God Owns Everything

Examine your attitude about money

The first things many people want to talk about when they meet with me to discuss their financial problems are (1) who is to blame and (2) what steps they should take. They are often surprised when I suggest we first look at their attitude about money.

Budgeting, borrowing and debt, saving, tithing and other financial topics are important, but our attitude about money is more important. Once our way of thinking about money lines up with God’s, it’s much easier to tackle the practical matters.

This online Bible study is part of a series of studies on money and finances. More detailed information on these topics can be found in the book Putting Money in its Place. (Although written for married couples, the practical, scriptural information in this book also applies to single people who want to handle their finances in a biblical manner.)

• Part 1: Acknowledge that God Owns Everything.
• Part 2: See yourself as God’s Steward (or assistant)
• Part 3: Love God, not money
• Part 4: Be a generous person
• Part 5: Spend (God’s) money wisely

Acknowledge God’s ownership

The most important principle to keep firmly in mind is to understand whose money we are talking about. It’s not yours. If you are married, it’s not your mate’s. It is God’s.

God’s ownership of everything is a foreign concept to most of us. We like to think of our money and our possessions. Yet the Bible makes it clear that God owns everything. All things were created by him and for him (Colossians 1:16). Everything belongs to him.

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)

For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10)

The world is mine, and all that is in it. (Psalm 50:12)

“The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the LORD Almighty. (Haggai 2:8)

You might ask, “But don’t some Bible verses, such as Proverbs 3:9 and Colossians 4:15, refer to people owning possessions?” Yes, they do, but underlying these verses is the knowledge that everything belongs to God.

For everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Acknowledge God’s ownership out loud. wife Skeeter sometimes does a simple exercise to help her realize God’s ownership deep in her heart. She says out loud that God owns each particular thing in her life.

She might say, “I’m in God’s house, sitting here on God’s chair, writing with God’s computer and looking out God’s window at God’s garden.”

When she talks like this, she feels refreshed. It seems much more special to live in God’s house than our house. She imagines God smiling down on the garden, sniffing a red rose, sending a hummingbird along to drink some nectar.

Learn from Nebuchadnezzar’s example

Nebuchadnezzar, one of history’s most powerful kings, learned this lesson the hard way. One day he went for a walk. As he strolled he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).

God’s answer was quick and to the point: He took away the king’s sanity and drove him outside to eat grass like a cow. Seven years later, when God restored Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity, the king no longer exulted in his possessions, but glorified God as sovereign over all (Daniel 4:34-37).

“I earned what I have. No one gave me anything.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s sin was one of pride and the illusion of self-sufficiency. In essence, he said, “Look at what I did all by myself.”

You may have had similar thoughts, something like, “I earned my money. No one gave me anything. I had to work for it.”

It may be true that you put in long hours to get where you are. Yet it is God who created you in the first place and gave you the strength and talent to make money.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Replace pride with thankfulness

Replace pride with a thankful attitude. It’s okay to find satisfaction in your work (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Just remember to thank God for creating you and giving you the gifts, skills and strength that allow you to succeed.

Personal application

1. Read 1 Chronicles 29:11-16. What, in your words, do these verses say?

2. Describe how you will look at “your” possessions:

3. How will you remind yourself to be thankful, not prideful?