Fruit Inspection

So last time we talked about Tithing. Today we will discuss the importance of saving. “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets” Proverbs 21:20 (TLB).

When I first began the study on saving I didn’t think that anyone would refute the significance of putting money aside for a rainy day. I knew that some people would argue that they didn’t have enough money, but who wouldn’t find peace of mind in having the safety net? As it turns out, some Christians believe that having money stored up, “just in case”, reflects a lack of faith in God.

Their argument is that God has promised to take care of ALL of their needs. And that is true. But consider this: could it be that God is providing for future needs by giving you an excess of funds each month to set aside if and when a tragedy should befall your family? It is our responsibility to thank God for taking care of today’s needs, then use the remainder of what He’s given to us in a sensible manner.

With that said, let’s move on to why it is so important to save. First, we never know what the future holds for us. People are injured and unable to work every day. Natural disasters can happen anywhere on the planet. And it is wise to save early in life because smart investing can yield great returns as we approach retirement age and still have 20 to 30 years of our life left to live. Who wants to spend all that time working?

It has been said that the average American is 3 weeks away from bankruptcy, with little or no money saved. Why? I believe it’s because saving requires self-denial. And in this country, when we want something, we go and get it. We think we deserve it and are entitled to have it. We want the biggest. We want the best. And we definitely want it before our friends get it!

If you feel the pressure of living without this safety net but don’t know where to begin, start out small. Is there a savings plan offered through your place of business? Lots of times the money you invest will be taken out of your check before taxes and so you barely notice it on payday. Also, do you eat out 2 meals a day? By eliminating one of them you could save $5 a day or $25 a week. That is $1300 dollars a year. The key is: don’t touch it.

It’s for emergencies. And an emergency is not that your iPod fell in the toilet and broke so you needed a new one. An emergency would be that you had a house fire and used $500 to pay the deductible on your insurance claim. Or your child ends up in the ER and you need $100 for the copayment.

And true, $1300 a year is not much in the grand scheme of things, but like I said, it’s only a start. And look how far just $5 a day will get you. If you can master that, you could try eliminating something else. Does the family eat out every Friday night? Going every other weekend instead could save you (depending on the size of your family) roughly $100 a month. So add another $1200 to the figure and you are now saving $2500 a year, and all you’ve cut out is one Starbucks coffee a day and eating out twice a month.

To wrap it up, let me just encourage you to try it if you never have and if you are already saving, keep up the good work. I will write more about saving options another time. There are so many out there, it will be an entire piece all on its own. And remember, for more detailed information, visit Crown Financial Ministries.