By Matthew R. Legere

 

Last week we talked about the importance of placing our finances in the Lord’s hands and recognizing that He owns it all.  The reality is that, after following the voice of the Lord and giving of our finances, there should be some money left. I have talked to many people that were generous givers to the cause of Christ and were obedient to the voice of the Lord, but they couldn’t handle their remaining funds in ways that continued to glorify God. 

 

The important principle to keep in mind is that we have the opportunity to glorify God in our tithes, offerings, and special donations, but we also have the opportunity to give praise to the Lord in how we handle what’s left.  If God truly owns everything, then we will give Him control, not only of what we give to the church, but how He handles what’s left.

 

Personal Testimony (a.k.a. Telling on Myself)

To be fair, let me state that I’ve not always been good at handling my finances.  I am a converted spendthrift who is a work-in-progress.  I used to spend my money irresponsibly and now I’ve been told that I’m such a penny-pincher that I can make the “Indian ride the buffalo”—a reference to an old image that used to mark our copper currency. 

 

Furthermore, if you had told me three years ago, that I would seek to help others handle their finances wisely, I would have fallen on the ground laughing.  However, I am a living testimony to what can happen when you give control of your finances to God.

 

Growing up, I came from a middle class home where my mom and dad worked hard to provide us with opportunities that they did not have.  They sacrificed to send me to Christian School, Bible Camp, and other avenues where I could make a connection with the Lord.  I may not have had the latest styles of clothes or shoes, but I always looked presentable and had all of my needs met. 

 

However, when I got my first job, I decided that I deserved all the material things that I did not have in my earlier childhood.  I bought a brand new car on my 18^th birthday and, as I continued to progress in my career and make more money, I continued to raise my level of consumption regarding items such as shoes, clothes, CDs, and going out to eat.  A further point of shame was that I did not even pay tithes and offerings during this time because I “couldn’t afford it.”  (Thank you, Jesus, for Your patience!) 

 

I even started to get a haughty attitude about the things that I was now able to acquire.   When my sister and I would go to the mall, she would buy a scrunchie for her hair, while I would buy the entire fall collection from Old Navy.  As I walked out of the store, I would ask my sister to hold part of my shopping bags because my arms were hurting and I noticed that she had some hands free!

 

There’s No Debt Like Marriage Debt

When my wife and I got married, we continued to spend liberally, despite what our bank account would tell us.  Then, six months after we got married, we had the bright idea that we were tired of renting and we wanted to buy a house.  By this time, we had racked up, between automobiles and credit cards, about $20,000 in debt.  So, with $52.29 in our savings account, we went to the mortgage broker and they said, “Sure, we’d be happy to let you buy a house.” 

 

So it was that, in January 2003, I was sitting up in bed in our new house with chest pains saying, “Oh, God, what have I done?”  When our house purchase was over, we were staring at a $120,000 mortgage, $11,000 in personal loans to make repairs to our house, $22,000 in car payments, and over $6,000 in credit card debt. 

 

My wife and I ended up sitting down at our kitchen table with some materials on giving control of our finances to the Lord.  We prayed and repented of our ungodly financial behavior, we acknowledged our dependence upon the Lord, and we physically signed a contract that gave control of our lives and our finances to the Lord. 

 

We also started to keep track of our tithing (on gross income), and we started to give to foreign missions.  Whenever something bad would happen (like the roof and furnace both needing to be replaced in the same month), our attitude was “Well, we will just have to sign up to support another missionary!”—which we did. 

 

Since that time, we have paid off both of our vehicles, we have paid down our mortgage to a little over $100,000 (while our home is appraised at being worth over $170,000), we have paid off our house repair loans, and we are targeting early 2007 to be done with paying our last remaining credit card.  We’ve been able to have my wife cut her work hours down from 40 to 20, so that she can spend more time with our son, and the Lord even opened up the door for her to be able to bring our son to work with her.  Our God is truly an awesome God!

 

Next Week: So What Am I Going to do with 90%?

 

ninetyandnine.com

 

© 2006, Matthew R. Legere

 

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Matthew R. Legere, his wife Heidi, and his son Connor reside in Bristol, CT.   He is currently working full-time as a Senior Underwriter, attending online classes at Great Lakes University, and pursuing his local UPCI minister’s license.  He realizes that sleep will probably escape him until he reaches the Heavenly gates, where he’s told there will be no sleeping either.