The Faithful Steward

Fall brings change. Change from a more laid-back, less regimented season to one of more routine. Vacations are over, the kids are back in school, and rhythms of life are being re-established. This is a great time for a financial check-in. Summer expenses like vacations have impacted our spending plan. Maybe a physical move has led to a different financial picture. Looking ahead, back-to-school exp...

In our last episode, we saw the importance of having those congregation-level conversations about money. Of teaching Biblical principles and helping our people understand the concepts of God's ownership and our stewardship. And of separating that conversation from the one we usually have about funding church programs. We need to teach our congregations the "why" and the "what" of stewardship. But...

If you're a stewardship leader or a teaching pastor, you know that talking about money to the congregation is hard. It's not comfortable - for you or for the congregation. People get defensive when they feel that you're prescribing rules that don't make sense to them in their situation. Part of the problem is that over time, we've conflated the concept of stewardship with giving. Stewardship is ab...

August 21, 2024 marks the one-year anniversary of The Faithful Steward. In this year, we've worked to bring topics to help individuals grow in their understanding and practice of stewardship and to help church leaders disciple their congregations in this important area. In this episode, we look at some of the highlights of the year past and anticipate some exciting topics for the year ahead. The y...

We've all had the experience of setting big goals at the beginning of the year and then getting to the end of the year and being disappointed at having fallen short. Maybe the goal was to lose weight. Maybe it was to get out of debt. Or maybe some other really good - but really big - goal. Goals are great for helping us envision the lives we want to have. Without them, we drift. But even with clea...

We've probably all been there. Life just isn't working. Our jobs aren't bringing the satisfaction we thought they'd bring. We're not as happy in that big house as we thought we would be (and the expenses are breaking us). Sometimes, we need to make a change - but change isn't always easy. Change can be hard for any number of reasons: Fear of the unknown: We're not happy, but we're safe where we ar...

We've all had those days at work when we're not at our best. Maybe we're tired, or facing problems at home. Maybe we're even a little burned out. But for some, especially during and since the pandemic, these days have become the norm. The pandemic gave rise to the term "Quiet Quitting", where people show up at their job but don't really add much value. They do just enough to avoid getting fired, b...

Do you ever feel guilty when you think of financial success? When you plan for how much you need to save for the future, rather than immediately giving it all away? When you look to take that next step in your career into more responsibility, more authority, and more income? As believers, we can fall into one of two traps when it comes to thinking about money. We can treat it as though it's inhere...

Can money buy happiness? We all know how we're supposed to answer that question. "No, of course not. Money can't buy happiness." And yet we've all experienced those moments of joy and happiness from something we've wanted for a long time and finally bought, or that family experience that we paid for and that created lasting memories. And many of us have encountered the difference between the anxie...

Most of us equate being rich with a high income. If we're earning well into the six figures, we're rich. But cash flow is not the measure of wealth. Wealth is measured in net worth - the difference between what we own and what we owe. And for many high earners, that difference can actually lead to a negative net worth. A HENRY is a High Earner who's Not Rich Yet. A HENRY has the potential of being...

Summer. Long days, vacations, warm weather, slower pace. Opportunities to relax, spend time with family, take a break from hectic seasons. And a great chance to check in on our stewardship. If we've been tracking our spending against a plan, then this is the perfect time for a checkpoint. Are we over-spending in some areas? Under-spending in others? Have we saved what we said we would save and are...

Inheritance. For many of us, this represents the largest single sum of money that will come our way. And as a result, it represents the largest opportunity for faithful stewardship - or for wasteful mismanagement. Whether earned or received as a gift, all the resources in our possession ultimately belong to God. So God calls us to manage those resources for His glory, as well as for our ultimate b...

Statistics show that the situation of adult children living with their parents is on the rise. This was true before Covid, was heightened further during the pandemic, and continues to be the trend. There are lots of reasons for this - economic, social, and others. But the question is, as parents, how do we handle this situation? Parents who are dealing with their own aging parents can find themsel...

Education loans are the largest financial obstacle facing many recent graduates today. School debt begins to come due at a time when most people will make the least money in their careers, impacting their ability to start a family or make other key decisions. Most graduates got here because of assumptions that were made as they thought about what they would do after graduating high school. Perhaps...

We've seen some of the keys to teaching our kids about money: Letting them see our mistakes Giving them experience with money of their own Communicating and modeling stewardship principles When our children hit major milestones - like college, moving out, and marriage - the effort we've taken to disciple them in stewardship really begins to pay off. But how do we approach these milestones? How can...

What does it look like to actually teach our kids about money? The biggest key is giving them responsibility for managing their own money - and starting early. When parents tell their kids, "We're not buying that - it's a useless toy that will break as soon as you get it home," kids only learn that their parents make all the decisions. But when kids make those decisions with their own money (an al...

Sometimes, the most important things to teach our kids are also the hardest. This is often true when it comes to teaching our kids about money. Maybe we've made some mistakes and don't feel qualified to lead our kids financially. Maybe our parents didn't teach us about money, so we're not sure how to go about it. Or maybe we just think "it's none of their business how we manage our money." The thi...

Overspending. We've all done it. We've spent money we didn't have on things we didn't need but that made us feel better in the moment. Or we've lacked intentionality in our finances and ended up spending more than we make just because we weren't paying attention. But is it possible to go too far the other way? To "underspend"? In a word, Yes! It is possible to underspend. Underspending may not cau...

It happens. The unexpected medical expense. The sudden car breakdown. That appliance finally wearing out. These kinds of unpleasant surprises happen to all of us. And, if we're honest, we often look back on how we responded and think, "If only…"  Why do we tend to make bad decisions in the midst of financial crisis? These sorts of crises involve more than just our bank accounts and credit cards. T...

Last week in episode 31, we admitted that financially, we often do things we don't really want to, and neglect things we want to do. But that isn't the end of the problem. We keep acting this way, bringing the patterns of our past into the future. How can we break free? First, we need to recognize that the past doesn't determine the future. As Michael Hyatt says, there's a big difference between "...

Paul lamented that he didn't do the things he wanted to, and did the things he didn't want to (Romans 7). For many of us, that sums up our financial lives. We want to make good decisions, to use our resources in ways that honor God and achieve important purposes. But we don't. Why? The truth is that most of our decisions don't start with numbers in a spending plan. Those numbers are just the outwo...

Last week in episode 29, we highlighted the importance of responding to financial setbacks from a spiritual perspective - allowing God to stretch and grow us from the difficulties we encounter. Recalling that God is the owner of all the resources he has put in our care, and persevering in our walks with Him. This week, we look at the next step - responding in practical ways to the very practical c...

It happens to everyone - the disappointment of a financial setback. Maybe it's a medical emergency. Perhaps it's an unexpected repair bill. Maybe it's a decision that didn't work out. We all face financial setbacks. The question isn't "if"; it's "when". When those setbacks occur, we may be tempted to take one of two paths. Maybe we catastrophize the setback. We give up, thinking that every time we...

Stewardship - like discipleship in general - has some common characteristics across believers. Traits like recognition of God's ownership, gratitude, perseverance, discipline, and a spirit of abundance. And it will embody some common attitudes toward money, like diligent earning, prudent spending, generous giving, wise saving, and caution with debt. But beyond characteristics like these, stewardsh...

Spring brings newness of life and fills our minds with possibilities. We rejoice in spending more time outdoors. Maybe we get a spring break. We anticipate a summer vacation. Spring is also a great time to reflect on our practice of stewardship. If we set goals at the beginning of the year, enough time has gone by that we can get an idea of whether we're on track. And if we're a bit off track, eno...