Taking Care Of Business – Your Money!

     I was not sitting under my "Friendly Shade" but having lunch when one of my clients called me on my cell phone, no less.  For three months I had been trying to find a way to contact her.  She was upset that I was going to start foreclosure on her property.  Duh! Where have you been?  Finally after many calls to whoever I could think of,  I finally was able to obtain her phone number and had to call on my personal cell phone in order to get a response.  I call that negligence!

     Life is about “taking care of business.”  The first part of taking care of business is acknowledging Jesus, accepting Him as Savior, and following His Word in all walks of  life. 

     The second part of “taking care of business” comes with the wisdom obtained through reading and studying His word.  Part of that is the handling of our money.  We are to be good stewards of our money.  There is a responsibility to budget in order to care for our needs.   Often, some people do not apply financial wisdom very well.  There is an unwillingness to establish budgets and priorities toward spending.  Many buy what they cannot afford.  They then neglect creditors when they fall into despair over being unable to find the means to repay debts.  Many become so disillusioned with the amount of debt they have incurred that they just continue to charge and continue to increase their debt load.  There is no plan of action and no decision made to take control of their actions.  They are simply unwilling to deny themselves some of the finer things of life in order to live within their financial situation and feel the peace of knowing they are not having to live “paycheck to paycheck.”  

     On the other side, there are those who will sacrifice for themselves but not for their children.  This is good to a point, but when the child is given all he wants and provided with designer clothes just to be considered on the same level as another child, the parent will sometimes fail to instill the basic concept of what is really important.  It is not about how the child dresses but more about loving God, responsibility, respect, unconditional love, and peaceful living; it is about how the child learns to feel about who they really are irregardless of their social status.  We also do our children an injustice when we fail to teach them about saving, about tithing, and the way to live within a given allowance or budget.  They need to learn, at an early age, that they cannot always have what they want and what others may be able to afford. 

     I have found, in my own personal life that it is a big mistake to shop when there is no tangible need.  The desire and the temptation is too much!  What looks so enticing and irresistible is “old hat” tomorrow, but, yet, the expense does not disappear.  A big chunk of change has already left my purse, never to be recouped, and I am too quickly ready  to toss the item out to good-will.   We all want pretty things, bigger cars, expensive vacations, and on and on but, let's face it, some of us just cannot have those things.

     As a banker, I realize the importance of “taking care of business,” as well as the need for a lot of people to resist the urge to shop and spend.  I have helped too many people refinance homes in order to payoff credit cards only to see them return within a few years and repeat the cycle all over again.  I have also been disappointed in the unwillingness of some to act responsible when they, because of their desires, have created a debt.  A simple act of respect; a phone call with an honest explanation goes a long way in being able to assist clients and work out ways for them to be able to repay their debts.

     In Matthew 25:14-17 we are given a parable of the bags of gold whereby one was given five bags of gold, another two bags, and another one bag.  The one with 5 bags turned it into 5 more bags of gold, the one with two bags gained two more, but the man with one bag went off, dug a hole and buried it.  Later the lord of the servant who gained the most wealth was told, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.”

     Money is a big part of life.  We must have it to live, to eat, to obtain electricity,   water, and so much, much more.  How do you handle your money?   Can you say, “Well done?”