Financial Infidelity

Financial Infidelity
The Cheating Spouse
Are you being a good steward over the money God has given you?

Well, if you are secretly spending money and hiding your purchases from your spouse, the answer is no.

This kind of behavior is known as financial infidelity and is as displeasing to God as any other form of disloyalty in marriage.

In a study conducted by GMAC, the finance company, it was reported that one third of the 2,800 households surveyed, spouses admitted to hiding a minimum of one purchase from their mate.

Why is this becoming such a trend? Well, in some cases, it's a signal of a hidden addiction. These addictions can take the form of gambling, alcohol, drugs, shopping, or even hobbies.

In other cases, it's a misunderstanding of how the covenant of marriage is suppose to function.

For instance, the husband may feel that as the head of the household he has the right to spend whatever he wants whenever he wants.

On the other hand, the wife may feel that because she works just as hard, she deserves to go shopping whenever she wants.

Well, the problem here is that financial infidelity has nothing to do with headship or with one being deserving --- it's a matter of the heart...

Your heart for God and your heart for your spouse.

Financial Infidelity
The Cheating Spouse

Understand this, the Bible says that once a man and a woman marry they are "one flesh".

Becoming one flesh means you trust each other, and have no hidden secrets.

It also means you work together to achieve success and obtain your financial goals.

Sadly, the financial goals of your family will never be achieved if the foundation is built on secrets and lies.

You see, God is not going to entrust you with more money if you can not manage what He has already given you.

Jesus tells a story in the Bible of a master who entrusted three of his servants with a portion of his money while he was away.

When the master returned he was so pleased with how two of his servants managed his money that he praised them and gave them even more.

But the third servant was careless with his master's money.

As a result his master took what he had given him and gave it to the other servants.

Right click here to read the Parable of Gold.

You may not think this parable applies to financial infidelity, but it can be applied to any mishandling of money.

Spending money that you and your spouse have not agreed to spend falls into this category. In addition, stashing money away in a secret account also qualifies as financial infidelity.

What's the bottom line? The bottom line is this, if you are being financially unfaithful in your marriage, you are sabotaging your financial future!