What Should Be My Financial Priority?Shembull

Pursue God’s Kingdom

As Christians, we can be assured that God will give us wisdom when necessary to make financial decisions. At the same time, our hearts need to be in the right place. As God’s children, we need to focus on His Kingdom. God’s financial priorities should be our financial priorities. 

In the Gospels, Jesus spoke about financial worries and concerns. He said that while we are living in this world, we will need food to eat and clothes to wear. We will be concerned with where to live and how to provide for our families. The Lord acknowledged the legitimacy of such needs. However, He encouraged His disciples not to preeminently pursue these things, but rather the Kingdom of God. When we seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first, God will provide everything we need to live in this world. 

In this earthly life, everyone has financial concerns. We all want to provide for ourselves and our families. Some people value certain things over others, but everyone has similar material needs for food, clothes, and shelter. What this world does not acknowledge as being important is the advancement of the Gospel. That is a uniquely Christian concern. Only Christians take their hard-earned money and invest it in heavenly things. Therefore, giving to the Lord should be the chief priority of every believer. This is the way we acknowledge God as the owner and the provider of everything we have. That is how we obey the Word of God—by laying our treasures in heaven and investing in eternal things.

The Bible tells believers not to set our hearts on earthly things, but on heavenly things. To make the right financial decisions in this life, we must make sure that God’s priorities are our priorities. When we concern ourselves with what concerns God, we can trust Him to take care of us. We need to plan our giving to the Lord as part of our budget. At the same time, we need to give willingly. It should not be anything that we feel external pressure to do. Our giving should come from our hearts, from our desire to glorify and honor God with our lives. The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. He is also a great rewarder of those who diligently pursue Him.