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Financial Ethic #4 part 2: What’s the Point of Saving?

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Nia Davenport

I made the confession in the last post that I am not a natural saver.  However, over the years I’ve learned that there’s so much benefit in being a saver that I never want to go back to the empty-wallet person I used to be! 

Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have an empty wallet because of a low income.  I’ve made a fairly decent living for as long as I can remember.  I had an empty wallet because every dollar I earned got spent.  The closest I came to saving was setting money aside to buy some expensive consumable item. But if something else sparked my interest in the meantime, the money got spent on that, and I forgot about the thing I was saving to buy.

So I’m writing this post from the perspective of someone who needed some convincing herself.  And my hope is that, as we examine the reasons the Bible gives us for saving, you’ll be convinced enough to do it, too! Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Planning, Money Management, Saving and Investing, Series | 1 Comment

Financial Ethic #4 part 1: I’m Not a Natural Saver!

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Nia Davenport

I remember in my childhood that my younger brother always had money, but my wallet was always empty.  He earned less allowance than I did, but he always seemed to save enough to buy really cool things and still have change left over.  I, in contrast, had no idea where all my money went. 

Now I know why.  

I’m excited to devote the next several posts to the topic of saving, because as you just read, it isn’t something that comes naturally for me. So whether you consider yourself a reluctant saver, a natural saver, or somewhere in between, my aim is to give you Biblical understanding that will encourage and equip you to live by this Ethic.  

“We will save a portion of our incomes for future difficulties.” [1]    Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Friction, Money Management, Saving and Investing, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #3 (Part 4)

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will pay our debts promptly and seek to stay out of debt.  We will not co-sign for another’s debts.” [1]

For our third Financial Ethic, we will continue to examine the topic of debt.  Since the statement above is very straightforward, my approach to this topic will also be straightforward.  I have already shared with you some of the economic, lifestyle, and emotional reasons why debt is something to be avoided.  It is my hope that you have begun to plant these firmly in your mind, and will refer back to them frequently to motivate you to eliminate any debt you already have and avoid future debt.

In this final post on Ethic #3, we will examine the spiritual side of debt. 

Previously, we illustrated exactly what debt is, how it affects you in the long run, and some of the practical reasons to avoid it.  But now we’ll focus on the most important reason that all believers must seek to avoid debt and co-signing:

The Bible warns us to.

At various points in every believer’s journey, they reach a crossroads where they are faced with the need to release old destructive thoughts and behavioral patterns in a particular area of their life, and to turn and embrace God’s ways. 

This four-part series on debt was designed to bring each of you to such a crossroads.  Continue reading →

Posted in Debt and Borrowing, Financial Friction, Money Management, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #3 (Part 3)

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will pay our debts promptly and seek to stay out of debt.  We will not co-sign for another’s debts.” [1]

For our third Financial Ethic, we will continue to examine the topic of debt.  Since the statement above is very straightforward, my approach to this topic will also be straightforward.  I’m going to share with you some of the economic, lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual reasons why debt is something to be avoided.  It is my hope that you will plant these firmly in your mind, and refer back to them frequently to motivate you to eliminate any debt you already have and avoid future debt.

In this post, we will examine the emotional side of debt.  Continue reading →

Posted in Debt and Borrowing, Financial Friction, Money Management, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #3 (part 2)

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will pay our debts promptly and seek to stay out of debt.  We will not co-sign for another’s debts.” [1]

For our third Financial Ethic, we will continue to examine the topic of debt.  Since the statement above is very straightforward, my approach to this topic will also be straightforward.  I’m going to share with you some of the economic, lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual reasons why debt is something to be avoided.  It is my hope that you will plant these firmly in your mind, and refer back to them frequently to motivate you to eliminate any debt you already have and avoid future debt.

In this post, we will examine the lifestyle side of debt.  Continue reading →

Posted in Debt and Borrowing, Financial Planning, Money Management, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #3 (Part 1)

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will pay our debts promptly and seek to stay out of debt.  We will not co-sign for another’s debts.” [1]

For our third Financial Ethic, we will examine the topic of debt.  Since the statement above is very straightforward, my approach to this topic will also be straightforward.  I’m going to share with you some of the economic, lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual reasons why debt is something to be avoided.  It is my hope that you will plant these firmly in your mind, and refer back to them frequently to motivate you to eliminate any debt you already have and avoid future debt.

In this post, we will examine the economic side of debt.    Continue reading →

Posted in Debt and Borrowing, Money Management, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #2 (part 3): Tithing Works!

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will show God’s love with the money He entrusts to us.  We will put God first in our lives through giving tithes and offerings.  We will give to the church, to missions, to the poor and especially to the needy among our own families, relatives, and Christian friends.”[1]

I grew up hearing only negative things about tithing.  So I always thought of it as something that greedy preachers taught so they could buy a nice Cadillac and live in a big house.  I thought it was a scam designed to make them rich.

But I was wrong. Continue reading →

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Financial Ethic #2 (part 2): Giving is a Blast!

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Nia Davenport

I was thrilled about how much money I had saved on groceries over the course of 4 weeks.  You see, with 5 children, “Groceries” is the highest line item in our family budget besides the mortgage.  So this savings involved reading the newspaper sales circulars and clipping coupons.  It involved more cooking from scratch, and planning inexpensive meals and snacks.  And it really paid off.  There were a couple of things I wanted to buy just for fun, and now I had enough cash to afford them.

But God had another plan.  Continue reading →

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Financial Ethic #2: Bottomless Pockets

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Nia Davenport

“We will show God’s love with the money He entrusts to us.  We will put God first in our lives through giving tithes and offerings.  We will give to the church, to missions, to the poor and especially to the needy among our own families, relatives, and Christian friends.”[1]

Which is easier:  being generous with someone else’s money, or being generous with your own?

My middle son’s school was raising money for a disaster relief effort. He came to me, very well rehearsed, talking about how sad their current condition was and would continue to be without our help.  I listened compassionately, then asked him how much he though we should give.  He came back with an amount that sounded very reasonable to both of us, until I asked him another question.  “How much money from your own allowance are you going to give?”  With a shocked expression on his face, he replied, “I wasn’t talking about giving my money.  I want to give your money!” 

Isn’t it interesting how much easier it was for my son to have thoughts of boundless generosity when he didn’t think of himself as the source?  The same is true for all of us.  God knows that in our human understanding, our ability to give is limited.  And so He empowers us to boundless generosity by revealing that 1. He is the source of all we’ll ever have or give and 2. His resources are limitless.  Let’s reflect on these two truths as we affirm our commitment to financial ethic #2.  Continue reading →

Posted in Giving, Series | Leave a comment

Financial Ethic #1: Nia’s Test

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Nia Davenport

I recently had the opportunity to profit from someone else’s mistake. 

As I was driving through a parking lot, a gentleman accidentally backed into my minivan.  Let’s just call him “Joe”.  Joe quickly acknowledged his fault, made sure I was okay, and gave me all of his insurance and personal contact information.  It was clear that he was a financially “comfortable” man, and he was more than willing to do whatever was necessary to make things right.

I talked and prayed with my husband about what had happened, asking God to guide and protect us and Joe as we worked through this situation.  Then I told Joe that I would get an estimate on the following Monday so that he could decide if he wanted to handle it privately or file his insurance.

The repair estimate from the body shop wasn’t cheap, but it was pretty straight-forward. So Joe decided he wanted to pay cash.  He also agreed to pay for me to rent a car, since it would take 4-5 days to fix the damage. Now, I should mention that I have a large family and am used to driving a very comfortable 8-passenger minivan.  But as I shopped for rental cars, I discovered that minivans are among the most expensive.  How was this decision going to be impacted by my financial ethics?

Continue reading →

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