Financial Discipleship - the Bible on Choiceنموونە

How we make decisions

When considering our financial decisions, we first need to consider how we make them. Our decisions are based on what we think and believe. Neil Anderson says, “All behavior is the product of what we choose to think or believe. . . Trying to change behavior, without changing what we believe and therefore think, will never produce any lasting results” (Anderson 2006).

So, we need to look at our beliefs. That is why we need to be students of the Word and indeed memorizers of the Word, so that God’s Word can develop our beliefs and mold our thinking, which will determine our choices and behavior. Our beliefs form our worldview – the way we look at the world – and determine our behavior. Our behavior determines outcomes and the subsequent choices we make to fix the outcomes we don’t like. Here is an example.

If my belief is that I should spend “because I’m worth it,” I will live for today, want to keep up with friends, and spend freely. My identity will be determined by my possessions. My thinking is to go with the flow and do as everyone else is doing. My behavior is that I spend too much, have no budget, don’t know where the money goes, and have no rational criteria for making financial decisions. I then attempt to fix this by spending less money, trying to live on a budget, and starting to track my spending (Briscoe n.d.).

However, because of my beliefs, my outcome will be that I am out of money, constantly in debt, living from month to month, unable to save, and experiencing friction over money with my spouse. This results in fear of the future, and a very uncomfortable state of affairs. I may try to escape from reality or I may try to fix the situation by deciding to borrow more, ask relatives for money, or even cheat (Ibid).

The correct way of making financial decisions is to allow our thinking to be determined, not by what everyone else does, but by allowing God to transform our thinking. Romans 12:2 (NLT) says, “Don’t copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Then our decisions will be based on what God wants us to do, and the results will be good and pleasing to Him (Ibid).

(excerpt taken from Financial Discipleship: Investing in Eternity, Peter J. Briscoe, 2020)