My Four Point Commitment: Part 1

When I share my ministry with my potential partners, I make a four-point commitment to them when I ask them to be a part of my team. 

1. I commit to work diligently to touch the lives of people for Jesus Christ

2. I commit to regularly let you know how God is blessing the ministry

3. I commit to be financially faithful with the funds given for my ministry. 

4. I commit to share prayer concerns, and praises, with one another.

Looking over the past 10 years of living paycheck to paycheck, I did not think that it was a responsible way of being financially faithful to my ministry partners, to my students, or to myself.  I wanted to learn how to spend, save, give, and use my money in a way pleasing to the Lord. After all, it is His money to begin with. My commitment to be financially faithful, led me to take Financial Peace University. I have been learning how to manage my money in a biblical way that I was never taught before.

Taking this class, I learned a lot about my spending. I typically spend a lot of my money on food. By learning about this behavior, I have discipline myself to only eating out if it is work related or a social meal with others. By doing this, I now have extra money to save for my emergency fund, or to upgrade my jeans that have holes! I also have considered a cheaper way of buying and storing groceries, without cutting healthy meals. This works for my ministry as well, since most of ministry and fellowship happens over a meal.

The class was taught by Dave Ramsey. When he talked about saving, he spent time telling the class about the differences between men's and women's view of savings. He said that men view it as cash that "is just sitting there" and women view it as more of a security blanket. I do not know if it is true for every person, but, now that I have my emergency fund in place, I feel more secure if something were to happen. More importantly, I now know how to save, and why it is important.

When I was a little girl, I thought that giving money is only something grown-ups with high paying jobs do. Until I started raising support, no one I knew talked about giving money or tithing. Throughout college and raising support, I learned that everyone is called to tithe and give. In fact, my financial givers are some of my best teachers for me in this area by giving generously and joyfully.

My nine-week class just ended last Sunday, and I feel much more equipped to budget. I have a solid plan in place to be proactive about spending, saving, and giving. With this plan, I will keep my commitment of being financially faithful with the funds given for my ministry.