Personal Money Management from a Wesleyan Perspective

As we gear up for another school year with high hopes for our children’s and grandchildren’s educations, now might be a great time to think about expanding our own education… our financial education.

There’s no getting around it: Money is a big issue that affects most aspects of our lives. Many of our waking hours are focused on making it, spending it, worrying about it, fighting over it, trying to protect it, and trying to manage it.

Scripture is filled with teachings on wealth and money, yet many Christians seem to struggle in this area. Money is a powerful thing. Some even say that money is more than just a neutral medium that can be used for good or for evil; they would argue that money has a spiritual force or power, and that power is reinforced by cultural myths that have become a powerful force in shaping the very materialistic culture in which we find ourselves.

In January 2022 I led our first cohort through the material entitled, Saving Grace: A Guide to Financial Well-Being. I am currently leading our third cohort through this course. Helping people of faith create healthy relationships with money and bring their financial lives in line with their faith journeys is not only beneficial to class participants, but also so rewarding to me, the facilitator.

Weaving Wesleyan theology together with sound financial advice, Saving Grace offers concrete guidance on saving, earning, giving, spending, debt, and how to build a sustainable financial plan. How much should we give, and why? What are the dangers of debt, both financially and faithfully? How can we live into John Wesley’s advice to “Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can”?

Watch this video for more details:

Although individuals can do this study on their own, going through the workbook in a group setting provides support, accountability, and encouragement that many of us find extremely helpful, and can help get us on a path to a healthy understanding of our finances and more control over this aspect of our lives. We at UMF offer this course twice/year as a part of our Clergy Loan Program. The fall application process opens soon; please go HERE to learn more. Whether you are interested in Saving Grace for yourself or for your church, we highly recommend this program. Helping ourselves and/or others grow in financial education and discipleship is what this program is all about. Please do not hesitate to let me know if we can assist you or your congregation with Saving Grace. We are here to serve and look forward to hearing from you.

This article was submitted by Rev. Lynn Benson, Director of Legacy Giving for the United Methodist Foundation, Inc. If you would like more information regarding UMF, you can contact Lynn at [email protected].