Dwight Fletcher | God wants you to be entrepreneurial - Managing your financial life - Part 2

Boys & Girls Athletics Championship is just one time of year when the entrepreneurial and inventive side of many Jamaicans is put on display. The 'Champs' season is for many an opportunity to earn through the sale of flags, vuvuzelas, and even school ties.

This kind of resourcefulness is prevalent across income levels where you will find Bath & Body Works being sold out of middle-income homes and that extra upper-class apartment being posted on AirBnB.

The truth is, God wants us to be entrepreneurial and to live off our earnings. In fact, almost every book in the Bible has wisdom on dealing with money. And God wants us to manage it well so that we can be free of stresses, live in abundance and be able to bless others.

Last week, we looked at some first steps for improving your financial life. We started with first getting the facts and second, getting out of debt. Let's look at two others:

3. GET PRIORITISED

One of God's priorities in dealing with your money is simply returning to Him the first 10 per cent of your income. Deuteronomy 14:23 LB, "The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first". This agrees with the principle of 'the first' in the Bible. When God is first, the rest is blessed.

Church & Ministry Magazine noted that: "The finances of Christians who tithe are generally healthier than the finances of those who do not". Billionaire David Green of Hobby Lobby confesses that tithing and hard work have brought him financial success.

I want to challenge you - test God according to what Malachi 3:10 says. If you've been living your financial life for years apart from God, I'm challenging you over the next six months to bring the full tithe to God. Then write and let me know how God shows up in your life, because I know He will. pastordwightfletcher@hetransforms.me.

Tithing, however, goes hand in hand with prudent financial management. So you should look at applying the '70 per cent principle of lasting wealth'. In this, the first 10 per cent of your salary is the tithe and goes to God. The second 10 per cent goes to one of two places - debt repayment or savings. Then the third 10 per cent goes to investments for your future that may include retirement or a business or financial instrument.

If you will learn to live on 70 per cent or less you are not only going to be stress-free and debt-free, but you will also be able to make a difference and helping people, both in God's kingdom and around the world.

4. GET STARTED

We are often like that when it comes to our money. We have good intentions, but all we really need is to make some decisions and take action. "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you." Psalm 37:5 NLT.

Don't wait until things change, start now; especially if you are in a bad spot. If you desire to honour God and to ever see change in your financial life, pray and go through the process. God wants to bless you, but you have to cooperate.

So, don't just 'hustle for a food'. Build wealth that will bless you and others. God desires for you to prosper in every way and is waiting for you to trust him with your finances so He can bless it.