Successful Money Management for Christians Lesson Four
Successful Money Management for Christians
Lesson
Four
“Are
Financial Goals Necessary?”
“Come
now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,
spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’” (James
Does
James condemn planning what we will do in the future? The answer is easily
seen to this question in the three following verses: “whereas
you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is
even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this
or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is
evil.”(James 4:14-16) The sin is not in the
planning, but planning without God in the picture and planning with
arrogance or boasting!
Have
you heard the saying, “People
don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan?” The reason many people
fail to succeed financially is….they never take the time to put down on
paper what they hope to accomplish in their lifetime with God’s help and
willingness. The God we serve is a God of order and planning. He planned
for man’s redemption in Christ before the foundation (or creation) of
the world (Ephesians 1:3-4). He let His plan be known in a limited
(mysterious) way from Abraham on down to the coming of Christ. If God sees
the value of planning, shouldn’t we?
THE
VALUE OF FINANCIAL GOALS
If
God allows each of us to live a full life on this earth, we will be able
to make and spend a lot of money! How well we make it and spend it will be
very important if we want to make the best use of what we earn. We need to
begin early to plan and have goals of what we want to accomplish with the
money God allows us to make.
Proper
financial goals are important in money management for at least the
following reasons:
(1)
They
serve as guidelines, but not absolutes, to control our use of money.
(2)
They
can give direction, but also purpose to our lives.
(3)
Goals
help to crystallize our thinking.
(4)
They
provide personal motivation.
(5)
When
goals are properly made in view of God’s Word, they become the course
for my life.
(6)
Goals
simply help to get the job done successfully and properly.
Someone
has observed: “An oxcart is as
good as an airplane if you do not plan to go anywhere.”
BARRIERS
TO GOAL SETTING
Studies
and Surveys have indicted that there is a great lack of planning on the
part of most people. Some Surveys indicate as high as 80-90% do
not properly plan for their retirement years, much less other major
interest. What are some of the reasons given for not setting goals
financially?
(1)
Assumption
that goal setting takes a lot of time.
(2)
The
person does not know what goals to set.
(3)
Or,
he/she does not know how to set them.
(4)
Not
sure if goals are in accord with God’s Will.
(5)
Fear
of failure.
Many
other barriers could be listed, but the real issue here is not why people
do not set goals, but to see the value of setting goals!
SETTING
YOUR GOALS
There
are different kinds of goals to deal with financially. Some are BASIC,
some are SHORT-TERM, and some are LONG-TERM. The following are some
suggested worthwhile goals for which to strive:
(1)
Learn
to live within your means. Buy wisely (Proverbs
(2)
Strive
to be self-supporting….to care for your own.
(Genesis
(3)
To
have resources to live in dignity that should characterize one made in the
image of God (Genesis
(4)
To
have a commodious, livable house we can enjoy and in which we can
entertain others (Luke
(5)
To
have funds to care for and to educate our children (Proverbs 22:6).
(6)
To
have financial strength that gets one out of debt and keeps one from
worrying over past due bills (Romans 13:8).
(7)
To
be able to take vacation time and rest (Psalms 55:67).
(8)
To
have a surplus (saved and invested) to ride out bad days without strain (Proverbs
6:6-8).
(9)
To
have sufficient to care for us in old age (Proverbs 6:6-8).
(10)
To
have something to pass on to our children (2 Corinthians
(11)
To stress the setting of priorities of our goals (Matthew
(12)
To determine how the money will be allocated to:
a)
Things
we have committed ourselves to (Romans 13:8)
).
b)
What
God’s Word teaches (Matthew
The
following are some important concepts about goals:
(1)
Focus
on the future, not the past. But use the past to plan for the
future.(Philippians
(2)
Do
not focus on your present situation, but envision what the future can
hold. (Colossians 3:1-2)
(3)
Do
not let the accumulating of financial resources be an end in themselves.
(1 Timothy 6:18). Have good purposes, goals,
objectives for accumulating. Ask, “What am I trying to accomplish?”
(4)
Be
able to give up today’s desires for future benefits.(Hebrews
(5) Be sure your goals are godly goals, not selfish and worldly goals. (1 Timothy 6:10-11)
(6)
Realize
that money, time, and talent are means to an end of serving
others.(Matthew
SHORT
AND LONG-TERM GOALS
A
worksheet is provided with this lesson to help you do some planning. It is
divided into two sections: Short and Long-term Goals. The short-term goals
would involve planning for six months, a year, maybe two to three years.
Beyond this, one might want to consider them as long-term goals. Success
for the Christian is knowing what God expects
of us and working to achieve them so that we can hear the Lord say in
Judgment, “Well
done, good and faithful servant……enter into the joy of your lord.”
(Matthew 25:23).
CONCLUSION
Financial
planning is the pre-determined use of financial resources in order to
accomplish certain goals and objectives. But the Christian must be sure
his goals are worthy goals, goals that will bring glory to God (1
Corinthians
Homework
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DEVELOPING
FINANCIAL GOALS
I.
SHORT-TERM
GOALS:
A.
General Giving:
1)
We
want to be giving this amount for year……$
2)
Give
additional gifts each year of………………$
3)
Special
Drive gift………………………………$
B.
Small Lifestyle desires:
1)
We
want to make the following small purchases:
____________________________________$
____________________________________$
____________________________________$
2)
We
want our type of lifestyle to:
____Increase
____Decrease
____Maintain
present level
C.
Pay off Minor Debts:
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
D.
Short-Term Savings:
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
II.
LONG-TERM
GOALS:
A.
Major
Gifts:
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
B.
Major
Lifestyle changes:
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
C.
Major
Debt Retirement:
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
________________________________________$
D.
College
Fund for Children…………………………$
E.
Financial
QUESTIONS
TO HELP WITH PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
1.
Do
you owe too much? Is your debt above 15% of take-home pay?
2.
Do
you have a savings account with at least 3-6 months pay for emergency?
3.
Are
your investments wisely diversified?
4.
Have
you converted or cashed in all “E” Bonds bought by December, 1942, or
earlier?
5.
Do
you use reliable source of investment advice?
6.
Do
you carry home owner’s insurance to protect your investments?
7.
Do
you have your valuables in your home listed, evaluated, and photographed
for insurance purposes?
8.
Have
you reviewed your life insurance policies to be sure of adequate coverage
in case of death?
9.
Is
your health insurance adequate for large health costs?
10.
Do
you and spouse have legal wills made out?
11.
Do
you check up every 2-3 years on your Social Security?
12.
Are
wills, stock certificates, insurance policies, marriage license, birth
certificates, etc., in a safe place together?
13.
Do
you have photo copies of all of the above in a separate location?
14.
Does
your spouse and the person to serve as administrator of your will know
where those papers are?
15.
Do
you take advantage of investing in an IRA each year for tax purposes?
16.
Have
you planned your retirement finances yet?
17.
Will
your retirement income be protected from inflation?
18.
Have
you chosen someone to help you with your future investments?
19.
How
would your prioritize this list?
a)
Lifestyle
b)
Debt
retirement
c)
Taxes
d)
Accumulation
e)
Giving