Budgeting To Bless Your Spouse

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

–1 Timothy 6:10

Because of what the Bible warns about wealth, Christians quickly become some of the most vigilant about their incomes, investments, and donations—and that is a good and right trend as a whole.

There is a brand of budgeting, though, that wears the heroic cape of Christianity, while masking a secret infatuation with money. A lust for more and more money to buy more and more things is evil, and it ironically and tragically steals and murders the life and happiness it promises. A love for money can look like a love to have or a love to spend. A love for money might also reveal itself in an obsession with saving or even giving money away.

Christian, have you fallen in love with the money you refuse to spend?

One way this kind of frugality can eat away at us is by keeping us from blessing the ones close to us—friends, neighbors, even our own families. There’s a thriftiness that will erode important relationships over time. The same safeguards that guard us from spending on selfish, temporary comforts for ourselves can often prevent us from good, tangible acts of love toward others in our lives.

The reasonable logic might say we wouldn’t buy that for ourselves, so we shouldn’t buy it for others. Or maybe we think of it in terms of need. They don’t really need that, so I’m not going to get it for them. I’ll wait until they actually need something to live. At our worst, we’re so focused on our own needs and plans that we just miss the opportunity altogether.

While wisdom prioritizes need and stays within its limits, generosity gladly spends on others, even when it wouldn’t spend on itself. God has given us a responsibility to model his sacrificial, generous, even lavish love for people in our lives, especially our families. Just like in his provision for us, this will often mean purchasing something special, unexpected, even unneeded in order to express our love for and commitment to others.

TALK ABOUT IT

Take a few moments to talk about finances in view of the biblical truth that money is for helping people hope in God. What is your tendency as a couple?

Are you so tight with money that it threatens to compromise your love for others?