More Money and Marriage

I would like to continue the last post and dig just a little deeper into how God uses money in our marriage to bring us closer to Him, both as couples and as individuals.  I am continuing to study Money and Marriage – God’s Way that is put out by Compass – Finances God’s Way  as it does a great job presenting the importance God places on how we handle money in our marriages.

The study lists a few of the 50 plus “One Another” verses in the Bible.  Reading the “One Another” verses reminds us of the importance Jesus places on loving each other (John 13:34).  Although loving “One Another” applies to more than our spouses, there is no better mirror to see how we are doing in this area than looking at how we are handling our money in our marriage.  Here are just five “One Another” verses and a little money in marriage checkup.  I might suggest you look at the other “One Another” verses and give yourself and your marriage a complete checkup.

Philippians 2:3-4: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard ONE ANOTHER as more important yourselves...  How many of our purchases are made with our spouse in mind.  When we shop for groceries do we purchase the things our spouse likes or what we like?  How many (man) toys do we have?  And how many of our toys were bought because our spouse wanted them.

Romans 12:16: Live in harmony with ONE ANOTHER.  Money is the #1 cause of divorce.  How many arguments are the results of money conflicts in our marriage?

Romans 15:7: Accept ONE ANOTHER, just as Christ accepted you.  Pretty much every marriage I have ever seen is comprised of one spender and one saver.  Larry Burkett used to say if both husband and wife were the same, one of you was not necessary.  Do we accept and celebrate the differences in money disposition or do we bristle over them?

Galatians 5:13: Serve ONE ANOTHER in love.  Men and Women tend to look at money differently.  Men tend to focus on the big picture; retirement, paying off mortgage, freedom from a job, buying the big toys.  Women tend to focus more on the security of meeting immediate needs; buying groceries, clothes, paying the electric bill.  Do we share our spouses concern with the family finances or just focus on our own?

Galatians 6:2: Carry ONE ANOTHER’S burdens… Many times we will sit down with a husband and wife and the one that is not paying the daily bills (usually the husband) is amazed at the financial condition and subsequent stress.  Additionally many widows or widowers quickly realize how little they knew of their financial situation upon the death of a lifelong mate.  Do we share the burdens and concerns of our finances with spouse or do we let them take care of them?

Look at your money and your marriage as a little checkup to see in a very practical way in analyzing your progress that you are making on fulfilling the New Commandment to love one another.  It starts with our money in our marriage.  Here is a link to about 55 other “OneAnother” passages.