What I Believe 

If you have been in a Christian community for any amount of time you may have heard (even unknowingly) the prosperity gospel preached by well meaning teachers.
I believe that this is a misunderstanding that happens when you read certain portions of scripture without fully understanding the context. For instance; Proverbs is a book full of practical wisdom, this is to say that following its guidelines is smart, but the wisdom it contains is just that, wisdom. Not promises.

Although God does love to bless his children, as any good father does (Matthew 7:11), he never promises that we will have material abundance (wealth/riches) in this life. In fact, he says quite the opposite. John 16:33

Following his guidance is always ultimately for our best, but doesn't necessarily always look like we imagine "our best" looking like.

You may already know that I do not beleive tithing is something we should be promoting under the New Covenant. There's a few reasons for that, but the main reason I belive that is because the giving that is described in the NT churches sounds VERY differant than a dutiful, set amount. Its is characterized by Gods grace overflowing into a generous spirit!

It's my humble, edjucated opinion that this practice harms the local church far more than it helps. 

With that being said, knowing what the practice of tithing entails and why it was important can give us much needed perspective when logically thinking about giving in our lives.

This point is impossible to skip over. I'd say it's one of the biggest financial points made in the Bible.

Giving is the BEST/ FUNNEST/ MOST EXCITING part of financial stewardhip because it invites us into the work of God in a very tangible way! Read the Tithing tab too ;)

When we give we are impacting kingdom growth! Isn't that cool??! God lets us be his fingerprints in our communites and across the globe!

 
When God begins to replace our stony heart with a heart of flesh we will ache over the same things that break his heart. 
I think God gives each of our hearts a passion to help a specific need, whether that be battered women, starving children across the globe, human trafficking, injustice, homelessness in our towns, ect... the list could go on and on. 
I doubt our hearts couldn't bear the weight of passionately caring for all the loss, hunger, and injustice in the world -it would crush us.  I can't even begin to imagine how much God's heart must ache.
The World desperately needs Jesus. It desperately needs us to be his hands and feet. I encourage everyone I talk with to pray and seek out where God wants them to passionately serve and generously give.

Proverbs 14:21,31, 19:17, 21:13, 28:27, Isaiah 58:6-7, Matthew 25:34-40, Luke 3:10-11,  Acts 4:32, 2 Corinthians 9:6-8,11, Ephesians 4:28, Matthew 26:11

The Bible is very specific that we are to gladly bear each other's burdens, but not be a burden. We are to work hard, be a blessing, carry our weight. There is no room for laziness in our lives. Slothfulness and trusting God to provide are two very different things.

This is one of the biggest reasons I became convinced to invest in retirement. We should prepare to take care of ourselves when our bodies no longer have the ability to work for sufficient income to live on. There is no reason for us to neglect this -if we do, we may certainty become a burden instead of a blessing to those close to us in our golden years.

Proverbs 10:4, 12:11,24,27, Romans 13:8, 2 Corinthians 9:11, Ephesians 4:28, Colossians 3:23, 2 Thessalonians 3:10

Joseph, the one with the colorful coat, was given great power and wisdom to plan & save during the good times to save himself, his family, and even entire countries during the bad times. This is one of the most intense Biblical examples of "saving for a rainy day". Another example is found in Proverbs 6:6-8 where we are told to examine the ants -to watch how faithfully they work, saving enough food to get through the winter. 

Rainy days will come. They almost always do, so it's wise to prepare.

This, of course, must be in balance with trusting God to provide our daily bread -both today and tomorrow. Our security must always remain in him as our provider for the future, not our savings. Otherwise, we may begin to idolize our savings and hoard to feel secure.

Debt is, simply put, acquiring something you haven't paid for under an agreement that you will pay in the future or face the penalties ( aka interest/fees, or in Bible times, slavery).
Debt will make a slave of anyone who enters into its agreement. When you owe a debt the past takes control of the future. It robs you of the freedom to give generously and save wisely. 
Debt can sometimes be a telltale sign that we are trying to appear as though we can afford a different standard of living than God has given us -it has a way of revealing to us our discontentment, or even greed & envy.

Deuteronomy 15, 2 Kings 4:6-8, Proverbs 22:7, Proverbs 22:26, Romans 13:8, Matthew 18:25 Luke 14:28

Everything we've been given is a gift. God tells us often in his Word to share what we have with a grateful heart because of the abundance that we have in Christ.
Practicing hospitality is a beautiful service that flows out of a heart that knows how much blessings they have in Christ. Whether we posses much or little. Some of the most hospitable people I've known had much less assets than I did.

Practicing hospitality does not require a homestead large enough to entertain. It requires only a heart that is happy to share their blessings. 

Contentment is a byproduct of gratefulness. It is the best defense from the destruction that greed and envy causes. Keeping up with the Jones' is so " normal" in our culture today that we may not even realize we're doing it.
Admiring the beauty someone has made (Joanna Gaines!?! What in incredible woman!) and wanting to incorporate beauty and function into our lives is not wrong! Longing for others things for ourselves, being upset that they have more/nicer things than we do, or striving to "keep up" with them is wrong. The line between those things is sometimes blurred and easily crossed.

We must be very intentional about filling our hearts with gratefulness to combat the thorns of worldly greed and envy!

Check out what the Bible has to say about this!
Deuteronomy 5:21, Proverbs 13:7, Ecclesiastes 4:4, 5, Matthew 13:7 +22, Luke 3:14, Galatians 5:26, Galatians 5:19-21, Hebrews13:5-6, 1 John 2:15


1 Peter 4:9, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, 3 John 1:8, 1 Timothy 5:9-11

Over and over throughout Scriptures we are reminded to place our trust in God, to acknowledge him and follow his ways.
We can easily, without even realizing it, begin to think that we're got this -we don't need God to provide for us, we are strong, capable and knowledgeable on our own.

Pride and wealth are closely tied  and they affect our hearts similarly. Every step we take in our financial journey must be accompanied with a humble reminder to our hearts that our wealth and security comes from God, our ability to work and make an income is a gift, our knowledge and wisdom is straight from him, our self control is a fruit of the Spirit in us.
What we have belongs to him, down to the very air we breathe, and if he sees it as best, everything he has given us, he has the right to also take away (whether we have insurance or not) -even in that we must trust him.

With that being said -insurance is a tool that we can use to transfer risk from ourselves to the company we are paying to take the risk. It's a wise tool to use as long as we are cautious not the let our security rest in those policies instead of in God. We must prayerfully consider how much, and of what, is wise and be willing to change that number as God prompts us to.

Job 1:21, Deuteronomy 8, Psalm 20:7, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 31:6, Psalm 37:4-6, Psalm 116:10, Psalm 125:1, Psalm 145:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 16:20, Proverbs 22:19, Proverbs 28:25