As we consider how God calls us to act with our money, it’s important for us to recognize that how we handle our money really is a function of who we are. This includes our core personality traits and our life experiences.
Can You Find Yourself in This List?
I have taught many people about applying God’s principles to their finances, and over the years have noticed that there are a number of “Personality Types” when it comes to managing money. Most of us can relate to more than one personality profile, yet one will tend to be predominant. Understanding which personality type best fits you is important, since it has an impact on how you will relate to God and others when it comes to money matters.
By design, the following caricatures take money attitudes to extreme levels — so don’t feel like there has to be a perfect fit. Take a moment to see which ones you relate to. This can be a fun exercise to do with your spouse — as long as you don’t take yourselves too seriously!
• Sam the Slob — Sam finds it very difficult to get organized, so he deals with a fair amount of clutter. Financial life is often chaotic and a source of problems — especially in marriage.
• People Person Paula — Relationships mean just about everything to Paula. She finds it difficult to make managing her finances a priority. “Don’t bother me with all of those details,” she says. She is often very generous — sometimes to a fault. While these traits are endearing, they can lead to the same types of problems Sam the Slob runs into.
• Suzy Spender — Suzy gets tremendous short term emotional satisfaction from buying things for herself and others. She often spends more than she has, and not necessarily on healthy priorities. She doesn’t think of the consequences of this overspending until a lot of damage is done.
• Harry the Hoarder — Harry is like a squirrel with his money. He stashes it away, but not necessarily for appropriate needs. The hoarding is done often out of a desire to develop a sense of security. He borders on the stingy by holding too tightly to what he has.
• Wilbert the Winner — Wilbert considers money a game. He wants to stay ahead of the Joneses and plays to win. Wilbert will often be a person of substantial accomplishment, but his drive needs to be tempered by the motive of love rather than the desire to win.
Paul the Penny-Pincher — Paul does a great job of watching over the pennies — whether that is through the use of coupons or watching out for special sales. Paul fails to look at the larger picture. He may be using coupons, but still be overspending. Of greater importance, he may have not taken the time to set godly priorities — for example, for the education of his children.
Most of us will have tendencies toward a number of these — and should remember that not all of them are unhealthy if kept in proper balance (except maybe for Sam the slob!). But the extremes are unhealthy. Typically, one or two of these attitudes dominate how we look at money. These attitudes are a result of who we are, including our personalities, how we were raised, the impact of our spouses, friends and family and influences from the media.
Recognizing that how we handle our money is an outside indicator of our spiritual lives, how can we develop a financial “Plan of Life” that will guide us to true financial freedom and peace? That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn’t it?
Our Role: Faithful Stewards
No matter what personality types you related to, God has given each of us a special calling and responsibility. We have received so much from our Lord — life; faith; freedom and family. We’ve also been given the talents and resources He has entrusted to us. These gifts are to be used in ways that are pleasing to God. He calls us to be faithful stewards.
Recall the scene in the Old Testament when Joshua, in his old age, reminds the Israelites of their covenant with the Lord and poses this question: “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Jos 24:15).
Fast-forward to the Sermon on the Mount in which our Lord provides His disciples with the foundations for living a truly Christian life. He says,
“Do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure. Moths and rust corrode; thieves break in and steal. Make it your practice instead to store up heavenly treasure, which neither moths nor rust corrode nor thieves break in and steal. Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart is also…. No man can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be attentive to one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money…. Your heavenly Father knows all that you need. Seek first His kingship over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides.” (Mt 6:19–33)
Which Path Will You Take?
Scripture and Church teaching set forth two clear, but divergent, paths that we can take with our finances. The materialistic way of the world is characterized by love of self and love of things, while God’s way is characterized by love of God and love of neighbor. The world’s way leads to bondage, anxiety, and worry, while God’s way leads to freedom, peace, and contentment.
How can you tell if you are following the way of the world with your finances? Consider the following scenarios:
• Are your life’s pursuits focused primarily on the acquisition of wealth and a lot of “stuff,” or on developing a deeper relationship with God?
• Is your prayer life on life support, or is it alive and thriving?
• Do you and your spouse argue about money matters, or is there financial peace in your home?
• Is there always more month left at the end of the paycheck, or are you living within your means?
• Do you find that your charitable giving is done after all of your other bills are paid — as an after thought — or have you learned to be generous from your first fruits?
• Do you pay your entire credit card balance off every month, or is consumer debt accumulating?
• Do you have a planned savings program in which money is set aside every month for future needs, or are you spending all of your current income?
More on becoming truly financially free next time.
God love you!
Phil Lenahan is Director of Media and Finance at Catholic Answers and author of Catholic Answers’ Guide to Family Finances. If you have a question you would like Phil to address, contact him at plenahan@catholic.com.
This article originally appeared in the National Catholic Register and is used by permission of the author.
