Have you ever wondered how to manage your finances in a way that aligns with your Christian faith? Join us, Catherine Van Der Laan and Erica Fluckus, as we share life-changing insights on money management and giving from a Christian perspective.
We'll explore how following God's plan for our finances can lead to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
In this eye-opening episode, we discuss the importance of planning, budgeting, and trusting God's direction for our financial journey. We share the story of a client who, with our guidance, discovered clarity and purpose in her financial life, embracing God's promises for her.
Discover why planning and budgeting are crucial for freeing ourselves to give generously and live joyfully, and how to prioritize tithing in our lives without testing God's trust. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable wisdom on navigating the world of finances as a Christian!
Book a free coaching session: https://www.saverstreet.com/free-consultation
saverstreet.com
catherine.vanderlaan@saverstreet.com
FB: @SaverStreet
IG: @saver.street
Have you ever wondered how to manage your finances in a way that aligns with your Christian faith? Join us, Catherine Van Der Laan and Erica Fluckus, as we share life-changing insights on money management and giving from a Christian perspective.
We'll explore how following God's plan for our finances can lead to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
In this eye-opening episode, we discuss the importance of planning, budgeting, and trusting God's direction for our financial journey. We share the story of a client who, with our guidance, discovered clarity and purpose in her financial life, embracing God's promises for her.
Discover why planning and budgeting are crucial for freeing ourselves to give generously and live joyfully, and how to prioritize tithing in our lives without testing God's trust. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable wisdom on navigating the world of finances as a Christian!
Book a free coaching session: https://www.saverstreet.com/free-consultation
saverstreet.com
catherine.vanderlaan@saverstreet.com
FB: @SaverStreet
IG: @saver.street
How you manage those small things will determine what God trusts you with later. And if you want Jesus to say well done, good and faithful servant, which, yeah, that is the line for eternity, right, i trusted you with a little and now I trust you with a lot. That is the line for hey, you stepped out in faith because I gave you hope, i gave you a promise, and you were walking toward that and you were listening to my guidance and you were listening to me while you were planning and you were listening to me while I directed your steps and you were listening to me as you got closer and closer and closer to that. And now you know my voice and I am your shepherd and your guide and your counselor and the one who loves you, and I just want you to be with me. Welcome to the Money Ministers podcast. My name is Catherine Vanderlaan and I'm Erica Flukis.
Speaker 1:We're the Money Ministers and we're here to help you understand what God says about managing money.
Speaker 2:It's a tricky topic, but God says a lot about money in the Bible. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:All right, welcome to the Money Ministers. My name is Catherine Vanderlaan.
Speaker 2:And my name is Erica Flukis.
Speaker 1:It is nice to well, we're not really seeing the audience, but it's nice to be here And if you're listening, we're happy you're here. Today we are discussing how to manage money as a Christian, coming out, planning and giving, and what God wants us to do while we manage money. What do you think, erica?
Speaker 2:Well, catherine, this is going to be excellent. I think this is so important. I think a lot of times, we it's easy to make money, right, we all pretty much have jobs or way that we can get money, but what do we do with it? Well, i really think it starts with planning. So this is going to be an excellent topic.
Speaker 1:I'm excited. I'm excited too, i'm excited. It's actually it's one of those topics that that kind of permeates Christian culture. Right, planning what do you do with money? I've known a lot of ministers. My husband's a minister. We're the money ministers, right? I mean, i'm a minister in training. You came from seminary. I'm sure we've known a lot of ministers And there's one huge attitude that that permeates Christian culture.
Speaker 1:When it comes to planning, we'll just use the pastor analogy to begin with. Some pastors plan their sermons like who the word? they plan their sermons And you can kind of tell because they're reading their sermons out loud And yeah, and other pastors will try to plan the topic and then go up there and talk and say, holy Spirit, come on me, speak the words that that you have for me, and sometimes that goes well And sometimes it really doesn't. I've seen both. I've seen both. We have this planning stream between super, super, super planners and those who really don't plan much at all And personalities don't lend themselves to planning their sermons, their steps, their programs, their lives or their finances. And here we are coming to the topic of how you manage money as a Christian and what, what that really means, what God means and what he calls all of us to do.
Speaker 1:Right, i had this one client. Let's just go into a real world example. I had this one client who came to me and I will admit I was intrigued by her story. I was intrigued by what she had and what she approached me with, and I don't usually take clients like her. She came to me without any direction whatsoever. She said yeah. She said I've been making money. I've been spending a lot of money. I think God has a plan for me, but I figure if he has a plan for me, he's going to make it happen. I'm just kind of floating along. I don't really have milestones in my life that I'm trying to meet. And can you help me? Somebody told me I need to learn how to budget, but I don't really see the purpose. Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, right. And when people come to me and they say I don't really see the purpose, i will usually say yeah, okay, well, maybe later. Bye.
Speaker 2:That's kind of cool. They need your help, right.
Speaker 1:It's a little cold. It's a little cold, but with her I thought there's something else going on here. There's something, and there was. So we workshopped it a little bit. I thought maybe digging in would help You know, really digging into the issue. Why does she seem so apathetic? This is beyond apathetic, like, let's figure out what's going on here. And she did have some sort of purpose and vision for her life. It was just super, super fuzzy. She hadn't really gone to find God's direction. Then, over time, over a few months of working with her, we honed that in. We honed the direction of her life. We found God's promises for her life and started creating that plan. It was difficult because she really thought that if God has given me a purpose and a direction for my life, he's just going to do it and there's nothing I can do to make it not happen. That's not really true, though, erica, is it?
Speaker 2:No, it's not. I think if the scripture talks about, we're co-labors with Christ.
Speaker 1:I don't know the address.
Speaker 2:But God needs us to work with him. We're partners with God And so because the bottom line is, god is not going to force himself on us, he's not going to pressure us to do anything, because we have free will, right. So I mean that's why we see sin in the world, unfortunately. But we have to make that decision and take ownership of what he's given us. So it starts with realizing that, okay, i have a say in this. What do I want? Where do I see myself? What do I want to do with my money? Do I want to just pay bills for the rest of my life? That would be. I mean, it's unfortunate. I don't mean to laugh at anyone if that's where you are, but God wants so much more for us than just to what I call being a rat race of just surviving. He wants us to. I know it sounds cliche, it sounds like a cliche, but he wants us to thrive, not only survive, but thrive, and so. But it boils back down to planning, knowing where we want to go in life.
Speaker 1:So that's right. I mean, i don't think God created the world and said you know what I think? today I'm going to make some cows and horses. It makes sense to put light before Earth. I don't think every day. He woke up and went what's next? Hmm, let's see here. I think he looked at the Earth, the heavens and the Earth as he was creating them and he knew the beginning and the end, because he is our Alpha and Omega.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:He knew the beginning and the end and his entire plan and how it was going to come about, before he even created the Earth. He knew Adam was going to fall, he knew he would have to send his son, he knew the love that he would have for his people, he knew how much he would have to give and he planned it. So, coming back, how do you manage your money as a Christian, knowing who God is? Because that's the perspective we have to have When we're sitting here in our day-to-day lives, and it could seem a little bit mundane.
Speaker 1:It can seem somewhat like drudgery or like we are fighting, we're battling uphill and our enemy has the upper hand. It can seem like the world is against us because the world is against us. Yes, okay, it can seem very, very hard. So what do we do? Because money is a symptom of your life. It is not the be all, end all, it is not what we work for. We work for the glory of God. We do everything for the glory of God. Yes, we don't fight against people. We fight against principalities and the evil spirits of the world. So, as we're managing our money, what it really means is we are managing ourselves. Erica, how would you say God wants us to manage money, and why? Why does he want us to manage money that way?
Speaker 2:Well, as you were talking earlier about how God made everything, he had a plan for how he made the earth. He didn't just sit there each day and say, oh, i think we'll do light, i think I'll do dark. And it reminded me of 1 Corinthians 1440 that says but everything should be done in decency and in order. And so I think about how, like you gave the example of God, but really in our lives, right? Everything? there's an order to what God expects, how we should live, right? I mean, you know, there's an expectation that God has for us to be his children, to be of the light be filled with love, loving like he is.
Speaker 2:That's the expectation.
Speaker 1:Right, erica, if I might interrupt you, i think I know what you're saying. I think I know where you're going with this because, okay, we've talked about God and who God is, and I think we're getting kind of to a point here. We are called, as Christians, to be like God, you know, be holy, for he is holy, and that is, it's relatively impossible without Jesus Christ, but everything is possible for God And so we can be like God. We need to, as Christians, be more and more and more like Jesus, relying on the strength that God gives us.
Speaker 1:And if we try every day to rely more on God, to ask God for strength, to ask God to change us and meld us and become more like God, we are going to find ourselves becoming planners. We are going to find ourselves organizing things and making things more beautiful. We are going to find ourselves actually planning out our finances and our lives, because that's what Jesus did, that is what God did and that is what the Holy Spirit who resides in us wants to do. That's what he wants to do in our lives, and not in an inflexible, rigid kind of way, but in a loving and a joyful and a peaceful way. Right, god wants us to plan, because he's a planner and that's how he's organized the world. And God wants us to plan so that we can be free to give like.
Speaker 2:Jesus did.
Speaker 2:Yes, i love that And I love how, when we plan, it gives us peace as well, because when you know where your money is going and like you have emergency, like if something happens with your car, and you know that, okay, i'm setting so much aside every month for emergencies, you know my savings and it gives you a peace of mind and it helps to.
Speaker 2:It prevents you from having to go into debt, to be in bondage. You know, to borrow, you know, because there was a day I'll just be transparent when I used to think credit cards was like my emergency fund, to be honest with you, before I learned that no, you can go ahead and put cash away. That's why you need to put cash away in savings, so that you have that to pull from, because you don't want to get in the habit of using a credit card. And so when you plan, it gives you freedom in that peace of mind for when things happen, you have a budget for everything, like when Christmas rolls around. You have a budget, you know. You know what you can afford and what you cannot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's a really good point too, because planning needs to have direction. But planning also needs to be wise in of itself. If you plan to use every single dollar that you have, that plan is going to go wrong, because you need to plan to give and have a strategy to give when that time is right. You need to plan to save because life does not go the way that we plan.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, i mean, god's hand is on it, on all of the earth and on all of us, but we pray that God's will would be done here on earth for a reason. It's because it's not done here on earth and because there is evil here on earth and because men do fall And there are more people who have rejected God in the world than there are who are trying to follow him. So we need to plan for that evil to influence our lives, to actually change what we do and how we spend our money. We need to plan so that we can steward God's wealth and people when they need it. All of that is to say it's planned to live well below your means so that you can bless others.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, i love that because you're right, it's not just about spending money for ourselves, but it should be divided up, like you said giving daily necessities or responsibilities, of course, and then also savings, investing, investing definitely that should all be a part of the plan about people who aren't actually good at planning.
Speaker 1:I've met so many people and just a ton of Christians who say I would so much rather leave the plan up to God and can you do my planning for me completely, Or can we just skip the planning part and get to the doing part? What do you think, Erica?
Speaker 2:Well, i think it's again. I think it's hard to do if you don't plan. You know you can do, but you might, you know, find out you have too much you're trying to do without any planning And if that happens then you might be in a deficit. You know, you think you have your debit card. Oh, i'm just gonna do this and do that and don't have a plan. You're gonna look up in in what I don't know what do they call it, the overdraft fee at the bank.
Speaker 2:But definitely, i think the scripture that's coming to me is at the time is Hebrews 1211. It says no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful Later on. However, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. So I think what that scripture tells me is that, even though it may suck, that you have to sit down and plan, and a lot of people don't like it and it's not fun, it can be uncomfortable, but again, it goes back to having that peace of mind and it just produces a harvest at the end of the day, because first of all, that's where you start if you wanna be blessed, if you want increase, if you want a promotion, if you want a job paying you more money. God's not gonna give you more until you're found faithful with what you have now, what's in your hand. So be faithful with that, which means budget plan.
Speaker 1:Plan it All. a budget is a plan. It is a plan to use God's money wisely. In Proverbs 21.5, it says the plans of the diligent surely lead to profit, and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty. God does not want you to be in poverty.
Speaker 1:No, yes the no, no, he doesn't. The poor we will always have with us, he says, and it's not a good thing, that's not his intention. He just he knows that people who rely on their emotions to plan for them in the time rush to poverty, when that is the human condition, we are emotional And if you run on your emotions instead of running on your thoughts and your plans, then you will end up with those overdraft fees, you will end up with high credit card debt, you will end up with a well hold that's really hard to get out of. Can we talk about? actually, you reminded me of Matthew 24. The three servants, two of them made a plan, acted out their plan and made money for their master, and when one of the servants buried the money in the sand and gave it back, basically God, or the king or the master, whoever was there threw that one servant out, the one who didn't have a plan, and when the other two, he blessed exceedingly.
Speaker 1:If you want God to come back and say well done, good and faithful servant, it starts with the small things. When those small things are your budget, those small things are how you manage your household. It's how you manage your household in a way where you're giving and you're saving and you are paying off the people that you owe. How you manage those small things will determine what God trusts you with later. And if you want Jesus to say well done, good and faithful servant, which, yeah, that is the line for eternity, right? That is the line for hey. I trusted you with a little and now I trust you with a lot. That is the line for hey.
Speaker 1:You stepped out in faith because I gave you hope, i gave you a promise, and you were walking toward that and you were listening to my guidance and you were listening to me while you were planning and you were listening to me while I directed your steps and you were listening to me as you got closer and closer and closer to that. And now you know my voice and I am your shepherd and your guide and your counselor. I'm the one who loves you and I just want you to be with me. All of that comes down to can you have a little bit of self-discipline and exercise that as it comes to your plan? And if you can do that in your budget, you can do that in your life, and if you can do that in your life, as you were listening to God, you will have that eternal life. Not that you can earn the eternal life you can't earn it but you really have to show that you believe it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i love that Showing yourself faithful. I love that you brought the passage about the talents. because God can give you money, i mean he can bless you. but for those who are, why It's like you think about it? if you're a parent, why would you give your child more money If you know they're gonna be irresponsible and not manage it well And so-.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Or if they're too, they're not mature enough. Like if you have a five year old, you're probably not gonna give them $1,000. It's just gonna be maybe a dollar, right So because they wouldn't know what to do, they're not even old enough to use it.
Speaker 2:But when you become a beige, of course you can have that analogy in the natural then God is like okay, you're 18. Yeah, i want you to have $1,000. You need to get your own place, you need to go to school, you have all these things that you might wanna do. So, okay, but can you hinder $1,000? Definitely it's important to be faithful right where you are, and then it also comes back to having. I think, too, it relates to being just having a heart of gratitude, because I think sometimes we can complain about I'm broke or not having enough money, but until you can learn how to manage what you have and be thankful for what you have I think that's a big part of it as well You're not gonna see increase, you're gonna remain stagnant at that same level. So definitely, praise in God for what you do have, as well as important.
Speaker 1:And can we talk about that just a little bit more and really, really expand on that? Because a lot of people have said to me hey, I can't give, I have so little, I have so little that I can't give. And what would you say to that?
Speaker 2:Well, you can't afford not to get it. I mean, again, it's like you're God wants to bless us And it's like you're holding him back. I feel like we hold God back, we're putting limits on him when we start complaining and we have doubt, unbelief and all these different things. And I think it's a matter of trusting God. Right, and let's trust in him and not lean into our own understanding, as Proverbs three says. That's the scripture, that's one scripture, but trusting in the Lord with all our heart, right, trusting that if I tied or if I give, that's who he wants me to give. You know, it's just really about okay, god, i'm going to honor you and do what your word says. I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills next month, but you said the time. So that's, you know, and it's so. So we miss it and we get caught up in our own thinking And that's what hinders us.
Speaker 1:Well, let's dissect that a little bit here, because I actually think we might disagree on this. I wouldn't tie if I didn't know how I was going to pay my bills. I wouldn't, and yeah, and that's because it wasn't a priority. Yet If you have structured your life in such a way where you're living above your means to the point where tithing is a stress, don't, because then you're not going to be a joyful giver. You're going to look at that gift and say that I'm trusting you for your provision, but I'm also kind of trapping you and I'm testing you. Are you going to provide for me because I gave to you?
Speaker 1:And that's not good. That's not good. We're not here to test God. So I think tithing should be a priority and it should be worked into your life. So, if tithing is a big stress, give in a different way.
Speaker 1:At the moment, don't use it as a, don't use it as a hey. Well, i'm giving in a different way and you know it's not an excuse. It's not an excuse. It needs to be a priority and you need to cut things out of your life in order to tithe. You need to, and the moment you can, you should. You know, the moment it is not a huge and unnecessary burden on you that then becomes a burden on someone else because you are without, then you should give. But you need to work that into your plan, into your budget, into your behaviors, into your actions first, so that you can give with a joyful heart. Because if you're not giving for a joyful heart, god does not rejoice in our sacrifices. God rejoices in our obedience. And oh yeah, there's a catch 22, right, is it? is it obedience to tithe? Yes, but you have to plan for that first, right? I don't know, we might disagree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. I do believe it just starts with a heart. It has to be something that changes in your heart. So, yeah, i agree, i see what you're saying, that you do have to give with a joyful heart because God doesn't want to ask what his word says. And I agree, there shouldn't be no manipulation on your part as well, either if you're getting out of time or something else, or because it's not about you just getting. But I really feel like it is a heart, it is a matter of your heart. So I remember there was a time when I was unemployed and I was thinking I don't have enough money. There's more money going out than coming in but I continued to tithe. Now my heart was right, but I remember contemplating well, you know.
Speaker 2:You know where I'm at, lord. You know, do I really need to tithe? you know, contemplating is the best word, and I remember tithing and just releasing it And I was fine, i was okay, and until the stay I'm like, wow, more money was going out than coming in. I remember having a home. I didn't lose my home, even though I probably should have. During that time, you know, the market was very crazy And so I just, yeah, out of that experience, i know that that's, i guess, what I'm speaking out of. But definitely don't be a grudge when you give, because it's not going to be any good to God, really going to be you getting your heart right and understanding. And it's a work and it may not be overnight, but it does have to be out of a heart, a pure heart, to want to give Right.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit of a cash 22. That's a back and forth between you and God, if your heart is right and you're doing it for the right reasons and you have a plan and you are planning to give. and yet more money was going out than coming in. But did you have an emergency fund? Were you redrawing on some sort of savings, erica?
Speaker 2:No, i was not, i was trusting God, it was safe. That's what I'm saying. It was all safe. I did not have a mercy fund and God sustained me. And so that's why, in those times when it's hard, when you don't see and it's like, okay, i really don't think I should be doing this. But this is what you said, god. So, but it comes out of just, i'm going to surrender, and you know me, you knew that would be in this season, at this time. So I think it was just. I think it has to come out of a release, of a trust. I believe it's a huge trust issue and a heart issue as well, because God knows us and I think that's where his grace comes in, you know, but I think it is. I know for me it was a huge surrender, a huge sacrifice, but he sustained me throughout that season and I never went without. I never went without, and so that's the blessing of the Lord that kept me truly.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I fully believe that, because our God is good and he gives good things to those who love him and serve him according to his purpose. I mean, I think I quoted that verse right, but it's about what it means. Somebody, if you are listening or watching or anything right now, somebody knows that verse. Put it in there, because I don't even know where to start looking for that Maybe Google. But if you know it, put it down there. There's one verse in Malachi that I keep coming to and I know Malachi is in the Old Testament, but our God does not change.
Speaker 2:Exactly I agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he had a plan from beginning to end. And in Malachi he was bringing his people to task. They were not giving. They were giving some of the worst things. They were sacrificing some of the worst animals. They were withholding their tide. They were letting the Levites go hungry and the Levites were leaving, they were stopping, they were not serving God anymore because they were starving And so they left. And God was so angry with them and so sad about the situation.
Speaker 1:And he says in Malachi 3, verse 10, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this. He asked them to test him. He says Yahweh of Armies Okay, that was the name that they used there to show his power. If I will not open you the windows of heaven, so the windows of plenty right, and pour you out a blessing that there will not be room enough for, that is saying, hey, obey me, bring the good things, bring what I've asked you for, provide for my house, bring your whole tithe, all 10% in a tithe, i mean literally means 10% of the increase. There's a sense of obedience here in obeying what God says. Yes, we should obey God and we should do it with a, with a glad heart and out of the increase of what we have. So, anyway, i think we have we've talked about that a lot Yeah we have made our point.
Speaker 1:I feel like this podcast episode is going to be a little bit longer than we anticipated, so sorry to everybody who's listening. Here is your application, all right. We have our God, our God of armies, our Yahweh of armies, who is fully, fully powerful. We have our God who is our counselor, our guide, planner, the one who created the world, who owns everything on it, the cattle on a thousand hills. We have our God, who is so, so powerful, so wise, so loving, full of peace and joy, who gave us hope in the promises that he has for us, both in the Bible and for us in our personal lives.
Speaker 1:If you know God and you are pursuing God and you are asking him for direction in your life, he has given you a promise.
Speaker 1:He has given you a name that only you and he know, written on a stone that you will get in eternity. He knows you, he has placed desires in your heart, he has given you a promise for your life and all you have to do is ask him, pursue him and listen. Then take those steps, Take the steps toward that hope, take the steps toward that promise. Those are the steps of faith, not knowing if they are necessarily the right steps, but you're asking God every step along the way to get closer and closer and closer to that promise. And when I say, take those steps of faith and take those steps toward that hope, you have to do something and you have to plan it. And you have to know where you're going. And you have to plan to be within God's will, which means giving. You have to plan to have a heart of Jesus Christ because you know that at the end of the day you're going to.
Speaker 1:So embody that. I'm not going to say claim it because I really I'm not part of, i can't do the claim it culture like I can, but embody that. Know that God has so many good things for you. Know what they are. Pursue him, love him, pray, listen, go, be free. Do not worry about what you will say, do not worry about what you will do, do not worry about your future. God has it in him. Go, follow him And plan.
Speaker 2:Very well said, very well said.
Speaker 1:All right, i think that is it for today. Thank you for listening Great show. Yeah, thank you for listening to this podcast episode. It is fun And we will see you in the next episode. Yes, bye, thank you for listening to this episode of the Money.
Speaker 1:Minister podcast. I'm glad you're here. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate our podcast on iTunes or whatever you're using to listen. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Saverstreet, and if you need help with your personal finances, feel free to book a complimentary consultation at Saver Street dot com. We'll help you find what you need in your journey to financial independence. I'll see you in the next episode.