Few people realize that their spending affects their relationship with God. What we do with our money indicates what is most valuable to us. It indicates what or who we worship.

Half of the world lives on less than two dollars a day.* It would cost 6 billion to solve education problems and to create literacy for the entire world, yet in America 8 billion is spent annually on cosmetic sales. This is why what we do with our money matters.

With the economic downturn our country is taking it is difficult to justify doing a lot of frivolous spending, yet many people do. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck spending all of their paycheck every time they receive it.

In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul says:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

In order to keep our priorities straight and to remember God with our finances, it is important to understand that our money is a gift from God. It is given to us so that we may bless others and sustain ourselves. We should use our finances to honor the Father.

James 1:27 tells us:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

That may be the key to the world’s problems. We have pierced ourselves with many griefs from the love of money and in our greed forgotten what is beautiful in God’s sight, to look after orphans and widows in their distress — basically, the down-and-out.

God even challenges His followers in Malachi 3:10 (NIV):

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

I heard a sermon once where the pastor of a low income neighborhood was giving budget advice to his parishioners. He said that people should live on 70 percent of their income, using that for bills and daily needs, ten percent should go to savings, ten percent to a tithe, and ten percent should be used for spending. I think this equation works well for most people. It is simple and an easy way to track a budget. 

A tithe is a portion (10%) of your income set aside to sustain the church.  It is usually paid in the services.  Some people say that an offering is also a gift required from God but I believe that to each heart this gift will vary.  If God has blessed you abundantly, you may want to give a generous offering to help with those in need or to help with your church’s giving.  An offering is different from a tithe.  Paying a tithe is important because it keeps the service of the church working financially.

I challenge you today to put your money where your heart lies and set a budget that would honor God then follow it.

*For more statistics on global poverty, go here: http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp.