Ron Blue

Kingdom Advisors founder Ron Blue was once asked what a wealthy giver would look like. Ron said that if the person looks like he can give large sums of money based on his home and the car he drives, he probably can’t.

Ron’s point was that Christians living a worldly lifestyle is the biggest obstacle to significant giving. That doesn’t mean we should take a vow of poverty, but instead, we need to follow the Bible’s “commandments” for money to determine an appropriate lifestyle. And living this lifestyle requires some simple, foundational decision-making principles to keep us on track. God’s Word contains many such examples, but we’ll focus on these four:

### __First, we are commanded to give.__

Proverbs 3:9 says, *"Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce."* In 1 Corinthians 16:2, the Apostle Paul adds, *"On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come."* Here we believe that tithing is only the “training wheels” for giving and at the very least, Christians should commit to giving a percentage of their income.

### __The second biblical commandment is that we pay taxes.__

This is an irritant to some, but in Romans 13:7, Paul writes, *"Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."* Jesus Himself also gives us insight on this commandment when He says in Matthew 22:21, *"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."*

This does not mean we should overpay our taxes. We are entitled to every legal deduction and credit. We must, however, pay what we fairly owe because we represent Christ in the world.

### __In the same regard, the next commandment for money is that we pay our debts.__

Numbers 3:2 has this clear warning, *"If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”* We also find in Psalm 37:21, *"The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.* Not paying our debts responsibly makes us no better than the wicked.

### __The last of our four commandments for money is to provide for our family's needs.__

In 1 Timothy 5:8 Paul writes, *"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."* We also find in Proverbs 11:29, *“Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.”* It is unthinkable that a Christian would ignore this; even unbelievers know that we must provide for our families.

### __God’s Part and Our Part__

These commandments underscore that God not only provides our income, but he determines its amount. We are then responsible to prioritize its use, to obey His commandments to give, pay taxes, repay debt, and provide for my family's needs. The rest we can use for saving or spending on the lifestyle God would have us live.

Christians must resist the temptation to make lifestyle our top priority and we do that by faithfully following these four commandments of money. When we struggle and begin to think it isn’t possible to keep them, we must remember that God knows otherwise, or He wouldn’t have given them to us in the first place.

### __Your challenge then is to reprioritize the way you use your money, to align it with Scripture. Do that and see how amazingly God works in your finances.__

FaithFi

Articles

Kingdom Advisors founder Ron Blue was once asked what a wealthy giver would look like.

DEBT | Feb 25, 2021

THE 4 COMMANDMENTS OF MONEY

By: Ron Blue

Where Faith Meets Finance

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