It’s Sunday morning!
Well, it was Sunday morning when I wrote this.
Maddy’s cooking up a storm with 3-month-old Hosea snoozing on her chest in a baby carrier. Arthur, our golden retriever, is slinking around picking up baby socks to slobber on in private. I’m coughing my guts up with a pesky three week old cold, while I tap away at my keyboard in the living room.
I’m trying my hand at something a little different this beautiful Sunday - my first attempt at answering your questions.
I figure if there’s one way you want to engage with faith, it’s applied to daily living.
Maybe I’ll write a funny story to lead into next week’s questions, but for now, let’s get stuck in.
If you wanted to change your financial situation and build stability with God at the centre, what practical steps would you take? I already know prayer, Scripture, and seeking God come first. I'm talking about the things you'd do after that. What would your next moves be if you wanted to build financial stability in a way that honours God and doesn't drift into greed, fear, or self-reliance?
Well, this is a bigone!
Assuming you’ve got 1 Corinthians 4:7 down since we’re skipping past ‘Scripture’ as a practical step,
“What do you have that you did not receive?",
we can cross ‘self-reliance’ off the list. What He gives, He can take away.
Then, practically speaking, how do we set up our finances & working life to avoid (i) fear and (ii) greed?
(i) Work as many hours as you need to until your (and your family’s) material NEEDS are met. Not material wants, just needs - groceries, utilities, rent or mortgage, random things like car insurance that keep life running. Maybe a touch of spending money for a coffee here and there to make it a bit less dull. If there’s not enough hours in your week to do that, upskill for a better return on your time. No fear when bills are paid.
ii) Anything EXTRA gets divvied up between Now you, Future you, and People-other-than you. Money isn’t the root of all evil in 1 Timothy. The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. If every bit of extra cash you acquire is split between you and those in need, you tend to stop feeding the greed monster.
So maybe that wasn’t ‘open a high-interest savings account’, but it should help you lay the foundations for good Christian finance.
Next!
How do you think financial responsibilities and household chores should be divided, especially for young couples just starting out today? I know that every couple has its own financial and logistical realities, but I'm curious to hear your wisdom on this.
The good ‘ol fashioned in me says boys play outside and girls play inside, but come on Thomas! It’s 2026 already!
So here’s my ‘progressive’ answer:
Kids, or no kids?
No kids - ya both work your pants off, prepping for the future!
Many moons ago you used to make money with your hands only, and blokes could lift heavy things the ladies couldn’t.
The 20th century brought two changes to that world:
Computers, and women’s marches. (Woo!)
Nowadays earning a decent income is completely gender blind (unless the mythical Pay Gap Fairy tickles your fancy), so I say, make hay while the sun’s shining and no babies are crying, and you both go to work.
Work Monday to Friday, and while Mrs gets dinner ready and takes care of the washing, Mr walks the bins out at night and mows the lawn in the hot sun.
Fair’s fair.
Have kids? Man works, woman raises child. Man takes care of financial responsibilities and woman takes care of household responsibilities. There’s no difference between the two. Two different full-time day jobs with one aim - raise your kids in a Godly, tidy household.
Obviously as your kids grow, you can chop up the balance and move back into work, should the need arise. But gents, let’s be honest - every one of our **ladies is the same around here…
They don’t wanna work.
They wanna make sourdough and read Scripture and go out for a coffee… let ‘em put their feet up.
(Note - I won’t ignore the fact that single-income households are at all time lows… Less than 4/10 ‘trad families’ - married couples with kids - are getting by on Dad’s income alone.
The reality is Mum might need to go back to work sooner than expected, or Dad might need to put in some extra shifts.
But when we come to finance statistics, Christian families are an unusual case: highly productive, frugal with their spending, and wise with their investments. Lean into your Christian principles with finance & family, and I guarantee you’re better off than without em.)
I'm the opposite of bold and courageous at this point. My soul is going to be held accountable one day for choosing sin consistently and not running to God. And I still mess up. I'm afraid to give my life to Christ because I can't imagine my life changing that much, I'm afraid of the change. I'm afraid to deny myself. It's so selfish. I feel like a pathetic excuse for a person let alone a believer. I keep running towards the flesh, I'm being lukewarm and I want to believe I can do it, but I haven't so far…
Dear friend,
I believe you already understand the mechanics of your faith enough to be saved by it, but you carry the extraordinary weight of a sinner’s guilt.
Please don’t treat this weight as unique or disqualifying - we all feel it, because we all mess up daily, regardless of how it appears.
I think Hebrews 4:16 has the perfect answer for you:
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Key word here is confidence.
Knowing that Christ has redeemed us, and that we could never earn salvation, and He gave it to us anyway, we should be confident of the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.
No fear when asking for his mercy, only love.
And that’s good news for everyone, not just you!
So to you, and all of us readin & writin here today, let’s take that message out this week and tell at least one person the good news.
See you next time,
Thomas Throssell
p.s. if you’ve got any questions you’d like answered - publicly or privately - please send them through! it might be helpful to hear about for more than just the two of us…