Are You Bad With Money?

I regularly hear people tell me, “I’m bad with money,” or, “She’s good with money.” What does it even mean to be “bad” or “good” with money? Usually, a person who says, “I’m bad with money” is indicating that he over spends, under budgets, doesn’t plan for the future, etc. If someone is “good with money,” that person usually lives within her means, saves, spends, gives, and has money left over. 

Apply this same line of thinking to Jesus’s encounter with the rich young ruler in Mt. 19:16. Was this man “good” or “bad” with money? He was rich, so he’d meet the criteria for being good with money, as outlined above. Or, consider the poor widow in Mk. 12:41, who gave the last of her money to the Lord. She’s flat broke–bad with money?

The usual suspect for being “good with money” received a real challenge from Jesus, and the one “bad with money” was commended.

Perhaps being good or bad with money is a deeper issue than how much of it we have and how we handle it, but rather begins with how we relate to it internally, which plays out in how we give, save, and spend. 

I’d encourage you to move beyond “good or bad” thinking related to money, and consider why it is that you think, feel, and act the way you do financially. Perhaps being good or bad with money serves as a convenient excuse not to grow. Ask the Lord to show you areas in your heart that are impacting the ways you handle what’s in your wallet.