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ernments, of course, have not made
budgeting easy nor taxation volun–
tary. Taxes are taken from wages
before
the employee receives bis
paycheck.
After taxes, most families pay
fixed expenses and then allocate
whatever discretionary moneys
may remain. That can take the
entire family income. But it need
not!
Financia! success does not begin
with detailed family budgets. Such
details come later. Financial suc–
cess begins with God. Most people
seldom stop to think God made this
vast universe and this beautiful
jewel of a planet called earth. He
capped it off by creating mankind
in bis own image.
God has given humans dominion
over the physical creation. We can
farm the Iand, mine the natural
resources, develop the technologi–
cal skills to make life more com–
fortable.
No one should deny how much
God has given . But what does that
all have to do with family
finances?
Much!
For use from all this world's
resources, God has allocated for
himself a tithe, or 10 percent, of
the increase we receive from our
efforts. Unlike most governments
God does not take the tithe before
you receive your check. It is within
your power to pay or
not pay the tithe.
For most of re-
Use credit
cards
for convenience–
pay bilis in
full each
month.
corded human history, the majority
have not known about, have forgot–
ten about or have simply refused to
honor God with a tithe of the
increase. No wonder so few fami–
lies or wage earners enter into a
partnership arrangement with
God.
Here is what God's Word, the
Bible, says about partnership with
him: .. 'Will a man rob God? Yet
you rob me. But you ask, ..How do
we rob you?" In tithes and offer–
ings. You are under a curse-the
whole nation of you- because you
are robbing me. 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
ftoodgates of heaven and pour out
so much blessing that you will not
have room enough for it'" (Mal.
3:8-10, New International Version
throughout).
Isn't it strange that in our mod–
ero affiuent Western world there
should be so much financia! trou–
ble? Huge corporations struggle–
some go bankrupt. Gigantic mod–
ern nations are on the verge of
debt collapse. Personal and family
bankruptcies are at an all-time
high.
You can do little at the national
and corporate levels. But you can
do a lot at the family leve!.
It may be time for you to step
back, take a fresh viewpoint from
God's perspective of family budget–
ing and start your family budgeting
process all over.
If
the head of the family gath–
ers everyone to a miniature corpo-
rate budget meeting to discuss the
coming year, you will all be able to
understand and work together
toward family financia! success.
Where to Start
The first order of business is to
acknowledge God in the family
financial picture.
If
you have not
discussed his place in the world and
universe, do so.
Then determine, as God in–
structs, to place God's tithe (bis
claim of lO percent of your
increase) as the
first
budgetary
priority.
The next 90 percent is yours for
its proper allocation.
To put God at the top of the
financia! priority list to sorne
sounds foolish. But we are dealing
with principies that transcend and
supersede normal human reason–
ing. By tithing we are acknowledg–
ing God and bis partnership
in
our
lives. We show that spiritual values
are superior to temporal and mate–
rial things.
Then God blesses us. It's that
kind of arrangement.
I know many people who tithe–
give a full 10 percent of their
incomes to God- and even give
more through occasional offerings.
Among them is a humorous mathe–
matical riddle: "When is 90 per–
cent equal to or greater than lOO
percent?" The answer: ..When it is
the 90 percent of my income after 1
have paid my tithes."
..You mean," sorne question,
"that after giving 1O
Keeping a
balanced checkbook
makes it easy to know where the
money is going
and helps prevent
overspending.