Discusses the three aspects of Christian stewardship, money mangement, investing and giving.

The Biblical principle of stewardship of our finances encompasses three separate points. Firstly it relates to good money management. We need to be careful not to squander the resources that God gives to us. We should learn good money management techniques, and learn not to be susceptible to impulse buying.

The second aspect of stewardship is related to investing to make the resources that God gives to us grow, so that we can sow more back into the Lord’s work. In the parable that Jesus told about the three servants who were given gold coins. Two of them invested the money and gave their master more than He had entrusted them with. The third servant went and buried it for safekeeping – and the master was angry at that servant for not putting the money He had been entrusted to use.

The third aspect of stewardship is giving. We have been commanded to “Give tithes and offerings to the Lord”.

We have been instructed us to be good stewards and to use what God gives us wisely.

I believe that God wants to bless his children and to bless them abundantly.

Don’t we want the best for our own children? We don’t want them to struggle financially and have the pressure of trying to make ends meet.

I am sure that our Father in Heaven is exactly the same. He wants us to put Him first in our lives, and in turn wants to bless us.

God wants us to be financially secure not just so that we don’t have to struggle with financial pressures – but also because prosperity allows us to bless others more.

When we wisely invest our finances we will have more available to effectively support the missionaries in the field, to finance Christian satellite TV stations and to support the needy in our local community.

A wealthy person has far more power to aide the needy financially than the best-meaning poor person.

I believe God is calling us to embark on the road to financial security so that we can be in the position to fund the resources needed to assist in the great revival.

Some Christians believe that it is wrong to desire wealth, but at the same time they try to give whatever they can. They fail to see that they would be able to give far more generously if they possessed invested what they had and increased their finances.

We need to remember that our finances belong to God. He is our master and we are just the caretakers. We should do our utmost to carefully manage and increase what He has given us, and be open to Hearing from the Holy Spirit to guide us in the direction that He leads us to sow these finances back into.

God is calling us to be proactive with investing. He wants us not only to have faith and believe that He wants to bless us, and to openly and joyfully accept what He wants to give us, but to also seek the wisdom and knowledge that are required both to create and to manage wealth.

With more wealth comes more responsibility. But I believe that as we take care of the little that God has given us, and are faithful in giving as He directs – He will Help us learn what we need to know and will Help to point us in the right direction so that we can continue to create more and use it wisely.

He wants us to become wise investors, and to find out as much knowledge as we can to enable us to make wise, well informed decisions.

At school we were taught skills to enable us to leave school and get a job and earn a wage. But we were never taught how to manage our finances or how to build wealth. We were not taught how to invest.

As good stewards, we need to self-educate ourselves about how-to and where-to invest our resources for the most effective growth.

Debra Lohrere is the author of Christian Prophecy and Investment books