“Master Your Money” by Ron Blue is a widely respected guide in Christian financial circles. It offers a biblically-based approach to personal finance, blending spiritual wisdom with practical advice.
Book Details:
- Title: Master Your Money
- Author: Ron Blue
- Genre: Personal Finance, Christian Literature
- Publication Date: Originally published in 1986; various updated editions available
- ISBN: 9780802481610 (varies by edition)
About the Author:
Ron Blue is a well-regarded Christian financial advisor with decades of experience. His faith-based approach to financial planning has made him a trusted figure among Christians seeking guidance on managing their finances in alignment with their spiritual values.
Summary of Master Your Money:
“Master Your Money” provides a comprehensive, biblically-informed approach to personal finance. Ron discusses how to manage money responsibly while living a life of faith. The book covers budgeting, saving, investing, and giving, emphasizing the importance of aligning financial decisions with Christian values.
Selected Passages Randy Highlighted in the Book:
1. What does distinguish the Christian from the world is the absence of any anxiety, which might have come as a result of the loss of something he has managed or even God’s denial of something he wants. Why? Because the Christian’s treasure is not on earth. The world and its temporal toys do not possess him. (18)
2. Money is one of the most significant resources with which American Christians can serve others. It is not the only resource – time and talents are two others, but it is certainly in greater abundance among American Christians than among non-Americans. (18)
3. God says, “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (I Tim. 6:18) (18)
4. On the other hand, I personally know hundreds of Christians who are serving others by literally giving fortunes away. They have answered the question, Why am I here? One reason you are here is to serve others, and if God has entrusted financial resources to you, you must be used to serve others. (19)
5. . . . more is said in the New Testament about money than heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about money than prayer; (19)
THE FOUR BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES OF MONEY MANAGEMENT
1. God Owns It All
Very few Christians would argue with the principle that God owns it all, and yet if we follow that principle to its natural conclusion, there are three revolutionary implications. First of all, God has the right to whatever He wants whenever He wants it. It is all His, because an owner has rights, and I, as a steward, have only responsibilities. . . .
If I really believe that God owns it all then when I lose any possession for whatever reason, my emotions may cry out, but my mind and spirit have not the slightest question as to the right of God to take whatever He wants whenever He wants it. Really believing this also frees me to give generously of God’s resources to God’s purposes and His people. All that I have belongs to Him.
The second implication of God’s owning it all is that not only is my giving decision a spiritual decision, but every spending decision is a spiritual decision.
The third implication of the truth that God owns it all is that you can’t fake stewardship. Your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship.(20)
2. We Are in a Growth Process
Money and material possessions are a very effective tool that God uses to grow you up. Therefore, you need always to ask, God, what do You want me to learn? Not, God, why are You doing this to me? . . .
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? (Luke 16:11-12) (21)
3. The Amount Is Not Important
. . . the amount you have is unimportant, but how you handle what you have been entrusted with is very important.
There is much controversy today about whether an American Christian is more spiritual on one hand by accumulating much or on the other hand by giving it all away. I believe that both are extremes and not reflective of what God says. He never condemns wealth nor does He commend poverty, or vice versa. The principle found in the Scripture is that He owns it all. Therefore, whatever He chooses to entrust you with, hold with an open hand, allowing Him to entrust you with more if He so chooses, or allowing Him to take whatever He wants. It is all His. That is the attitude He wants you to develop, and whatever you have, little or much, your attitude should remain the same. (22)
4. Faith Requires Action
. . . Many of us know what we ought to do, but we disobey or delay. We have emotional faith and/or intellectual faith, but not volitional faith. We know but . . . (22)
A Financial Planning Overview
1. . . . good [financial] decision making requires a long-term perspective. (25)
2. . . . four truths:
a. All of us have limited resources
b. Consequently, there are more alternative uses of money available than money
available
c. Today’s decisions determine destiny. (A dollar spent is gone forever and can never
be used in the future for anything else.)
d. The longer the term of perspective, the better is the decision making. (26)
3. When we know for certain what financial resources we have and have planned to use them to accomplish various goals and objectives, our lives take on the contentment of having made order out of chaos. Our frustration in having to choose among the overwhelming multiplicity of alternatives disappears. We are freed from the pressures of the short-term, self-gratifying society around us. We are free to be different. (26)
4. . . . accumulating financial resources should never be an end in itself. (27)
5. . . . I believe it is a worthwhile long-term objective to be totally debt-free. (29)
6. . . . there are no independent financial decisions. If you make a decision to use financial resources in any one area, by definition, you have chosen not to use those same resources in the other areas. (30)
7. . . . the longer the term of your perspective, the better the possibility of your making a good current financial decision. (31)
8. Any time money is used consumptively, it is gone forever and can never be used for anything in the future. I like to remind those with whom I counsel that decisions determine destiny. Once I make a decision either to save or spend, I have determined, to some extent, my destiny. . . .
Money, then, is one of the resources you use to accomplish the desires you have. Success is knowing what God would have you to be and do, and how to achieve that, so that when you stand before Him, you will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (32)
Guaranteed Financial Success
- How do you achieve one or more of the long-term goals . . . ? The answer is simple – spend less than you earn and do it for a long time – or as the Bible says, “He who gathers little by little makes it grow” (Prov. 13:11 NIV) (34)
- . . . the only way to reach your long-term goals is to spend less than you earn over time. In other words, you must plan to have a cash flow margin every year. . . . This is the hard part, because in order to generate enough cash flow margin each year to meet your long-term goals, you have to make the long term a priority over the short term (delayed gratification). (39)
- Get rich slowly. Accumulation of financial resources is not difficult – it merely requires patience and self-discipline; both are fruits of the Spirit. . . .
There is an opportunity cost to consumption. A dollar spent today does not take a dollar out of the future; it takes multiple dollars. . . .
Money has time value. The amount that I have today is worth far more in the future than it is today, assuming that it can earn something each year. (41)
The Dangers of Debt
- The primary economic danger of debt is that compounding works against you rather than for you. (56)
- The spiritual dangers of borrowing money are twofold: First of all, borrowing always presumes upon the future and, second, borrowing may deny God an opportunity to work. (60)
- The question of whether or not to pay off the mortgage, if that is an option, is really an economic, psychological, and spiritual decision. Economically, it may not make sense to pay off a low interest rate mortgage, even if one has the funds to do so. However, psychologically and spiritually, it may be, by far, the best course. (65)
- . . . I feel it is so important to apply the rule that a husband and wife have perfect unity on their debt decisions. God has granted to women a special sense, which some have called intuition, that cannot be explained, but in many cases, it has kept a husband from making a poor decision. (67)
- Again, let me say, debt is not a sin. The Bible discourages the use of debt, but does not prohibit it. Being in debt is never the real problem; it is only symptomatic of the real problem, which is usually greed, self-indulgence, impatience, fear, a poor self-image, lack of self-discipline, and perhaps others. (68)
Who Would Enjoy This Book:
“Master Your Money” is ideal for Christians aged 25-45, particularly those with families. It appeals to those who seek a non-aggressive, respectful approach to financial education that aligns with their faith. Readers interested in topics like “faith-based financial planning” or “Christian guides to money management” will find it particularly valuable.
Related Books:
- “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey (for a different perspective on personal finance)
- “Your Money Counts” by Howard Dayton (another Christian perspective on financial management)
Readers who enjoyed “Master your Money” might also find value in Bob & Linda’s book: Simple Money, Rich Life. Find the connections between financial principles and modern financial strategies to enrich your own financial life!
