Tithing
Being a good steward of money means more than just tithing, but tithing is always a great place to start. I have experienced good financial times and bad financial times. In both, I have been abundantly blessed and I attribute a great deal of that to my trust in God to continue tithing, even when it seemed impossible. My faithfulness returned to me 10 fold and I give God all the glory. God can do more with 10% than you can do with the remaining 90% - take the challenge of Malachi 3:10-12.
Godly Choices
Being a good steward of money also means making choices with your money that honor God. God expects us to plan out a budget (Luke 14:28-30), He expects us to give generously (I Timothy 6:17-19) and cheerfully (II Corinthians 9:79), He expects us to save (Proverbs 21:20) and invest (Matthew 25:14-30), He expects us to live a debt-free life (Proverbs 22:7) and repay a debt fully if we acquire one (Romans 13:8) and finally we are to leave an inheritance for our children (Proverbs 13:22).
Financial Help
Fair Oaks Church has a wonderful FREE Financial Counseling ministry that provides one-on-one, step-by-step confidential assistance to address each of those areas: budgeting, giving, saving, eliminating debt and investing. Trained counselors who have completed the Joe Sangl Financial Counseling Experience are available to help people structure their finances in such a way that they can prosper the way God intended and honor Him with their financial stewardship.
My Testimony
In July of 2010 I was humbled to be asked to record my testimony of faith during a financially dark time for my family. You can read about it here (Modern Day Miracles).
More Resources
I have several blog posts about tithing and finance that may be of interest: http://lifecoachyost.blogspot.com/search/label/tithing & http://lifecoachyost.blogspot.com/search/label/finance.
Check out Joe Sangl’s website for tips and tools on budgeting and getting debt-free: http://nextsteps.iwasbrokenowimnot.com/tools/.
