Chris' Christian Blog

January 10, 2022

"Prompt: Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

What does this verse mean particularly pertaining to finances?"

I love this verse because it addresses the philosophy by which I live and the philosophy of The Salvation Army in which I serve. The Salvation Army has taught me that I cannot keep what I have without giving it away. While that sounds like a paradox, I have found it to be very true. I tend to be very loose and generous with my money. I have an income of $1450.00 per month or about $17,400.00 per year. Of that I pay my bills and give away about $200.00 per month. Part of the money I give away goes to the church. My church is the Huntington Corps, Salvation Army. I am a soldier there. Part of my covenant with the army is that I will faithfully tithe my income. Since my take home pay each month is $600.00 I send the Army $60.00 per month right off the top. The rest of my income is student loans which I get 17 days after the start of a semester. When I get those, I usually tithe whatever the whole amount is. It varies based on the tuition that semester. I still tithe the loan even though it is a loan because I count on the loans for income and count it toward my working capital for the term.

Once I pay my bills, which are primarily credit cards, I use those credit cards to help others. There are many people who live at the facility I live in who have little or no income so even purchasing a soda is difficult for them. I often treat them to a soda or a dinner. I also routinely treat my men's club at the Salvation Army to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. The lunch usually runs about $80.00. Then I spend another $120.00 or so per month on other people.

I feel that God wants us to be generous above and beyond our means. I usually do this by using my student loans refunds to pay off my credit card balances and then use the credit cards, along with the stipend of $600.00 per month I get from part time work, to support my spending. God has never let me go for more than a day or two without having credit on my credit cards and a small balance at the bank. My bills are always paid and I still have more than enough to be generous to others. Groups and others on WDC often benefit from God providing for me as well because I buy large amounts of gift points when I get my loans and then give the gift points away. I may choose some random person and anonymously gift them up to 250K gift points or purchase them a premium membership for one year. You never know with me. I just do as I feel led.

Money is a tool. God does not want us to horde money. He wants us to use it to help others. I try to do so with mine and as a result I find that God never lets me do without. I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I just took a cut in stipend pay of $200.00 per month so the $600.00 I was getting has now been cut to $400.00 per month. However, I know that God will continue to provide for me if I do His will and continue to be generous. The Salvation Army never keeps anything. They get huge donations of goods such as soda, food, etc. and all of it is distributed to the needy. There have been times the commander has wondered how we were going to meet the need but God always comes through. One night we were serving a holiday meal. We ran out of food with people lined up to get a meal. As always God came through and a donor provided enough meals to feed the remaining people. I learned to give away the little bit I have and trust God to meet my needs. He always does too!

We cruised across the galactic rim today and saw a star shining brightly. 🌻 thankful pwheeler writes

STATIC

In God's Great Hands  (E) Rondeau poem celebrating God's powerful love #2146469 by 🌻 thankful pwheeler

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I am not always the best at articulating my point. In the entry above I may have misled people to believe that I am advocating giving away everything one owns. This is not my point. My point is that God loves us and He will keep His promises to us. I have proven over and over that generosity pays in dividends. God will supply mny every need because He loves me.