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WHY TEACH BIBLICAL FINANCE IN CHURCH?
is addictive – debt just makes it possible to easily satisfy consumerist and materialistic desires.
CRISIS SITUATIONS
Most people live on the edge financially. Living from hand to mouth, what comes in goes out each month. An often-heard cry is ‘how will I make it to the end of the month?’ A 2016 study by the Money Advice Service showed that a quarter of the UK’s population have savings of less than £100. When a crisis occurs and there is no reserve, then people are led to borrowing, anxiety increases and financial problems worsen. The Bible has a verdict on this matter when it tells us that “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets” (Proverbs 21:20).
When confronted with serious cash shortages, many people turn to ‘payday lenders’ who charge horrendous interest rates and so plunge people into a vicious downward spiral of debt.
An abrupt change in financial circumstances can easily trigger relational and mental health problems. We need to teach our people to become financially robust to be able to cope with unexpected life changes.
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for
I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).
IDOLATRY
Idolatry is perhaps the sin mentioned most often in the Bible. Although idolatry is described
in different ways, it usually involves putting something else in the place of God, often something that humans have made themselves. In a typical reference, Isaiah writes, “They bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers
have made” (Isaiah 2, 8). In the New Testament,
the apostle Paul repeatedly condemns idolatry, criticising those who “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being” (Romans 1, 23).
What do you think about when you first wake up? What’s on your mind just before you fall asleep? If your first and last thoughts of the day are
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