Financial Tips after 35 years of Marriage!
35 Years!!
My wife and I recently hit 35 years of marriage, and I feel so blessed. She is a gift from God to me and is my true love and best friend. God has taught us many financial lessons during this time, and I want to share the 7 most important with you.
1 - God owns it all
Understanding this is life changing! ! Chronicles 29:11 tells us that God owns everything, and Matthew 25 shows us that our role is to be faithful managers. Therefore every financial decision we make is a spiritual decision.
2 - God views us as one
When we get married God views us as one (Mark 10: 6-8), so it only makes sense that we manage our finances as one. Bring your finances together and do not have separate bank or investment accounts. I have found that it is important to discuss all major financial decisions and be united. I am amazed at the wisdom God often gives my wife, and the only financial regrets I have are when I did not listen to her! One example is when she felt we should buy a quarter section of farm land, but I hesitated and felt it was over priced. We missed out on a significant gain over the next 5 years due to my hesitation.
3 - Be patient
Achieving financial freedom God’s way takes time, and we need to be patient. During the first 10 years of our marriage money was very tight. I was young in my career and we had three young children. We worked diligently together to ensure we were always saving and moving forward, but the progress was slow. Proverbs 13:11 tells us that “he who gathers money little by little makes it grow”.
4 - Delayed gratification is the key to financial maturity
Spend less than you make and do it for a long period of time and you will achieve financial freedom! This means you have to learn how to delay your desires to purchase items that don’t fit into your financial plan. This is not easy when it means you drive used cars that may not be the latest trend, and you don’t take winter vacations to a warm beach. However in the long run this discipline pays off immensely.
5 - Give generously & consistently
God tells us that He wants us to be generous, intentional, consistent givers. In Malachi 3:10 God tells us to test Him by bringing the tithe into his storehouse, and see how He will provide beyond what we can imagine. We have found this to be true over and over again. God will do more with what is left after we give than we could ever do with 100% on our own.
6 - Know when we have enough
Since all we have belongs to God, we need to pray about how much is enough. If God gives us more than enough, it is not so we can hoard out of fear or greed, but rather so we can give more to His work. What an amazing privilege to be able to be used as God’s bank this way.
7 - Become the best at what you are called to focus on
Colossians 3:23 tells us to work at all we do with all our heart as if we are working directly for the Lord. God wants us to work hard and to strive for excellence, and as we do we will glorify Him and He will provide for us. Proverbs 27:25 tells us to take care of our responsibilities and be diligent in our business and we will have more than enough!
Following the above tips will give you a solid foundation to work towards achieving financial freedom God’s way.