“Wise people store up choice things but a foolish person consumes everything he has” (Proverbs 21:20). Ever wonder how people who seemed not to have much end up with significant amounts of money when they need it?
“He who gathers money little by little makes it grow” (Proverbs 13:11). Some of the harshest words Jesus spoke were about the “wicked” servant who didn’t put the master’s money in the bank so it would earn interest (see: Matthew 25:27).
“We spend everything we earn (and more) and then complain how unfair it is when we can’t make it through a rainy day. Here’s a 2,000 year old news flash… It’s gonna rain! Are you ready for a stormy year?”(Glen Williams, EHF, Web-church.com)
The Bible says that “it rains on the just and the unjust” so we can count on the fact that we will encounter storms at times. And when the storms come, we can also lose a lot in the process. That’s when we can encounter financial problems and sometimes our relationship with each other is compromised to the point that one or both spouses believes divorce is the only way to solve things.
But there is a better way —a way in which God would be more pleased. As financial expert Dave Ramsey says,
“There’s a joke that says ‘Marriage is grand, but divorce is 50 grand’ (which means that divorce is multiple times more expensive than people realize in many, many ways). If you can’t make it financially together, you’re going to have a real hard time making it apart.
“What I tell couples is that the enemy is out there —hang onto each other and work through these problems together, rather than separately.” (Dave Ramsey, quoted from the August 3, 2009 program of the 700 Club)
But how do you work together to deal with situations which cause financial and relationship chaos? First off, BE PREPARED. The Bible talks about being wise in building your home upon the foundation of Christ and His principles for living. Jesus stated,
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)
To help you to wisely prepare and/or deal with financial trouble when a “storm” hits, there are three web site links to insightful articles provided below. Within these articles, you can learn ways to get through times of crisis and also learn how to better build your future financial house on a more solid footing.
One article is written by Dennis Rainey and is posted on the web site for the ministry of Family Life Today, another is written by Deborah McNauton, and is posted on the web site for Marriage Partnership Magazine. And the last one is written by Mary Hunt and is posted on the web site for Crosswalk. Click onto the links below to read:
If you have additional tips you can share to help others in this area of marriage, or you want to share requests for prayer and/or ask others for advice, please “Join the Discussion” by adding your comments below.
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(MALAYSIA) Nice site on information about being frugal with resources and money. I wish more people read this financial knowledge, and awareness so that both young and old don’t get trapped by the credit cards, housing and car repayment defaults, and miseries that surely ever hang near ones’ neck for lack of vigilance and knowledge on being wise with money on these areas.
Thank you to the writers who take the trouble to write these issues.