Money isn’t always easy to talk about, but it’s a necessary part of life, leadership, and business. So it’s vital as Christians to address the topic of money rather than avoid it.

 

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In this conversation, I’m interviewing Holly about the common mistakes Christians make when it comes to money and how we can avoid these mistakes. Holly brings a wealth of experience in the financial world and currently works with clients in the online space as a fractional CFO.

This episode is not just for those who have a business. The conversation will apply if you are leading in a ministry or church or even just related to your personal finances.

4 Money Mistakes Christians Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake #1: Neglecting Your Finances

There are many reasons why business owners often neglect their finances:

• If the bills are being paid, we might not think we need to focus on it
• It’s not fun to talk about
• Past negative experiences
• Money feels like a foreign language

“Money is a basic foundational piece of business that you’re never going to get away from.”

Neglecting your finances has several negative impacts:

• It leaves you vulnerable
• It hurts your integrity
• Can leave you open to scams, bad business decisions, tax issues, or even legal issues

“Neglecting your money really leaves you vulnerable.”

How to avoid this mistake: Stewardship

Stewardship is the idea that what we have doesn’t belong to us but rather belongs to God and it is ours to manage, and, if done well, there will be reward. There are four basic ideas to stewardship: ownership, responsibility, accountability, and reward.

Colossians 3:23-24 says:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Looking at money as not your own gives you a perspective change that usually leads to a behavior change.

“Making sure our finances are in order is a major way to accomplish God’s will in our business.”

Mistake #2: Not self-aware 

Not being self aware is not understanding your mindsets, personality traits, tendencies, or past experiences about money. When we don’t reflect on the role money has played in our lives  and how we think about it we often make the wrong assumptions, assign too much value or too little value to the power of money, tie our success or failure with money to our self worth, or make decisions based on incorrect information.

How to avoid this mistake: Get to know your personality, past experiences, and what you were taught about money

Ways to become more self-aware when it comes to money:

• Ask your friends and family about your personality, how they would describe you, what your core values are
• Personality tests/personality profiles – Episode 8
• Reflect on past experiences regarding money – journal or verbally process
• Write down all your beliefs about money, good or bad and compare them to Scripture

Mistake #3: Continuing in bad money habits

This mistake is one that we make when we are aware of the bad habits but we continue doing them. We may do this because the money habit has served us well or made us more successful.

Perhaps we haven’t had any negative consequences yet or perhaps they aren’t bad enough to change our ways.  We may also not know how to get out of them; we feel trapped because we don’t have the tools or knowledge to lift ourselves out of our bad habits.

How to avoid this mistake: Identify the issue and flesh it out

Ways to identify the bad money habit and make changes:

• Writing a statement that says something like, “When I feel out of control or stressed I like to comfort myself by buying things I don’t need” can be very helpful. 
• Repent if necessary. Anything that you are putting above God is an idol in your life and needs to be confessed and renounced. 
• Identify the triggers and figure out alternative options rather than choosing the habit
• Ask for accountability
• Compare the bad habit with scripture
• Get help if needed

“Saying the truth out loud can be very freeing.”

Mistake #4: Living in shame

This mistake happens when we have made any of the previous money mistakes for so long and now we are living in a shame spiral. We can’t even imagine a life where we have financial freedom. The lies have convinced us that we don’t deserve or can’t have freedom and victory in our finances.

We protect our money information heavily and would be very embarrassed if anyone found out what’s truly going on.

How to avoid this mistake: Find someone you can trust to help you with your finances

In addition to the steps we’ve outlined earlier in mistake #3, it’s also vital to remember this: Everything is redeemable. Next, you will need to accept healing and repair relationships if necessary. Finally, you will want to seek professional help to move past these areas.

Financial professionals can help you clean up any financial mess you’ve created, create solid plans to get you profitable, and help you move into creating and building the kingdom and the legacy God wants for your life and family.

“There’s literally nothing that God can’t heal, and there’s nothing that he can’t save you from.”

The potential financial professionals you might want to consider bringing in if you need this help:

• Bookkeeper
• Certified Public Accountant/Accountant
• Chief Financial Officer
• Financial Planner

Tune into the Christian Woman Business Podcast, Episode 41, releasing May 27, 2021 to learn more about these 4 professionals and how they can help you in your business.

Connect with Holly Cain:

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram

 

Program for Christian Women Business Owners Coming Soon!

I am getting ready to open the doors to my upLIFT Mentormind for Christian women, and coming up on June 7th, I’m hosting a free info session about it. As part of the program, you get access to some exclusive training with Holly – stuff that she normally only shares with her 1:1 clients.

To join us for the info session and make sure you’re the first to know when this program opens, go to upliftmentormind.com or text UPLIFT to (207) 544-4103!

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