A question that comes up often is:  how much should I save versus give?  Or a different variation of this question might be:   should I give when I have so much debt?  Should I aggressively pay off the debt instead?  The Bible doesn't give us concrete answers.  But there are some guidelines to follow.  Here are some thoughts based on my investigation of biblical stewardship principles.  First, we should start with two funadamental truths about God and stewardship. This post will be on the fundamentals and the next post will be drilling down to specifics about how to balance the goals of saving, giving and debt reduction. 

1.  God owns everything- I Chronicles 29:11-12

Every decision about how we spend money, abilities, time and health is a spiritual decision.  When we understand this principle, we don't separate activities or days into sacred and secular.  Every aspect of our lives becomes a sacred trust. 

2.  We are called to be stewards of His resources- Genesis 1:28; Luke 12:48

God's stewardship mandate began in the Garden of Eden.  God gave mankind a command to cultivate the Earth's resources.  Jesus in Luke 12 gives a warning about being prepared and ready for the Lord's return.  He says that "everyone to whom much has been entrusted; much will be required." 

JC Ryle said, "Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people." 

How can we live in a way that prepares us for our permanent home?  There are 4 stewardship principles to embrace:

1.  Reject the American Dream

The American Dream is taking early retirement at 55 and withdrawing from life to a golf course or beach location.  I've seen clients do it against my counsel and warnings.  It is a life that will lead to emptiness and ultimately is not pleasing to God.  The Biblical mandate is to work until your health gives out.  Souls are at stake- John 9:4. 

2.  Develop disciplines of generosity

Habits of giving should be based on 4 P's: Priority; Percentage; Progressive; Prompted

Proverbs 3:9 tells us to honor God first with wealth that is entrusted to us- make it a priority.  We should choose a percentage target of money to give away of our overall income and seek to increase that percentage each year in a progressive way.  Finally, we should seek to be in a healthy financial position so that when prompted to give to needs by the Holy Spirit, we are able to give. 

3.  Simplify

Simplifying and getting out of debt go hand in hand.  Romans 13:8 tells us to owe no one anything.  Debt is a form of slavery and entanglement.  We want to strive to be free of entanglements so that we can serve God and others when called.  For some this might mean saying no to vacation homes; boats; toys; newer cars; possessions that require too much money and time to pay and care for. In terms of embracing a simple lifestyle keep this motto always in mind:  discipline weighs ounces; regret weighs tons. 

4.  Habit of saving

If the goal of saving isn't the American Dream what is the goal?  Financial freedom.  Being free to serve God in any way that the Spirit calls you to serve Him.  Saving allows for prompted giving- helping others in times of need.  Proverbs 21:5 tells us that diligence will lead to abundance; but hastiness leads to poverty.  Balancing the goals of saving, simplicity and giving lead us to a position of strength. 

I read the best-selling book 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss on the recommendation of some clients.  Ferriss' philosophy of life is one that is at odds with the one I embrace. Ferriss writes, "I believe that life exists to be enjoyed and that the most important thing is to feel good about yourself."  In contrast, I believe that life exists to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  While I disagree with the worldview that motivated the book, there are some good ideas worth highlighting- especially from a systems/structure perspective.  Here are five:

1.  Retirement should be considered worst-case-scenario insurance.  Ferriss writes, "Retirement planning is like life insurance.  It should be viewed as nothing more than a hedge against the absolute worse-case scenario:  in this case, becoming physically incapable of working and needing a reservior of capital to survive."  He suggests mini-retirements throughout life instead.  Ferriss builds his lifestyle around periods of focus/productivity work and then what I would call vigorous recreation.  His formula is two months of work projects and then one month of high-intensity learning. 

2.  Focus on being productive rather than being busy. Ferriss writes, "What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it."  He believes most things make little difference and being busy can be a form of laziness- path of least resistance.  A few of his specific suggestions I find worth mentioning: 

• If you had a heart attack and had only two hours per day to work, what would you do?
• Ask yourself daily, "If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?"
• Do not multitask- give each task your full undivided attention.

3.  Embrace doing activities that you know are important but you fear.  Ferriss spends time discussing how we tend to avoid activities that may lead to success because they are uncomfortable or uncertain.  He says, "Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty."  We should resolve to do one thing each day that we fear that we know leads to success- uncomfortable conversation or activity.  He relays a story in his book about the need to be a nuisance when it pays to be one.  He was a student at Princeton.  One of his tests, he received a "B" on so he made an appointment with his professor during office hours and had prepared 2-3 hours of questions to "better understand what this professor looks for in the grading process". He says this accomplished two things:

• Gave him a better understanding of how this professor grades.
• Put the idea in the professor's mind that a repeat 2-3 hour office visit might be repeated if Ferriss was given less than an A on future essays.  

4.  Consume a low-information diet.  Ferriss suggests asking the question in relation to news:  will I use this information for something immediate and important?  This wasn't an idea in the book but it is related.  If you have a book list (like I do) of books you want to read that is 100+ books deep, read the first chapter and last chapter (credit my friend Andy Blakeslee for the suggestion).  An author often communicates the most important ideas in the first and last chapter.  If the book captivates your interest after reading those two chapters, continue on.  If not, you probably got the important ideas in those two chapters; move on. 

5.  Be vigilant with time wasters.  Some of his suggestions:

• Answer emails once per day.  For example, set aside 4pm-5pm to answer all emails.
• Most issues are non-urgent.  Steer people towards the following means of communication in this order:  email/text; phone; in-person meeting.
• Respond to voicemails with emails whenever possible- avoid back and forth of missing each other.  
• Meetings should be for decisions only and not to define a problem. 
• Define the end time of every meeting.

These five points only scratch the surface.  There is a lot of content in the book to make you think and re-evaluate how you do work.  He suggests using Evernote for almost all organizational needs.  I evaluated Evernote and decided on a similar product- Springpad.  Evernote and Springpad are productivity applications that can be downloaded for free with mobile devices.  I've been using Springpad to keep lists and capture important ideas and am thankful for the suggestion.  We live in an age of amazing productivity tools. 

Ashley Hodge

My wife captured this picture of my little girl praying.  Prayer for me has always been a weakness in my spiritual life.  I'm studying prayer with a group of guys.  We are using D.A. Carson's A Call to Spiritual Reformation as our guide. 

Carson has some practical tips for improving the quality of our prayer lives:

1.  Plan to pray- set aside time each day to pray.  Make it an appointment that you do not break.  For me this means, making a 30 minute appointment for the next day to pray each night prior to going to bed.  Some days this is first thing in the morning.  Other days, I'm rolling out of bed to go to the gym so the appointment might be around lunch time. 

2.  Adopt practical ways to impede mental drift- Carson recommends vocalizing your prayers.  One benefit is avoiding mental drift.  Another benefit could be modeling for your family.  He recalls as a kid his father praying out loud in his study every day without fail.  It is probably no accident that the man is writing books on prayer many years later.  He also suggests praying over Scriptures- mingling prayer with the reading of God's Word and using God's Word to guide prayers.

Journaling is another suggestion.  Writing down your prayers can help with mental drift and also foster self-examination.  Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." 

3.  Develop partners in prayer- the disciples learned to pray from the model of Christ.  Praying with partners can focus our prayers and also encourage our prayer life as we see prayers answered through others.  Carson suggests setting a period of time to commit to praying wtih someone else (6 months for example); setting a meeting time each week and making sure the focus is on praying (not gossip or venting/bitterness). 

4.  Choose models- a good model for prayer should be someone who has a balance of seriousness; ability to use Scripture as basis of prayer; and a combination of humility and boldness in prayer. 

5.  Develop a system for prayer lists- my system is based on an iphone app called Pocket Prayer Requests Pro.  I have my iphone with me a lot so this helps.  I schedule prayers for my immediate family daily; prayers for people that I come into contact with and ministries I support on a weekly basis (men in my Bible study; guys I see at the gym; neighbors; close friends; ministries my family contributes to); prayer for clients and acquaintances on a monthly basis (I pray for 5-6 clients per day so that I am praying over my clients once per month). 

I bought the latest guide of Operation World at the recommendation of Andy Blakeslee- one of my friends in our Bible study.  This book and website has a daily prayer calendar that helps us pray for all the nations of the world- that God's kingdom, power and healing may advance. 

6.  Mingle praise, confession and intercession but when you make requests of God tie as many requests as possible to Scripture- one of the great themes of the book is that when you study the prayers of Paul, you notice a pattern of Paul praying for God to be glorified in all circumstances and for believers to be glorified in Christ.  Character development/ fruits of the Spirit are the natural requests of Paul and not material comforts. 

7.  Work at public prayers- those who are asked to pray in public should use those opportunities to communicate God's heart.  Make prayers brief; bold and powerful.  Effective communication with boldness and clarity in public prayer can have a lasting impact on others. 

8.  Pray until you pray- pray long enough to get past the feeling of formalism. 

For all that read this, my prayer is that some of these tips are implemented and communication with the One who gives us each passing breath is improved. 

For Christ's Glory,

Ashley Hodge

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4

Benjamin Franklin once asked, “Do you love life? Then do not waste time. For time is the stuff that life is made of.” Many Christians buy into the lie that time doesn’t matter. We waste our lives by squandering time or pursuing the things of the world instead of Christ.

What do you value? If you were to keep a daily time log, you would discover the answer. I first started keeping a time log years ago. I discovered the bulk of my waking time was spent on work, sports and television. My life was out of line with the priorities of the gospel. Christians are called to redeem the time for God– Ephesians 5:16.

How much time do you spend on priorities that build faith and promote the good of your neighbor? What are the important time priorities that train us to be more like Christ? There are six that I identify: prayer, Bible study, work/service/ministry to others, developing friendships, fitness pursuits and intellectual development.

In contrast, how much of your time is spent watching television, playing video games, attending sporting events, shopping, watching movies or other forms of entertainment? How much of your time is spent paying for, taking care of or using material possessions? You have one short life to live. Guard your time as a precious commodity. We will give an account to God for every minute that He has given us.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

We are equipped with unique giftedness. God has given us skills, talents and abilities that we should use to worship Him and perform the maximum amount of good to many people.

Studies have indicated that only around 10% of workers enjoy the work that they perform daily. The average worker will spend close to 100,000 hours working during their career. With that many hours at stake, finding a calling that fits with the unique talents and gifts that God has entrusted to us is crucial.

Mark Twain once remarked, “The secret to life is to make your vocation, your vacation.” I don’t agree that this is the secret to life. But I agree with Twain that if we are going to spend this many hours working, we should enjoy the purpose of the work.

God is the ultimate Creator. Creativity is a gift that He has given to us. All honest work is sacred to Him. Discovering the design that God has for us can give us great joy as we serve others by implementing our gifts. With only 10% reporting satisfaction in their jobs, it is important to constantly ask questions:

1. How can I serve God most effectively through my natural gifts? 
2. What am I passionate about? What do others say I excel at? 
3. If I could design my ideal job, what would it look like? 

God’s promise is this: if we walk in obedience to Him, He will not withhold any good thing– Psalms 84:11; Matthew 6:33. By seeking His direction for our work through prayer and hard work, we can be greatly used by Him.

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20

A neglected part of stewardship for many professing Christians is the stewardship of health. God gives us one body. We should prepare it for a long life of service to Him. A wise person said, “We should care for our body as if we will live forever, but care for our soul as if we would die tomorrow.”

Disease and death are curses of this fallen world. Some will experience the effects of this decay even though they work hard to take care of their health. Many will simply reap what they sow. When we trash the body God entrusts to us through neglect, gluttony, laziness or mistreatment, we will suffer the consequences.

We do not know the day that God will call us home. When He does, we can rest from our labors and feast continually on the presence of Christ. The life to come is one in which all sin will be removed. Death, suffering, pain, tears, disease- all will be cast out of Heaven forever– Revelation 21:3-5. But until then, we should fight the good fight of faith by training our bodies to be faithful servants of Christ.

The world worships self-indulgence on one hand and an unrealistic view of beauty on the other. Both extremes are to be avoided. The Christian should care for his/her body not out of vanity. But to serve Christ with greater focus, energy and longevity.

Proper rest, exercise, a natural diet, moderation and self-denial are areas of stewardship that we can all improve on. Every good gift that God has given us is one that we will give account to Him for. Moses writes, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”- Psalms 90:12.

“So if you have not been trustworthy in the handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches?” Luke 16:11

Christ challenged His audience in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

There is a natural tendency to love the things that bring us immediate pleasure and to ignore the love of our neighbor. Greed, selfishness and financial corruption are rampant in this world.

People of true faith understand that we are not to love money or possessions. Instead, we are to view them as a stewardship that we will one day give account to our Righteous Judge.

God owns everything on the earth and in the heavens– including our money. This truth should influence every spending, saving and giving decision that we make.

There is a need for more frugality towards self and greater generosity to others among Christians. God doesn’t need 1, 5, 10, 50 or even 99% of our income. He desires 100% of our hearts. How we save, spend and give money reflects the state of our hearts.

What is your plan for becoming a better steward of the money that has been entrusted to you? What year will you become debt-free? How can you live self-controlled with spending decisions? What is your goal for saving each year? How can you become more generous each year?

If God has prospered you, it is for a purpose. He has blessed you with an abundance in order that you would be a blessing to others.