It seems that Christians are increasingly being put in a position of having to choose between the ways of the world (political correctness) or stand firm for the teachings of the Bible. Being a Christian should change the way you approach everything in life, including finances. How we handle money reflects life’s priorities. That’s why the Scripture places so much emphasis on stewardship issues.

As Christians, we need to be reminded from time to time of the different perspective we should have in dealing with financial issues. I briefly offer five perspectives regarding money that we should reflect. It is one thing to say we believe them; it is another to put them in practice in such a way that others see the difference, and it becomes a testimony of our relationship with God.

1. Our possessions are temporal. We all agree that you “can’t take it with you.” Do people see in us an attitude towards our possessions that reflects that belief? (2 Peter 3:10; Luke 12:15b)

2. Our possessions are not a source for pride, power or prestige. This is the world’s attitude toward possessions. We are to be different. (1 Tim. 6:17)

3. God owns it all. We are stewards. We should approach our possessions as managers of something that belongs to someone else, not as owners. (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 12:16-21)

4. Concern for family financial support is scriptural. 1 Timothy 5:8 states, “If anyone does not provide for his family, especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than unbeliever.” To do that requires a healthy concern about money. As Jonathan Swift put it, “Every man ought to have money on his mind. No man ought to have money on his heart.”

5. Our stewardship is an outward indicator of an inner spiritual condition. Show me how someone handles their money and it tells me volumes about their relationship with God.

Christianity doesn’t just provide answers for 10 percent of our money any more than it only provides a way to live only on Sunday morning.

Don Spencer is the church financial benefits consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.