In God We Trust

My church is currently doing a little mini sermon on money & finances. I know what you're thinking; Isn't that kind of a touchy subject o talk about in church? Why yes, it is. But that's just my pastor. He's not shy.

Anyway, today he was talking about the crazy, ridiculous debt crisis going on in this country.
Did you know that our money actually warns us? Yep, it's true. On every single dollar bill, every single coin, they all say this:

In God We Trust.

Yes, that is a warning label.

It means that we TRUST in our Lord & put our faith in Him, not in this flimsy little piece of paper. trust that He will provide, no matter what gets thrown our way. Trust that He is good & sovereign.

He let's us keep 90% of what we make & all He asks for in return is a measly little 10%. That's it. One dime for every dollar you make. That's practically nothing. He deserves so much more, yet that's all He asks of us. How incredibly is that?!

Did you know that we actually have the ability to reach into the future?! It's true. Credit cards give us the capability to reach our pretty little hands into the future, grab a hand full of money, pull it back & put it right into our pockets. Crazy right?!

There's just one tiny problem - most people don't realize that they will eventually have to pay all of that money back.

With credit cards come responsibility. It doesn't mean that you can buy that pair of shoes that you can't really afford. It doesn't mean that you can go on a vacation to Italy just because you "need a break". It doesn't mean that you should buy your girlfriend that diamond bracelet that she's been eyeing because you forgot about your anniversary last week.

I have a little secret for you: when you run out of money, stop spending. It's as simple as that.

Why would you want to spend money that you just don't have? What if there's a mix up with your bank? What if you loose your job? What if the economy suddenly crashes? Oh wait, that actually happened.

Seriously people, just stop being stupid.

Make a budget - a realistic budget - & stick to it.

So this is a challenge to all you bloggers out there! I have a budget. Ben got me to make one about a year or so back & I have to tell you I wasn't super excited about it - I mostly did it to get him to stop nagging me about it - but now that I have one I don't know what I ever did before.

Confession: I really have to work on sticking to it more. It's so easy to pull a little money from my clothes envelope to buy that coffee that I really [think] I need.

Anyway, budgets are awesome & you should make one. & if you have one already, then congratulations (:

Have a great week!