Developing a Godly Attitude to Finances: Part 1

Money.

Ugh, for so long, I've been afraid of it. Growing up on limited means and then years of student living, part-time jobs etc, you'd think I would have been fine once I had a job teaching. Unfortunately not; this is when it all started to go downhill for me. Even though I had a reasonably good income, I was living in London, one of the most expensive cities on earth! 

Later, when my husband and I bought a home together, we went through a period of financial security I'd never known before and so I still didn't learn how to budget. I didn't think we needed to.We gave a lot of our money away and spent a lot on a music production business.

An emigration, a failed business, the loss of our home, AND return to the UK with nothing more than the $200 gift of a generous friend, we crash landed into the mid 90's with 2 small children, nowhere to live and no means of earning a living. My husband studied for a couple of years and worked some part-time jobs and then, eventually, through God's Grace, found the job he has now.

The new job and new faith (we had only just become Christians) demanded a new relationship with money and better, much better, money management. I discovered Crown Financial Ministries and started to listen to their radio programmes online. They were a real eye-opener. I learned about God's generosity to us, that everything we had belonged to Him and that we needed to give generously back to Him.

Through living out the principles we learned at Crown, we were able to pay back a terrible debt, without going into bankruptcy. It took us many years, but we did it. Two years ago, we had an unexpected tax debt of £10,000 to pay. We managed it, over the course of two years. It wasn't easy. However, with the right attitude to money (It's all God's anyway) and the tools we learned at Crown, we are almost back on track again now.

The Crown wallet for the money envelopes.

Back to 1998: My husband was finally working in stable employment and we had to keep a tight control on where our money was going. We started to use a tool from Crown: the envelope system, which is explained in detail here. This was helpful for a number of years and as we gradually grasped the principles of Godly money management, we found we didn't need it any more.

Inside the wallet, you can see the compartments.

Crown is a US programme. Since that time, a UK organisation has emerged as a superb support for those needing to clear debt and design a budget. Christians Against Poverty. It works in a different way to Crown, but it very useful, and I would advise every young couple about to get married, or just married to go through their course which is available through local churches.

Finally, Dear Daughter, God has a great deal to say to you personally about money, poverty, debt, work, generosity and contentment. It's all there in his Word. You would be AMAZED at how much he says about it! Just to get you started, you could download and read this booklet from Crown, which explores much of what God has to say, in the Bible, about such things.

I pray that you be neither rich nor poor, as each has challenges, but that you have sufficient for God's purposes and much gratitude for His many blessings to you.

Mimi is a wife to Jamie, mother to two grown up children, a mother-in-law and a grandmother to a darling little grand-daughter. She home-educated her children and now teaches exam subjects to groups of home-educated children. She's a Worship Leader in her church and has a passion for helping women raise children to adulthood with a strong faith in the Lord Jesus.