadget that solved a problem you didn’t have until you saw the product? Something like an egg cooker, when regular pots and pans suited you just fine. Or a butter dispenser, because a regular knife just won’t do.

Every company is after our money in some way or another. And that is why we must learn to trust God with our finances. It’s not just a Christian cliche. It the truth. If you don’t set an agenda for your money, someone else will set one for you. And if you don’t set the agenda to be intentionally focused on God then you will undoubtedly be following a worldly one, because the temptation to do so is too great. There is always something enticing to buy or a reason to focus on accumulating more money. There has to be intentionality in how we earn, spend, save, give and invest our money to be aligned with the faith we say we have. Otherwise, we are falling prey to an agenda that is not like God’s. And it’s too easy to do.

Scripture tells us to "set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2). To set something means to put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position. When it comes to our finances, we need to “set” our minds on the things of God, or we will succumb to the things of this world. If we don’t “set” our own financial agenda and submit that agenda to the Lordship of Christ, then it may become “set”on other things. Or worse yet, it won’t be set at all and will waiver here and there, having no fixed place of rest.

Once something is set, everything else around it has to adjust to it, because its position is fixed. A financial life that is not set on anything has no plan; no strategy, no goals. It just uses money and hopes for the best. Maybe they will get there. Maybe not. But a financial life that is set on God has already settled on the truth of where they are going and aligns everything else up with the end goal in mind: to see Jesus. If my finances are not set on God, then I may set it on things that are not trustworthy. Maybe it’s set on a career that could end the moment the Board of Directors changes their mind. Maybe it is set on a certain amount of money in the bank, which could go away in the next financial crisis. Maybe it is set on making our businesses undeniably successful, but ends up taking a back seat to health issues. In any of these cases, what your financial life is “set” on is shaky at best. Jesus is actually the only solid foundation, because he has not changed, and won’t change. So why not set your financial mind on him? How does Jesus talk about money? How does Jesus teach us to engage with money? Find out.

Start today by considering what you truly value. Are those values in alignment with scripture? Is how you currently manage your money in alignment with those values? If not, take some time to consider how to be better about becoming more aligned. It’s very possible to do. And if you need help, that’s why we’re here. Request a consultation today. Let’s talk about setting the right agenda for your financial life.

~Shayna