17th January, 2022.

START THE YEAR ON THE RIGHT FOOT Pt.17

Ecclesiastes 7:11-12. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

ACQUIRE FINANCIAL EDUCATION(C)

Years back when I was a bachelor, I needed an apartment. I decided to settle for what we commonly call room and parlour self contain in Nigeria. That's a living room with a single bedroom. After making enquiries, that was what I could afford then. I couldn't even afford to rent in my immediate environs because of the exorbitant cost. I decided to move out of my area to rent what I could afford. I remember telling a sister in the Lord that I needed a room and parlour self contain. She tried to dissuade me from renting a room and parlour because she felt what befitted my 'status' was a 2 bedroom flat in a posh area. I ignored her counsel because I knew what I could afford then without taking loan. I wasn't living for 'status', If I had rented a two bedroom flat as she suggested, I'll be paying rent with a loan. That's not a sign of financial wisdom and intelligence.

The second 'M' in the school of money is "Management". You need to learn how to manage money effectively. Money management is the judicious use of money. In normal day-to-day expression, it is living within your means. Some believers under the guise of "faith", live an unrealistic life. They live in houses they cannot afford, send their children to school they can't afford, buy clothes they can't afford conveniently, and are in debt because they are borrowing money to service liabilities. That's lack of money management in display. Don't live in houses you can't afford conveniently. If you have to take loan to pay your rent always, you're not applying wisdom of money management in your finances. If your children are always sent out of school termly, you may need to check again if they are in the school your pocket can pay for easily. Stop pushing hard to live a life you can't afford, it is not a sign of faith. There's a time to shop for clothes in second hand market, there's another time to buy from classic boutiques. If you wear what you can afford with style and swagger, no one will ask where you bought it. Besides, it is not the cloth that gives you value, you are the one that brings value on it. I give value to what I wear and not the other way round.

God cannot increase your finances if you're not faithful in managing the little he has given you. We are stewards of money not the owner: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much", Lk16:10. God is watching how you handle money, He is the umpire in the game. If you live in a rented apartment and you're using phones whose value can buy a plot of land conveniently yet you have none, you lack financial intelligence. Stop carrying a plot of land on your head in the name of human hair and wigs. Don't mortgage your future because of trends and fashion. Don't eat your future today. This year, you need head reset. Money management is key and crucial to survival this year. This is not the time to be wasteful and profligate. God has managed the earth properly and he still does by making resources available to all regardless of race. As kingdom people, we need to apply sanctified common sense in our daily living so that the world won't make a mockery of us.