Managing Your Money

Did you know that average teenager spends $3000 a year!  That's an average taken from students who were 13 to 19 years of age so you can imaging the older students bring that average up and younger ones typically bring it down (unless you end up with a diva 13 year old!).  Parents and students spend a lot of money on school supplies, personal care products, gas and insurance, food, etc.  It all adds up!

I wonder, do students even realize how much money is spend on them in a year, a month, a week, or a day.  As a teenager, do you keep track of what you spend?  You may say, "Well I don't have a job...so I really don't spend a lot of money."  However, that doesn't take into account all the money your parents spend to buy you the things you want and need.  Believe it or not, you are a steward of your parents money!  And if all things are owned by God, the way you manage your parents money determines whether you are a steward or a prodigal.

In "Mastery of Materialism" John MacArthur pointed out that "16 out of 38 of Christ's parables deal with money; more is said in the New Testament about money than heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about money than prayer; and while there are 500 plus verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions."  Money was obviously an important topic for Christ!  Why?  Like he said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21).  Jesus showed that money impacted the heart and the He was and is very much concerned for our hearts.  Mismanaging the resources that God provides is a symptom of a heart disease.

God gave us many examples of people in the bible who managed their resources well.  Joseph, for example was one of those people.  You remember the story.  How he was sold into slavery by his brothers but in every situation he found himself in he managed the resources he was given so well that his masters placed him in charge of everything until eventually he was second in command over all of Egypt just under Pharaoh!  In that position he was so successful that he saved the lives of all the surrounding countries during a severe famine because he had "filled up the storehouses."  Joseph saved and managed his resources so well that when famine came, he still had plenty to go around.  How are you doing at managing your money?  Do you keep track of your spending?  Next time we'll talk about the principles of budgeting and how they impact our stewardship.