Before reading this brief article, please take a moment to read "A Guideline Budget: How Do You Compare?" on Gathering Little by Little.
If you do much reading on financial planning, or any reading on budgeting, you will probably find a similar breakdown of how to allocate your funds. I find the comparison in the article to be quite interesting.
I also find it eye-opening. Did you notice that nowhere in the "guideline" was there a line item for "Church" or even "charitable giving"? Even if you looked at the miscellaneous category as that kind of spending, it would only be 8% of the budget (at most).
Recently, Wes wrote an article on this blog that I hope you will go back and read. Sometimes faithful Christians really have a struggle with their attitude towards money. The reason is quite simple: we either give like we should and stay deeply in debt (or just waaaay behind the "Joneses"), or we live like everyone else without giving anything but a token to the Lord.
Christians need to remember that, in our "budget meetings," the Lord doesn't just come first. What? Isn't that what we always say? Write down what you make and put "Church" or "Giving" as the first item on the list? Yes, we should do that. God shouldn't get the leftovers, He should get our first "fruits."
However, that's not the only place God should be in our budget meetings. The Lord shouldn't just come first on the piece of paper or on the spreadsheet. He should be in charge of the meeting! Every decision, from the debt reduction to eating out, should have our spiritual lives in focus.
When we do that, we will adjust our "percentages" accordingly.
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4 comments:
Hi and thanks for the link! I pull my tithe like taxes, my % are based on my spendable income which i my gross-taxes-tithe. This is the way Larry Burkett (the author of the book I referenced) does it.
Hence, that is why you don't see tithing in a category. Budget categories are adjustable, but when it is pulled out of my check it isn't.
Just wanted to clarify.
Thanks for the clarification, and Adam, thanks for the point...it is important that we make sure giving comes first, and not just first but that we are true stewards of God!
I really enjoy this blog. I wanted to recommend a great book to your readers: Leroy Brownlow's "Living on the Plus Side." I've been reviewing it on my blog. It's a deeper study compared to some of the other books out there.
Gathering,
I am sorry for not figuring that out before writing this article. Thank you for the spirit in which you responded.
I hope the main point (that God should guide our decisions) is what comes through from this article.
Adam
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