Before 2020, i’d never been to a money management class. I’d never read any book about money either. One of my closest friends is a Personal Finance advisor, yet I had never consulted her on anything money related. Another acquintance ran a Wealth building community, helping his clients build a Kshs 1M savings fund in 12 months. I never thought to join.
Unsurprisingly, I was in dire debt, I lived paycheck to paycheck, and my home condition did not represent the salary I earned. Torn sofas, a cracked TV, peeling walls, broken bulbs, creaking beds…when I look back sometimes I cringe in embarrasment. My car was a nice looking jalopy who’s mechanical issues would make any mechanic weep.
Then my marriage broke.
At what I can now call the lowest point of my life, God started ministering to me. My desperation humbled me to the point of being able to hear God. I didn’t know it at the time. It would take a year before I recognised that voice.
Having separated from my wife, I was now paying bills for two households. My acquintance was running a 4 week money management class, focussed on getting out of debt. It cost only Kshs 3,500, so I signed up. Turns out money is more layered than I ever thought. I was a high earning professional, with great financial prospects, but my mindset was all wrong.
I thought what I earned was mine. It wasn’t.
I thought money was for spending. It isn’t.
I thought I had control over my money. I didn’t.
I thought earning money was an end. It wasn’t.
I thought being intelligent and educated made me money savvy. It didn’t.
I thought my lifestyle should reflect my income. It shouldn’t.
At the end of the class, I called my Personal Finance advisor friend, and told her I needed her help. We’ve been meeting regularly since.
By the time my wife and I reconciled months later, my money mindset was different. I lived by a budget. I was accountable to God and to my advisor for what I did with my money. I had started tithing and giving. I was on a debt repayment plan that would take 3 years to accomplish. I was a voracious consumer of information on money and wealth. By 2023 I was living on far less than I made, my wife and I had saved up nearly twice our monthly net income, and we were eligible for a mortgage on a beautiful family home. It took about 4 years to undo nearly 15 years of bad financial decisions.
I have found out that Money is not a tool I use, it’s a resource I steward. Resources are mean’t to be managed, and multiplied (Gen 1:28). When Money comes to you, it’s supposed to undergo a creative process of amplification, so that it can be a blessing to you, to others and to God’s kingdom work on earth. This process involves saving, tithing, giving, investing and spending on needs (not wants).
I recently heard a profound, but simple truth, “Money lasts, until you pay for something’. What that something is, becomes the difference between those who build lasting wealth, and those who spend their lives waiting for a financial breakthrough that never comes.
