This holiday season, we’re all going to encounter that one family member. It’s the family member, maybe a cousin, maybe an aunt, maybe an uncle, that you’ve promised to yourself that you will never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, lend money to them. Does anyone have that relative? We have people in our lives, whether family members or close friends or maybe even co-workers that just don’t get it when it comes to money.

They’re always in debt. They’re always buying things they can’t afford. They’re always opening up new credit cards because their other credit cards are maxed out. They’re always taking trips they can’t afford and blowing money on stuff that’s absolutely useless. Everyone has a person that we know well in our minds, the person who has no clue when it comes to handling money.

Now, the problem is, this person thinks they know the answer to their problems. Since the problem is a lack of money, they think the answer is: more money! So they ask you. If this person just needs a couple of hundred bucks to make the next payment on the full-size pickup that they can’t afford, or if they need $200 for groceries because they spent all their money on clothes and jewelry, how motivated are you to give them money? Are you kidding? They can’t even handle the little money they have, what makes anyone think they’d be responsible if they got more money, right? 

they can’t be trusted with money. Because they blew the last loan you gave them. Because they’re complaining about how poor they are while driving a car that’s nicer than yours. They say they need money for their kids but they just bought the new Jordans that cost $300. Can I get an ‘amen’ somebody? If you give them money, you’re only enabling them. If they haven’t learned to be responsible with what they already have, then you might as well just throw $100 out the window on the way home, because that’s what you’d be doing if you gave more money to this person.

Now, here’s the twist, and for this blog to have ANY impact on you today, you need to be gut level honest with yourself. If you were God, and if you were looking at how you were handling God’s money from God’s perspective, would you look at yourself like you look at that cousin that can’t be trusted with money?

How do you handle the money you’ve already been given? Do you know where your money goes? Do you have a budget? Do you stick to it? Are in you debt? Are you investing anything in the Kingdom or are you blowing it all on toys for yourself?

Is that maybe why God hasn’t answered your prayers when you ask for more money? You can’t even handle the money you’ve already been given! If God gives you more, you’ll just blow it on yourself. Why in God’s green earth would God entrust you with greater riches if you can’t even steward the life you have now? How you handle money now is a trial run for greater riches. You want more money? You want the blessed life? The answer isn’t more money. The answer is to be a trusted and responsible steward with what God has already given you, then you can be trusted with more.