We are actively engaged in spiritual warfare on every front, including finance. Knowing this, it’s vital that we employ all available resources to fight and stand against the enemy. One of the most effective weapons in our arsenal is a budget. Not just any kind of budget, but an ACTIVE budget. An active budget is one that gives an accurate portrayal of your current financial picture. An active budget will tell you how much you’re earning, how much you’re spending and where you might need to make some adjustments to accommodate life.
If you want an accurate budget, you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and put a little sweat equity into it. Like it or not, you must RECONCILE your budget regularly to see positive results. (If you’re motivated by a reward system, think about the freedom that comes from living life within your financial means and NOT on credit.) What’s reconciliation?
Reconciliation is “to check a financial account against another for accuracy.” (Source: Merriam-Webster) When you reconcile your budget, you’re comparing your actual spending against what you’ve budgeted. Your budget may say that you’re allowed to spend $100 this week for groceries, but your bank account reflects that your actual spending was $150. Since you’ve overspent by $50, you’ll have to decide how you’ll account for the difference. Reconciliation helps us recognize the areas that are OUT OF BALANCE.
Do you know how much you’re spending?
Do you have a budget?
Are you USING it?
The Bible tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. One of his favorite schemes is to trick us into slavery through financial debt bondage. This is one of the reasons a BUDGET is such a powerful weapon in financial spiritual warfare. When you create, implement, and reconcile your budget, you’re less likely to find yourself in a DESPERATE financial situation which can lead to anxiety, fear and the potential to make an irrational money decision. A budget puts you in the driver’s seat. Rather, an actively RECONCILED budget puts you in the driver’s seat because it helps prevent FINANCIAL IMBALANCE in your life. Financial imbalance can lead us to RELY ON CREDIT (aka DEBT), which puts us right where the enemy wanted us in the first place—in bondage.
Is it possible that a financial imbalance can cause a SPIRITUAL IMBALANCE? Can a financial imbalance affect our walk with God? Can it prevent us from fulfilling His purpose for us? Does it prevent us from honoring Him first by TITHING? Are we spending less time in relationships that produce good fruit that will benefit the Kingdom—all because we’re in DEBT BONDAGE? Yes, yes and yes!!
If a financial imbalance results from living beyond our means—God’s provision for us—can a spiritual imbalance result from relying too LITTLE on the Lord? Absolutely! When we are entangled in debt bondage, we become distracted, fearful, and anxious. Most of us begin to work more hours, spend less time with family, and most likely, less time with our Father. The enemy knows that financial debt bondage leads AWAY from the Lord, not TO Him.
The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy, but our Heavenly Father has other plans for His children. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 16:11 KJV, which says that “A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.” No one can maintain a fair and just balance like the Lord. But, we can strive to maintain balance, even balance in our finances. So, remember that reconciling your budget might not be the most exciting thing you’ll do this week, but it’s one of the most powerful weapons we have in financial spiritual warfare. Keeping our finances in balance with God’s provision for us will help us stay in balance and in step with Him in all areas of our lives.
