“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste lead to poverty,” ~ Proverbs 21:5 says.
Motivational speakers always talk about the need to plan and set priority on your activities. I think they got that speech from the Bible. Solomon is telling us to plan diligently:
Have a study plan, a Bible reading plan, a life plan, a business plan, a plan for your relationship, and one for your finances; but keep v30 in mind and let God guide you in your plans.
"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord." ~ Proverbs 21:30
“Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough.” ~ Proverbs 21:5 (GNT)
Almost everyone wants to be financially responsible. And if you’re a follower of Jesus, you want to experience God’s blessing in your finances. Rick Warren said that one step in reaching those goals is to plan our spending—to develop the spiritual habit of budgeting.
- A budget is simply planned spending.
- It’s telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went.
- The only way to meet your financial goals is, first, to determine how you want to use your money and then, to make a plan for it to happen that way.
- According to Rick Warren, financial freedom does not come from making more money. It comes from spending less money.
- Financial freedom is not based on how much you make; it’s based on how you spend what you make.
- You and I can be financially free at almost any level of income.
If you don’t know how to manage money at your current level of income, you won’t know how to manage more. No matter how much or how little income we may have, we need to learn how to plan our spending.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough” (GNT).
- In our days, “acting too quickly” can be likened to impulse buying—spontaneous, unplanned spending.
- Impulse buying has this attitude: You see it and you want it, so you get it.
- How many of us have bought things and later realised we don’t need them? (I surely have).
So how do we break the habit of impulse buying? According to Rick Warren, we need to use a budget! Let’s set up a plan and tell our money where we want it to go. Then we follow that plan and shop less.
Study after study has shown that if you shop less, you spend less. If you’re in debt or struggling with. finances, for example, the last place you need to go to relax is the mall. If you don’t want to get stung, stay away from the bees!
These are not new, deep insights; but they are certainly hard to follow. It takes real discipline to change our spending habits, and hard work to write out a budget and stick to it.
Two words I learnt today are “Process and Responsibility.” This is God’s usual way of blessing His children.
And on the days when it’s most difficult, let’s remember that God is with us and He wants what is best for us.
God wants to see our faithfulness in money management. And He will help us take all the necessary steps to become responsible stewards of what He’s given us. You’re blessed!
Stay blessed and do share your wisdom lessons from Proverbs 21. Remember to tag us on 📲:
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