MAKING MONEY AN ASSET TO MARRIAGE

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Most couples need just a little more per month and all would be okay. Right? Wrong. Why do couples with 100K incomes have the same problems as couples with 20K income? Problems lie not with the amount but with the attitude and decisions about money.

Nearly 70% of all couples have quarrels over money and spending habits. It’s just paper…. a means to purchase…why does it cause arguments? How can it be an asset to marriage?

Money is objective, measurable, and rewardable. If you can learn to agree on money issues, you will be able to use what you learn in dealing with other issues in your marriage that are not as objective and measurable. So what’s the problem?

Most of us enter into marriage with different ideas about money and what we should do with it. We also usually have strong emotional attachments to our attitudes about money. When those attitudes are in conflict, our emotional stability is threatened.

• One partner might be a "saver" while the other is a "spender".
• One might be conservative while the other is a risk-taker and always looking for a "score".
• One partner might come from a background of tithing while the other may not.

We spend money we do not have on things we do not need to impress people we do not care about.

There is no easy solution to "getting it together" financially. There must be a process of prayer, 2-way communication, trying to understand each others background and needs, and most importantly:

We must not be seeking my way or your way but God’s way together.

We are back to having a quiet time with the coach and then communicating in the huddle with each other.

Problem is there are always limited funds and unlimited things to spend those limited funds on.

God knew that money would be a problem…actually His main competitor. That’s why there are so many verses in the Bible concerning money. (2350 on money vs. 500 on prayer)

Read Luke 12:15. What does a man’s life consist of? Hopefully warm intimate relationships. We must not allow conflict over money to destroy those relationships.

Jeremiah 33:3	Hebrews 13:5	Psalms 33: 16-22	Matthew 6:24
Isaiah 46:5-7	Ecclesiastes 5:10	Proverbs: 11:28

There are only 3 things you can do with money:

1. Give it away
2. Save it
3. Spend it

This is the best way to get rid of its power. God does not need our money, but he tells us our first priority.

Proverbs 3:9-10

Proverbs 11: 24-25

Leviticus 27:30

Malachi 3:8

What if you are in debt? What if the IRS sends you a bill and you are in debt?

2. Save it

You already have the habit of spending. Need to develop the habit of saving.

Proverbs 21:20

Proverbs 22:3

3. Spend it

This is the second responsibility you have…to provide for your family.

I Timothy 5:8

Key is to:

• Spend less than you make over a long period of time
• Avoid debt with a passion
• Give God the opportunity to work

• Taxes
• Debt Reduction Romans 13: 8
• Insurance
• Living………Here is the problem…Do you have a plan? How do you develop one? Philippians 2:2 Proverbs 21:17, 1st Timothy 6: 6-10, Philippians 4: 11-13 and vs. 20…. Airplane story.

This will help you identify your attitudes and feeling in the 3 ways you can spend your money. Need to do this separately and then come together in a quiet time to discuss and pray about.

• Money is for giving away.

  What % of your income would you like to give away? ___________
  What do you plan to do with the money you give away?
  __________________________________________
  As you look back over your life, what experiences have contributed to developing your present attitudes toward giving away money?
  __________________________________________

• Money is for saving.

  What % of your income would you like to save? ___________
  What do you plan to do with the money you save?
  __________________________________________
  As you look back over your life, what experiences have contributed to developing your present attitudes toward saving money?
  __________________________________________

• Money is for spending.

  What % of your income would you like to spend? ___________
  What do you plan to do with the money you spend?
  __________________________________________
  As you look back over your life, what experiences have contributed to developing your present attitudes toward spending money?
  __________________________________________