“You and your money are designed for something much bigger than wealth accumulation. We are wired to use our money for something far more significant than ourselves. God has designed us (and any resources we have) to make a difference in this world.” Money is designed to bring joy, but not in the way we tend to think. The joy we get from money is the joy we get from using it in the ways God intends.

I often find my relationship to money similar to my relationship to physical fitness. For a long time I’ll be mindful and disciplined, I’ll save carefully and give with generosity, I’ll eat modest portions and exercise regularly. But if I’m not careful, I can inadvertently slip into bad habits and wasteful patterns. Self-control can give way to spending that extra dollar or eating that extra donut. In both areas, I need to maintain vigilance and, even better, to retain a biblical awareness of why both physical and financial discipline matter so much.

It’s for that reason

“You and your money are designed for something much bigger than wealth accumulation. We are wired to use our money for something far more significant than ourselves. God has designed us (and any resources we have) to make a difference in this world.” Money is designed to bring joy, but not in the way we tend to think. The joy we get from money is the joy we get from using it in the ways God intends.

I often find my relationship to money similar to my relationship to physical fitness. For a long time I’ll be mindful and disciplined, I’ll save carefully and give with generosity, I’ll eat modest portions and exercise regularly. But if I’m not careful, I can inadvertently slip into bad habits and wasteful patterns. Self-control can give way to spending that extra dollar or eating that extra donut. In both areas, I need to maintain vigilance and, even better, to retain a biblical awareness of why both physical and financial discipline matter so much.

It’s for that reason that I make books on finance part of my regular reading diet. It’s not that I don’t have a well-developed theology of stewardship and money, but that I can slowly slide away from it. I was glad, then, to spot The Money Challenge, a new book from Art Rainer that offers “30 Days of Discovering God’s Design For You and Your Money.” The book is not framed around thirty daily readings, but it does break its application points into thirty parts, one of which can be completed each day for a month. The big point Rainer means to communicate is this: “You and your money are designed for something much bigger than wealth accumulation. We are wired to use our money for something far more significant than ourselves. God has designed us (and any resources we have) to make a difference in this world.” Money is designed to bring joy, but not in the way we tend to think. The joy we get from money is the joy we get from using it in the ways God intends.

So what’s the purpose of the book? It’s not to work you through the process of eliminating debt or saving for retirement. It’s not to help you avoid some of the too-common traps and temptations like credit card debt and high-interest car loans. All of those things are important and all come up along the way. But each of them is actually just a means to the greater end of living a life of God-glorifying generosity. This involves following a three-step formula: Give generously, save wisely, and live appropriately.

Read More

that I make books on finance part of my regular reading diet. It’s not that I don’t have a well-developed theology of stewardship and money, but that I can slowly slide away from it. I was glad, then, to spot The Money Challenge, a new book from Art Rainer that offers “30 Days of Discovering God’s Design For You and Your Money.” The book is not framed around thirty daily readings, but it does break its application points into thirty parts, one of which can be completed each day for a month. The big point Rainer means to communicate is this: “You and your money are designed for something much bigger than wealth accumulation. We are wired to use our money for something far more significant than ourselves. God has designed us (and any resources we have) to make a difference in this world.” Money is designed to bring joy, but not in the way we tend to think. The joy we get from money is the joy we get from using it in the ways God intends.

So what’s the purpose of the book? It’s not to work you through the process of eliminating debt or saving for retirement. It’s not to help you avoid some of the too-common traps and temptations like credit card debt and high-interest car loans. All of those things are important and all come up along the way. But each of them is actually just a means to the greater end of living a life of God-glorifying generosity. This involves following a three-step formula: Give generously, save wisely, and live appropriately.

Read More