5 Keys to Successful Money Management

                     As we prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday just a week away, and the Christmas Holiday just a month a way, this can be a time of much anticipated celebration with family and friends, but for many, the upcoming holidays can be a very stressful time-financially speaking. With a world view that is operates 24/7 with advertisements from the latest technological electronic "must have" device, to the latest men's and women's fashions, to the latest high-tech toys for both kids and adults, it's no wonder that we are not bankrupted already as a society that knows no end to the amount of "stuff" that we try aimlessly to accumulate for no other person to be it because it's on sale.

TITHE:

As a Christian believer, I know the power that hope and faith can have not only on your spiritual growth and character development as a person of faith, but also from a personal perspective as well. In case you didn't know there are more verses about money and biblical money management from God's word, then on any other topic in the bible. Proverbs 3: 9-10 says; "9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase (your wages/earnings/income) 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine." According to God's word, all mankind is to give a tithe, which is a minimum-10% of your earnings or wages. Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I'll admit that giving 10% of everything I have to God from my earnings has not been an easy road for me to be obedient at the beginning and I struggled with this scriptural truth. However, God as Lord of all, means Lord over all-including yours and my income. It's God's anyway, we are just stewards of what God has blessed and provided for us to have. We don't own a thing-it's God's and everything in it is Gods. In the 28 years of marriage, I can honesty say that the Lord has blessed our finances beyond measure and there have been many times during our marriage that we struggled financially, when I was in under grad and then grad school, and most recently now I am unemployed, a victim of the poor economy and was laid off end of September.

However through all the trials we have experienced, God has allowed us to pay our bills, and has even provided for us to purchase a 2nd rental property with cash that I take possession on in a week and already have a tenant lined up to rent the rental apartment beginning 1, December 2013. God has always supplied our financial needs, and I believe why he has blessed our finances and our beautiful marriage is because as children of God, we understand the concept of honoring God with our money every month, and He has been a faithful provider for us in the way.

Think of it this way, if you've never given God a chance in your life, and you are struggling month after month just to make ends meets, you have nothing to lose but your eternal salvation in making God Lord over your life including your finances. Be faithful in tithing to God on a monthly basis 10% of your wages and watch as God blesses your financial household immensely. Having God on your side will not only help your financial bottom line, but your spiritual growth and character development as well.