Did you know that God requires you to have enough money to properly provide for those of your own house?

You may be asking yourself, "How did he come to this conclusion?" Well, I used two scriptures to help me make my decision. The first one is:

...seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
(Matt. 6:33)

This verse tells us which of the several expenses of life should be first. Without question, it should be those that pertain to the Kingdom of God. However, Matthew 6:33 doesn't tell us what should be next.

Most people's responsibilities fall into three areas—family, vocation, and God. I found a scripture in the Old Testament that shows the divine order of these three parts of your life. In the following verse you will see the priority Isaac gave to these important aspects of his life after moving to Beersheba. Here is number two:

...he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
(Gen. 26:25)

Isaac's first act was to build an altar, seeing to the things of God before anything else. Afterward, he took care of his family by pitching his tent. Last of all, he took care of his vocation. His servants dug a well, for he was a well digger by trade.

With this biblical model as a guide, we see that taking care of your family should be second in importance only to God. It should take precedence over your career, your finances, or your material possessions.

The Bible says, "...if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Tim. 5:8).

Everyone who has a family knows how expensive it is to raise children, especially if you hope to give them a proper education.

You must decide how much money will be enough for you to tithe joyfully, give acceptable offerings, provide adequately for your minister, as well as taking proper care of your family. If you will notice, these things are starting to add up to some real money, but wait...

...There's more!

God requires you to have enough money to give good gifts to your children.

How discouraging it must be to children of Christian families who must always hear that after tithing and giving to missions, there just isn't enough money for them to have any of their heart's desires.

This type of disappointment can embitter children long after they become adults. Hear the Word of God on this matter:

...What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things...?
(Matt. 7:9-11)

Please don't misunderstand. I am not encouraging you to spoil your children. Good parents have to teach their children the value of things. However, the Bible says never satisfying their heart's desire will eventually affect them. It says, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick..." (Prov. 13:12).

Think about it. Just how much money must you have to tithe with a joyful heart, properly fund the gospel outreach, give to amply support your minister, provide a good living and education for your family, as well as giving good gifts to your children?

I assume this is impacting you as much as it did me. Once we get our priorities straight, it is easy to see how diligent we must become to supply our family's needs—after we have fulfilled our requirements to God!

Source: How Much Money is Enough? by John Avanzini
Excerpt permission granted by HIS Publishing Company