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Margin in Your FinancesThe concept of margin in finances is simple: having money left over at the end of the month. Obviously, the global economy does not understand it. But where financial margin has to begin is in your house and mine. Today, financial stress is normal. Living paycheck to paycheck is normal. Debt: normal. Anxiety: normal. No financial margin: normal. So….all we need is a little more money, right? In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, In other words: in the house of the wise there is margin, there is more than enough. Notice that this verse does NOT say: In the house of the wealthy there is margin. There is a wise way and a foolish way You can go to a grand home with all the fancy accessories, two new cars in the garage, and believe that these people are doing great. But what if owning this home is costing them all their time and their peace? What if the price is anxiety and stress and no time for each other? Then you can go to a modest home with no extras, but the people there have time for you, and the energy and margin to make you feel welcome and comfortable. To the untrained eye, they’re not wealthy. But this is indeed a rich house according to Scripture – and according to the people who enter there. Timothy wrote about these two homes: But godliness with contentment is great gain. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap. The many griefs: debt, financial pressure, stress, people unable to see the blessings God has given them, because there’s always something “more and better”. The higher value is godliness with contentment; it’s great gain – the big win. That doesn’t mean that everyone should live in a tiny, modest house. We’re designed to reach higher. But as we reach for that place we dream of, we need to have time for people, be morally healthy – and have financial margin so we can live without the anxiety and conflict that indebtedness extracts. If you do that, you are wealthy long before you attain that dream – because the margin in your life will make you rich. Our culture’s definition of happiness: Most of us have life-styled our way right out of margin. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy….but store up treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Put God first in your finances, His ways and His values. Ask Him to help you manage the resources He’s given you. If you listen, things will change. Look at your expenses, rather than your income. I learned that secret from a man I knew in business who was always asking “What’s the cost??” Even if the service we were trying to sell his company would save him millions – he demanded to know “What’s the cost??” Every time he asked that, he forced a detailed evaluation. Warren Buffet, one of the country’s wealthiest men, lives in an unexceptional home he bought in the 1950’s. This man could, literally, buy any home in the world he wanted. Why does he choose to live there? He said, “Because it’s the richest house I could possibly own. The memories of my wife are in this house (she has passed away), it’s where I raised my children and where they love to come back to.” He understands wealth. It’s not about the money; he could buy a mansion without batting an eye. But it would “cost him” too much to live in another house. Having financial margin is a choice worth making.
Application Thoughts: Do I have margin in my finances, or am I anxious and stressed over money?
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