Week 08 · One purse, one purpose
Money and Trust
Read together: Matthew 6:19-24
Also read: 1 Timothy 6:6-10 · Proverbs 3:9-10
Money arguments are rarely about numbers. They are about fear, control, and what we actually trust.
The heart of it
Jesus draws a hard line: you cannot serve God and mammon. Not should not, cannot. Money is not neutral in a home. It is either a tool in the hands of two servants of God or it is a quiet master that both of you obey without noticing.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Look at your last three months of spending and you will find your real priorities, not the ones you would list if someone asked.
Paul's word is contentment: godliness with contentment is great gain. He warns not against money but against the love of it, which pierces people through with sorrows. Many couples work themselves into exhaustion to buy things that were supposed to make the marriage easier.
What to notice
- Jesus links treasure and heart, in that order. Where the money goes, the heart follows.
- 'The light of the body is the eye' sits between two money paragraphs. What you fix your eyes on determines how you see everything.
- Paul says we brought nothing in and will carry nothing out. That levels a lot of anxiety.
- Proverbs 3:9 puts giving first, not last, in the order of what we do with income.
Talk together
- 1Do we both actually know where our money goes? If not, why not?
- 2What does each of us fear most about money: not having enough, losing control, being judged, being left out of decisions?
- 3Where do we disagree about spending, and what is underneath the disagreement?
- 4Are we giving to God's work as a couple? Are we agreed about it?
- 5What is one financial goal we could set together and pray about for the next year?
Your own journal
Answer these on your own during the week. They are yours; you are never required to read them out loud.
1. What does my spending say I treasure?
2. Have I ever hidden a purchase, a debt, or an amount from my spouse? Write the truth.
3. Where am I trusting money instead of God right now?
4. What would contentment look like in my life this month?
5. Ask God whether there is something you need to release. Write what comes.
This week's practice
Sit down together with the actual numbers for one hour this week. No blame, no defending. Just look at it together.
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Matthew 6:21
Pray together
Ask God to be Lord of your finances. Confess fear and control by name and ask for contentment.
Next week: Kept for Each Other