The Ten Commandments of Finance

1^st Commandment 

It is not God’s will for you to suffer financial hardship.  

Quite the contrary, as Jesus said in John 10:10b KJV

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” 

This concept is expressed more emphatically in the Amplified (AMP) Bible as it states

“I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Yet, I have sat with Christians who calmly state that they accept their poverty as “God’s will”. Please don’t buy into that. God has something better for you. Perhaps you haven’t sought it or Him enough to discover what it is. And I don’t mean to imply that “abundant life” is only found through wealth, for we all know many miserable rich people and joyous poor or middle class who are “rich” in family and love. Wealth only enables one to have different forms of abundance and to be able to give more out of that abundance. 

2^nd Commandment 

Honor the tithe, it is part of your worship and “thanks” to God for all things.  

If you consider that everything really belongs to God and He is entrusting us to handle what we have for a season, then returning to Him 10% of what He has blessed us with should not be a struggle and seems only fair and fitting. We are admonished to tithe from our first fruits. The dedication of a tenth of our produce was recognized as a “duty” even before Moses and the law first appears in Leviticus 27:30-32. In Malachi 3:10 God states that failing to tithe constitutes “robbing” Him. In that scripture, He encourages us to bring the tithe and offerings into the storehouse so He can pour out blessings on us. 

Blessings can come in many forms. I relate this story not for personal accolades but to encourage you as to what could happen when you honor God. 

Our church supports a Ukrainian doctor who works for almost nothing to save and care for the “throw-away” children in Kharkov. They needed a new portable ultra-sound unit and came to several churches this past fall seeking support. To show you how God works, note the sequence of events to follow. 

With no knowledge of his coming, days before my wife asked me to join her and listen to a tape series she had owned for several years on “Super Natural Giving”. I did and was moved by the message (not one of my favorites, either, to be perfectly honest with you). 

That Sunday, the doctor came and spoke. I have never been one to sit in a congregation and start praying intently on what or how much I should give. I have that pretty well worked out in advance, based upon finances, income, and such, probably like most of you. 

As I listened, I suddenly “heard” very clearly God (or someone whose lips weren’t moving) tell me to give a thousand dollars. I pretended not to hear. I later told my pastor it was like Robert DiNiero in “The Taxi Driver” saying his famous line, “Are you talkin’ to me? Are YOU talkin’ to ME?” But, I heard it twice more and, recalling the tape still fresh in my mind, wrote the check. Does anyone think my wife picking up that tape series when she did and asking me to listen was just a coincidence? 

After the service I was blessed to learn there were matching funds so my $ 1,000 became $ 2,000 and ultimately the $ 55,000 was raised over the next several weeks and the doctor has his machine. That was blessing enough, but God had much more for us because I listened to Him and honored Him. 

We had been trying to sell our 34 ft sailing yacht for two years. None of the brokers had done anything and we were at the “bad time” of the season, early fall, for selling. I had it on E-Bay through our company’s website as it had been for two months. A tentative deal I didn’t like fell through which didn’t upset us, but was promptly, within days of our gift, replaced with a better offer from people we liked and wanted to get our boat. 

When we were $ 1,000 apart, my company reduced their charge by $ 1,000 to accommodate the sale. We completed the sale and we had our $ 1,000 back. Later, the new owner paid me additional funds never discussed or asked for. 

Our oldest daughter, a gifted interpreter in sign language for the deaf, had not found work in her profession for 3 ½ years in the Cleveland area. When I called our Realtor in SW Florida to provide them information as requested on our company’s Private Placement, she asked if we didn’t have a daughter who knew sign language. The day before, (a week after our gift) she was approached by the lady that signs for the deaf at their church who asked her if she knew any interpreter. She provided her the website. Our daughter promptly applied and was hired with the position she always wanted and was working in SW Florida by the end of the following week. That was a tremendous blessing for her and relieved us of making her car lease payment and car and health insurance premiums (a savings of roughly $ 420/month) 

We used the proceeds of the sailboat to help payoff the balance of the Private Placement Units in our company I had tied up with down payments months earlier. In doing so, this freed up over $ 44,000 in accrued dividends we were now eligible to receive. And, there were other financial blessings besides these, but you get the picture. All that, totally unexpected, was released by honoring what God instructed me to do. Long standing bondages were broken. I’m convinced that they were not broken earlier because God wanted to teach me something. Perhaps you have strongholds in your life you are trying to break. Perhaps God is waiting to break them for you. 

When you think about it, if you honor God, and He blesses you, and you are good stewards of your money, you will not struggle to give your tithes and offerings. There are many stories of great Christian American businessmen who found they simply couldn’t out give God. Mr. Heinz of the ketchup family, created that business in the 1800’s and tithed from the start. As his business grew, he increased his tithe (meaning 10^th) to 20% but his business grew even faster. Then he gave 30% then 50% and still his business burgeoned. Before his death, Mr. Heinz was giving 90% of his income and still his net worth increased. Could we agree that God truly honored his heart and his giving?

3^rd Commandment 

Pay yourself before paying others. 

After tithing to God, the first and most important “bill” people should pay is to themselves. This payment is not to be spent, but to be placed into savings or investments for their future use. God has “no problem” with that.  

It is a foolish man who consumes all that he has. The wise man stores up during the good years so that he might not go hungry in the lean years. Proverbs 21:20 “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” NIV 

In today’s world, we can view the good years as our productive work years in which we earn a living through our chosen career. The lean years could be our retirement years. How lean depends in large part on how much you consumed while producing verses how much you sent ahead for such times.  

Other such future uses might include providing for a quality education for your children or grandchildren. How many “baby-boomers” whose parents provided their college education, spent their earnings on another kind of “Boomer” (BMW) and forced their children or themselves into long-term debt for their children’s education? By practicing restraint on spending when their children were young and investing for college with those unspent dollars could’ve enabled them to pay only 50% of the cost “out of pocket”. The earnings on the investments would cover the balance. Instead, failing to plan and invest wisely in time required them to pay for the same education twice as they pay the interest for years on the borrowed cost of education. 

Do not delude yourself into thinking that, after you pay your bills you will “save” or invest what’s left. Most Americans know that using that strategy means that most months there is nothing left to invest. If you don’t have it available to spend, and don’t go to the credit card, you will force yourself to spend only what is available. Take at least 10% of your pay “off the top” and put it into your savings or investment and force yourself to work with what is left. Do this, and you will prosper. Use the other approach and you never will have funds left over to invest. 

4^th Commandment 

Place your emphasis on investing your money, not on attempting to save it for only by investing have you hope of any real increase.  

In Matthew 25: 14-30 a man goes on a journey and entrusts to his three servants a measure of talents (money), to one 5, another 2, and a third 1, according to their ability. In his absence, the first two put the money to work (invested) and upon his return, they had doubled his money. Their reward was great. According to Jesus, the master said to them in verse 21 “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” NIV 

But to the servant who had hid the money in the ground (pretty much like a bank with 1% interest) in verse 26 the master responded, “You wicked, lazy servant!” And went on to take his money and throw him into the wilderness. 

We work hard for our money. The portion we retain should be required to work hard for us. 

5^th Commandment 

Money is not the root of all evil.  

The love of money, when we make it our idol and set it before God is. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” KJV It is important to note the distinction between money and mammon, for they have oft been interpreted as one and the same. They are not. The NIV, for instance, in Matthew 6:24 erroneously translates mammon to money. Mammon is an evil power that uses money and the love of money to enslave men. We must fight to avoid having the lust for money dominate our lives or become the “god” in whom we trust. 

6^th Commandment 

The same buck can’t go two places. 

Every choice you consciously make to spend, save, gift, or invest any amount of money carries with it many other conscious and unconscious decisions as to where not to spend, save, gift, or invest the same money. Recognizing that fact places a great deal of responsibility on you to understand the value of your alternatives and to choose amongst them wisely.  

Remember the scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where the Nazi drinks from the wrong cup? The Guardian of the Holy Grail smiled as the Nazi withered and died while still standing, and said to Indiana, “He chose poorly”. Think about your choices. Pray before making your decisions. Don’t let the Guardian say of you that, “You chose poorly”. Remember that, with our tax system, when you add all the taxes together that are imposed on our income, our expenditures, and on our assets, every dollar you misallocated could require you to earn two to replace. 

7^th Commandment 

Fear puts and keeps people in financial bondage.  

Often they are so fearful they cannot accept even a reasonable amount of risk in exchange for the opportunity to receive a significant return on their wealth. In an effort to avoid risk, they attempt to “save” their money and often, in doing so, still experience a slow loss of “real” wealth when adjusted for taxes and inflation.  

Fear binds them from investing those dollars and the Bible teaches us clearly who the “father of fear” is. In John 10:10 “the thief” referred to by Jesus is Satan and therein he states that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” NIV 

8^th Commandment 

Do not spend more than you can afford. Think past the point of purchase. 

If the purchase goes onto a credit card for any reason other than convenience or added insurance and becomes part of your on-going debt, you can’t afford the purchase. Again Proverbs 21:20 shows that God approves of restraint in spending and foresight in planning for future needs. “There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up”. KJV 

Catching a sale at 15% off makes little sense if you pay 20% in interest paying it off. 

9^th Commandment 

Do not harbor unforgiveness against another.  

In my 2^nd Commandment on tithing, I stated that God wants to “pour out blessings” on us. Many ask why He doesn’t. Many who ask are the answer themselves. When you harbor unforgiveness you defy God and the teachings of Christ right down to the basics of The Lord’s Prayer. In fact, the Lord’s Prayer essentially becomes a curse of sorts to the unforgiving who prays it in insincerity. 

I have long opposed senseless, inane ramblings, as it were, of rote prayer. One reason people memorize lines of anything is so they do not have to rely on thinking it through.

I have done many plays in my life for which I had to learn many lines. Along the way I discovered something interesting. Those actors who focused on just learning (memorizing) the lines and lost their way could literally bring the production to a screeching halt.  

It’s much like interrupting a salesman who has memorized a “canned” presentation. He memorized the sequence of words without really understanding his own “pitch”. If interrupted, he can’t resume and may actually go back to the beginning so as to repeat and complete his recitation.

In contrast, I would learn the line, but picture in my mind the whole action, the theme or jist of the scene including the other actors’ lines. This (and the graciousness of the Director) allowed me the freedom to cover for a missed line or totally improvise without losing the other performers and to the delight of the audience. This was possible only because I also thought carefully about what I was saying and its import. 

Now, put that into the context of prayer or saying so many repetitious “Our Fathers” and such. I have heard people rushing through such prayers with the sole purpose of getting the job done in the minimum time and clearly without so much as a thought as to the intent behind the prayer or penance. They mumble so fast an observer can’t understand what they’re saying. When I see or hear such I also picture God in Heaven, rolling His eyes watching the scene and saying something like, “Oh Please! Give me a break! Do you really think THAT counts for anything with me?  

Well, the same applies to many of us when we say familiar prayers such as the one Jesus Himself gave His disciples that we call The Lord’s Prayer. 

Remember the part dealing with “forgiving”? It goes like this: “…and forgive us our trespasses (some say debts) AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

Emphasis here is on “AS” which means literally IN THE SAME MANNER. 

This is NOT a phrase to merely mouth by rote memory. You are imploring through prayer that the Lord, your Father in Heaven, take mercy on you and give you something you really don’t deserve. You are asking Him to forgive you of your sins, which only He can do. BUT, and this is a very critical but, you are also instructing God in the manner or degree to which He is to forgive you. WATCH OUT! That is a two-edged sword! 

IF, a very critical if, you truly, honestly, sincerely, in your heart of hearts forgive those, ALL of those who have trespassed or sinned against you, no matter how bad the sin by our worldly standards, HE will forgive you in like manner. And, God says that when He forgives, He casts your sin into the sea of forgetfulness, “as far as the east is from the west” Psalm 103:12 NIV never to be recalled. When our past sins come back to mind, they are brought to us by Satan, not God, to remind us how bad we are or were and that we are unworthy. 

The other edge to that sword in our prayer is that if we pray for God to forgive us of our sins AS (in the same way or manner) as we have truly forgiven others (and forgotten their sins to the best of our ability, and to never bring them up again) BUT we haven’t really forgiven them, then we have instructed God to not really forgive us either. Heh! In the same manner. OK, if that’s what you want. And, in case you were wondering, don’t even try asking for forgiveness while telling God that you can’t forgive the others because they don’t deserve it. Remember, it’s not about “deserving” forgiveness because we don’t. 

So, to be truly forgiven, we must truly forgive and failing to do so, i.e., harboring unforgiveness is perhaps the greatest stumbling block to our receiving the blessings God wants to pour upon us, be it the physical, mental, or spiritual healing we so desperately need, or the financial blessings we seek. 

10^th Commandment

Set worthy goals with priorities aligned with God, and develop and work a plan to achieve them. 

When you think about it, most problems that occur in our lives, our marriages and other relationships, especially with our children, our job, and our finances stem from lousy priorities. 

God said in his First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”. Exodus 20:3 NIV But, how many of us routinely put our job before our family and our kids ahead of our husband or wife, drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol ahead of our finances and only remember God on Sunday, provided it doesn’t interfere with other planned events? 

All of that dishonors God’s 1^st Commandment as we shove God to the bottom of our list of priorities. If we make the acquisition of money our #1 priority, or ahead of our worship of God, we are serving mammon, not God. Sure, we need money to function in this life and to provide security down the road, but keep it all in perspective, with proper priorities and God will bless our finances.  

As to priorities, God should be first in our lives. We need to make Him thus and to show that my daily devotions and prayer, true worship in its various forms, and keeping Him and His teachings omnipresent in the conduct of our daily lives at home and at work and when investing. 

God first, our spouse second, our children third, our job fourth, and managing our finances and investments fifth, but in a prudent manner reflecting good stewardship that will prove a blessing to all those who came before. In other words, if we do a good job with our finances, we use them to bless God with our tithe, alms, and gifts, our family, and other aspects of our lives both at present and in the future. 

Since we are each individuals and at different, unique “places” in our relationship with God and others and finances, each of us needs to set realistic goals for each area of our life and continually strive to achieve those goals. Our starting points will vary but following this process will lead each of us to grow in all areas. 

If we all followed these processes and set and maintained good priorities in our lives, our kids would excel and become young Godly men and women, divorce would literally become a thing of the past, we would rise to our greatest positions in the workplace and enjoy the process, we would be comfortable in our Eternal Life, Bless others more, and want for nothing. And, wouldn’t that be better than most of us have today? 

Our goals should encompass many if not all facets of our lives. While we need financial goals, we should have educational goals, career goals, and certainly spiritual and health goals. Consider the impact of health on your quality of life and finances. 

The Bible says our bodies are the “tabernacle for the Holy Spirit”. If that is the case, consider how God must feel looking at many of our obese, bloated bodies and how He feels about how we have abused and neglected his “tabernacle”. There are many passages in the scriptures against the sin of gluttony. For most of our lives we’ve heard the _expression “All things in moderation” and yet we have become a nation of obesity, obsessed with food. Consider some of the negative impact of obesity on our lives. 

Obesity is known to be a major source of chronic disease and premature death in America. Obesity leads to heart attack, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and several types of cancer. I know people who were able to reduce or stop their expensive medication entirely for high blood pressure or diabetes just by losing 30-40 lbs and watching their diet. 

I see people struggling to walk to work or to shop, just trying to get one leg past the other. Why would you allow yourself to get into that situation, I ask? That can’t be “fun”.  

I am a historian of WWII and am into the military aircraft of that day. I have flown on two of the last 12 flying B-17 bombers. I have observed, as I have walked through the WWII submarines that, if America had to fight WWII all over today, with those weapon systems, we would lose. Most of our young men couldn’t fit in the cockpits, walk between the bomb racks, fit in the tanks or submarines, and they sure couldn’t handle the forced marches through horrible terrain and conditions. 

 

At 62 I can swim 3 miles non-stop (that’s 211.2 trips down a 25 yard pool) while young men in their 20’s and 30’s come up to me in awe stating they couldn’t swim 3 laps. It is all what you set as a priority and are willing to do. I remember trying to place life insurance on a nurse who couldn’t understand or afford the rating she received and a bill three times higher than the initial quote. At 5 ft 2” and 280 lbs, I’m surprised an insurance company would be willing to write her at any price. She is a walking time bomb for the early on-set diseases named above and for premature death. And, she was a nurse who, through her training, should’ve known the risks she has undertaken. 

Part of your financial well-being depends upon your personal health. If you don’t take care of your body with proper moderate diet and good exercise to maintain normal weight and overall health conditions, much of what you could otherwise save or invest will go to your doctor, hospital, and pharmacist. The only tradeoff you will likely receive for abusing your body is that premature death will reduce some of the need for good retirement planning and investing. Instead of living 20-30 years in retirement as some will (especially those who watch their weight, exercise, and stay sound) the physically poor individual may never live to retire. 

Do you really think THAT is God’s will for you?