Money and family. Put God first and foremost in your finances

Following on from the previous post Money and Family, the 10 Commandments for Your Finance Management, today we’ll look at the first step for the financial health of your family. If you want consolidated results in your finances, you must put God first. This is what we will briefly and objectively discuss in this post.

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Versão em Português

Prioritize God because everything belongs to Him

‘ The world and all that is in it belong to the LORD ; the earth and all who live on it are his. He built it on the deep waters beneath the earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths. ‘

Psalms 24:1-2

All things in the Universe belong to God. And this applies very clearly in the management of financial resources. That’s why it is important that you put God first when it comes to your money.

If you manage it well, more and more opportunities will be well used and consequently more resources will come to you. There is no other possibility. On the other hand, if you have treated this issue with disregard, no matter how much money you or your family have, the resources will run out of your hands. Such a situation sometimes takes a few years to be perceived, but inevitably it will happen.

And this happens because all resources, in fact, belong to God, and we can only deal with what we are responsible for. Another interesting observation is that we can learn to deal better with our finances. There are concepts and habits that we can develop. So, we will be able to enjoy more resources and peace in this matter.

Put God first with responsibility

Now what’s the advantage of getting a lot of money if you don’t make good use of it, and also if you don’t have peace and could see your family hampered by the increase in your resources? Unfortunately, this is common and sad. No man is as poor as one who has only money. And God’s purpose is for families to enjoy all the diverse and abundant resources he has created.

If you think for a moment, you will realize that the resources with you work were created by God. The clothes you wear, the ingredients of your favorite dish, the raw material of your belongings, they’re all come from God. Even the paper of “your” money comes from Him.

I think that’s enough to understand that we need to deal with money responsibly. And the Bible teaches us the parameters of that responsibility. Jesus spoke more about money than about sin. From Genesis to Revelation this subject is treated with seriousness because it really matters.

Put God first with the firstfruits

The first clear instruction that the Bible gives us regarding money is that we should give God a tenth of our income. This is called tithe.

‘“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. ‘

Malachi 3:8

Besides that, prioritize God with the first part of your resources, not with the rest. God doesn’t accept and you won’t want to offer Him leftovers. The Bible is very direct in teaching us that we should honor God with our resources and the first part of our income.

‘ Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.’

King Solomon in Proverbs 3:9-10

My decision

I decided that I would give the tithe of everything I earned as a result of my work or even as a gift. When I made that decision, I was still dating Rapha fifteen years ago. We were planning our wedding and I asked God at that time that I could give Him an initial tithe of 100 Brazilian Reais. In other words, I wanted a salary of 1,000 Brazilian Reais. I would like more, but I had no idea how I would get even that value.

The following year, I got a job in another state to work for an oil company. And when I was hired the salary was about 900 Brazilian Reais. But my first paycheck was exactly 1,080 Brazilian Reais. I gave the tenth part to God. And a few years later, I did not have a salary but a tithing of 1,000 Brazilian Reais.

Switch from the mentality of scarcity to abundance

Moreover, I know that every person who gives his tithes to God does not give only 10%. If you know someone faithful in the giving of tithes, whoever it is, you can ask that person how many percent he gives to God. And you will get a response greater than 10.

Other people find it a real absurdity to give 10% of everything they receive to God. They think this is a lot of money. But at the same time they are demonstrating that they earn little money, because if they earned much, tithing would not make a difference. Pay attention, this is the kind of small mentality predisposed to a limited financial life. This is not God’s plan for you and your family.

Prioritize God and He will bless you

‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. ‘

Malachi 3:10

What God wants for you is that He can bless you. That is, the 90% that you will have on hand will yield much more than 100%. Yes, this requires a miracle and that is exactly why tithing is the first step. Tithing is a spiritual matter. And blessing means supernatural action in the spirit world. When you put God first and His favor over your life will do exponentially more than you could ever achieve for yourself.

Considering what you read in this post, decide to take the first step. Put God first in your finances. Recognize that everything comes from Him. And obey this biblical guidance of giving a serious church a tenth of your income. You will experience the blessing of God by overflowing your finances. And so you, your family and everyone around you will be enriched.

‘ The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.’

King Solomon in Proverbs 10:22

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