A couple of years ago, God gave us seven categories in which to steward the money he’s entrusted to us:
1. Meet Needs: It’s appropriate and necessary to use some of the resources God gives us to meet our own needs. If our child needs a winter coat, we’re going to buy one.
2. Chase Contentment: This category reminds us not to get caught up in chasing the treasures of this world. Paul learned the secret of being content in any circumstance and we want that be true of us.
3. Invest Relationally: Relationships matter to God. We want to invest in activities and experiences that grow God-honoring relationships.
4. Build Capacity: Resources wisely invested today can contribute to a fruitful harvest down the road. We invest in the growth of our business, not so we can have more later, but so we can give more.
5. Save Modestly: We believe that our saving should be modest. For us, aggressive saving will hinder our ability to participate in building God’s kingdom now and it probably would lead us to trust in the money in the bank rather than living by faith with an eternal perspective.
6. Engage Opportunity: Opportunities often come with a short-term cost. A few years ago, we had the chance to take our children on a mission trip. We could have simply given to the ministry, but being able to travel as a family and see what God is doing around the world was a unique opportunity we didn’t want to miss.
7. Give Generously: We begin with tithing, but as God blesses us financially, we want to give everything that remains back to him. Our desire is to focus on our eternal investment portfolio and leave the returns in God’s hands.