Have you ever found yourself thinking you are in control of your finances, but in reality, you have to continuously give that control back to God? This is the position in which I found myself as I read through the book Financial Hope by Michael Blue. While reading through this book, I was challenged to reflect on what type of financial steward I am becoming, and this reflection was enlightening. By providing my reflections on a quote or two in each chapter below, I hope that you can gain both knowledge and an eagerness to learn more as well.

Chapter 1: God Owns It All

I feel like this is something I consistently find myself going back and forth within my mind. In this chapter, Michael Blue made the statement, “The way we live our lives reflects our beliefs about God.” This statement hit me hard because I immediately looked at the way I am living and without trying to fake the way I live I had to assess where I am honestly. That honest assessment allowed me to realize what I truly believe about God and if I was putting that belief into practice. Michael Blue also states, “When we say we believe something, but our lives do not reflect that belief we are living inconsistently.” I do not want to be inconsistent in the way I live.

Chapter 2: Content with What I Have

This chapter speaks about the story of Bill and Vonette Bright and how they made a commitment to giving all they had and would make to God. Bill was making a million dollars and gave it all away. I could not even imagine giving away a thousand dollars, let alone a million. Michael Blue stated that “If we do not learn to be content with what we have right now, we will not be content when our resources grow.” In reflection, I realized that I have a contentment problem. I say I am content but find myself desiring the next best thing and being greedy with money. I’m learning that contentment is not something that just happens but is a conscious decision to change my thoughts every single day. God has blessed me greatly, and now I get to choose how to steward that for His kingdom.

Chapter 3: Pursuing Faith in My Finances

This chapter spoke to me about how faith requires trust in a lot of different ways. If you are having a faith issue, it could be caused by you not being able to fully trust God. Having full trust in God is something that I am still working at in my financial journey. It was extremely helpful for me to read, “Without faith, we cannot please God. Without trust, we cannot have faith.” My issue with having full faith started with my issue of trusting that God would provide. I know He will but knowing and trusting aren’t always the same thing.

Chapter 4: Aligning Your Heart with God’s

Michael states in this chapter, “Give. It’s that simple. Giving is the ultimate expression of love.” He also states, “Giving demonstrates love, expresses the Gospel, moves our heart toward God, and brings us Joy.” God’s character is that of love and, if we are going to align our hearts with God’s, we must love others as God does. How do we do that? By giving in whatever way you feel called.

Chapter 5: Using Money as a Tool

This chapter challenged me to look deeper into myself and who I put in the place of my God. Is God in that place, or is it money? If my God is in that position in my life, then the money is only a tool that I can use to glorify God and proclaim His name. If this is reversed, we can lose sight of God and focus on glorifying money. The glorification of money leaves us discontent, unsatisfied, and always wanting more. Using money as a tool from God for God’s kingdom leaves us wanting to glorify the kingdom, spread the Gospel, and bless others if we have aligned our hearts with God’s.

Chapter 6: Debt Mortgages the Future

As a recent graduate, I am beginning to understand how I have mortgaged my future by the debt that I have taken out for college. Michael Blue states, “By using debt, we are pre-committing our future selves to pay for our current wants and needs. Not only that, but we are also restricting our ability to be generous both now and in the future.” This is so true for me, and it makes sense now. All through college giving to others was extremely important to me. I’m beginning to find out now that with student loans creeping around the corner, I am not able to give the way I want to because I have to repay my loans. My future has been mortgaged.

Chapter 7: How Much is Enough?

This chapter was harder for me because I struggle with knowing the answer to this question. Michael states, “When we accumulate with no purpose or end in mind, we will never know when we have accumulated enough. We must begin any savings plan by answering the questions, ‘How much is enough?’ and ‘What am I saving toward?'” Rethinking my “enough” through this chapter helped me to dive deeper into my own personal finances as well as align myself with what God says about “enough.”

Chapter 8: A Hope for Tomorrow

Michael states, “If we want to experience the abundance that God has for us both now and in eternity, we must be diligent and patient as we jealously guard our margin.” Margin is extremely important and requires work to implement. If there is no financial margin, frustration and stress in our financial situations begin to creep to the forefront of our minds. As I gain more and more life experience, I am learning the importance of chapter eight’s message, and I look forward to implementing this truth in my life.

While my summaries were brief, I pray that the value I found through reading this book was expressed well, and that you might also learn and grow from Financial Hope as the next devotional you work through!