SUMMING IT ALL UP

LET’S REVIEW

AT THE BEGINNING of this book we asked why the Bible says so much about money—more than 2,350 verses.

The Lord knew that how we handled money would help determine the intimacy of our fellowship with Him. The Lord also wanted to provide us a blueprint for handling money so that we could be faithful in this practical area of life. The fundamental truth for us to understand is that God has retained the responsibilities of ownership of possessions, control of events and provision of needs.

As people, we are not designed to shoulder these responsibilities. However, the Lord delegated certain important tasks to us as stewards. Review the diagram of the wheel and the eight areas of our responsibility.

Financial faithfulness is a journey—do not become discouraged. Applying financial principles from Scripture is a journey that takes time. It’s easy to become discouraged. When you finish this book, There must be the conversion of the heart, the mind and also the purse. MARTIN LUTHER your finances may not be completely under control. Don’t get frustrated. It takes the average person at least a year to apply most of these principles. Again, I want to encourage you to enroll in a Crown Ministries small group study.

It is an excellent environment to receive encouragement and help in implementing these principles. Faithfulness in small matters is important. Because of a lack of resources many people become frustrated by their inability to solve their financial problems. Remember, simply be faithful with what you have—whether it is little or much. Some give up too soon. They abandon the goal of becoming debt free.

They stop trying to increase their saving or giving. For them the task seems impossible. And it may be impossible without the Lord’s help. Your job is to make a genuine effort, no matter how small it may appear. Then leave the results to God. I love what the Lord said to the prophet Zechariah: “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). Don’t be discouraged. Be diligent. Be persistent.

Be faithful in even the smallest matters. A good friend once asked me what was the most valuable lesson I had learned from the Crown Ministries small group studies. I’ve had time to reflect on that question for some time now. I think the most valuable lesson has been the realisation that I needed to consistently review Scripture. I noticed this in preparation for a class.

If I had invested little time studying Scripture during the previous weeks, I would discover that I had been molded ever-so-subtly by the views of modern society. In Romans 12:2 Paul presented this problem and that solution: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The only way for any of us to renew our minds (to discover and preserve the correct perspective) is to expose ourselves to Scripture continually.