I had the great opportunity to preach at my church this past Sunday on three big challenges we all face in our finances. I began the message with an appeal to “really” believe that all of our stuff belongs to God. The phrase that I used is one I have heard my father use countless times: “behavior follows belief.”

Yesterday, I had lunch with a group of men who I meet with regularly to talk about serving God in the workplace and we talked about that phrase. We were all able to identify areas of our Christian lives where what we say we believe doesn’t match how we behave. For example, I say that I believe that God can heal any disease, but I pray as if there is really no chance God will do that. It is if I am hedging for God just in case he doesn’t come through.

“Coincidentally,” I was reading in Luke 6 this morning and was struck by verses 46-49. To paraphrase it says that hearing God’s word AND doing what He says produces a foundation that will not be moved. There is something about actually doing what God tells us to do that produces the foundation. It is not enough to hear God’s word and just believe it. There is tremendous power that comes from doing what we hear God telling us to do.

I have no doubt that the “magic” comes in seeing and experiencing God being true to His word when we do what we hear. When we have this type of experience our faith and trust in God are strengthened and deepened.

In our finances, how do we do something with the belief that God owns it all? I think it all begins with asking God the question, “What do you want me to do with all this stuff?” and then doing it. It means acting on what we believe God is telling us to do.

So today I challenge you to do something. Think about what you believe and whether your behavior matches that belief. If it doesn’t, then you need to do something. See how it strengthens your trust and faith in God.