Finances with Jen Wilkin and Elizabeth Woodson
In this week’s episode, we are digging into the topic of finances! Money can often be a blind spot for many of us, myself included, so we are excited to learn how we can steward well what God has entrusted us with. We are particularly excited to share this episode with you because it is actually a LIVE recording of a conversation I got to have with Jen Wilkin and Elizabeth Woodson at The Gospel Coalition Women’s conference back in June!
We pray this conversation compels you to take an honest look at your finances to see how you can best steward what the Lord has entrusted you with. Our hope is that in doing so, you would come to rely more deeply on the Lord as your Provider!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Tell us more about your relationship with money.
Why do you think we have so much trouble managing money, talking about it, and understanding how we can glorify God with our money?
What is going to lead to true lasting change in our relationship with money?
How does our understanding of our identity play into our relationship with money and our spending?
Do you have any biblical passages that come to mind in relation to this topic?
What are some heart-level questions, or biblical barometers, that help you discern where you’re at in your personal relationship with money?
What are some of the heart issues (like contentment) that we might actually be struggling with but we see symptomatically as money problems?
What are some things that Christian will do distinctly different because they're Christian in regards to the way they manage their finances?
How do you begin to incorporate conversations about financial stewardship in your discipleship relationships?
Do you have any examples of people who have epitomized what it looks like to steward money well?
Do you have any encouragement to those of us who just feel like we’re constantly failing in this area?
How does the gospel drive us to give generously and to live differently in regard to the way we steward our money?
How have you seen God richly provide for you in a season where you have been experiencing lack?
How would you encourage someone who doesn’t have an abundance of resources to consider other ways that they can give of themselves or steward their resources for the good of God’s people?
If someone’s dealing with shame in this area, how would you encourage them to take an honest inventory of their time, budget, and bank account and to move forward humbly to engage with money problems in their life?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Am I willing to steward the resources I have been given the way God has called me to do?” - Elizabeth
“God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, not because he purchased them, but because he made them. Everything that we can perceive is his. So once we flip the switch from ownership to stewardship, everything should look different to the believer. I don’t actually own anything.” - Jen
“When you recognize that everything you have belongs to someone else, you treat it differently.” - Jen
“The first hurdle is being self-aware. To ask, ‘Why am I buying this? Do I really need this thing?’ And it’s a simple question, but sometimes it can get at heart issues that are much more important.” - Elizabeth
“If you're not aware of how you're spending your money, then you can’t do anything to improve in that area. The first hurdle is awareness.” - Elizabeth
“Understanding our identity in Christ means that I have value, even if I don’t live at this certain level. Our value and worth is in the Lord, but that is counter-cultural, and it’s really difficult to push against that cultural current. But I belong to the Lord, and my value comes through him.” - Elizabeth
“What I have should ultimately be used to give glory to the Lord.” - Elizabeth
“If someone were to look at my bank account and my habits, what story am I telling them about what I love and what I value?” - Elizabeth
“How is the way I’m using what God has given me pointing to him?” - Elizabeth
“We have to recognize that money can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on where our hearts are.” - Jen
Questions to ask yourself “What story am I believing? What am I being fed? What overall reality am I supporting that I don’t really want to support? What are the hidden costs of the things we use our money for? What am I participating in? Am I promoting something that values the things that I should value as a believer?” - Elizabeth
“We hold onto things because we fear, ‘What happens if I don’t have enough?’ But God is fully in control, and what that means is we need to live like he is in control. And when he leads us to make a decision that on paper looks like we won't have enough, that we trust the Lord to make it up, because it all belongs to him anyway.” - Elizabeth
“Do I live in such a place that I need the Lord? Can the world tell that you live by faith based on the way you steward your finances? How am I not walking in fear, but in faith when it comes to how I’m managing my money?” - Elizabeth
“It’s important that you get your priorities clear as soon as you can… For the most part your decisions can be guided by two or three guiding principles. And if you don’t have a plan it will all start to vanish.” - Jen
“What does it look like for us to be wise with what God has given us for the purpose of the gospel? How are we using what God’s given us to support the mission that the church is doing?” - Elizabeth
“Your identity in Christ is not connected to how well you do this. You have no less value if you’re struggling to hold the pieces together. And the Lord is here to help and provide the resources and conviction to guide us.” - Elizabeth
“Know your own limits, strengths, and weaknesses. Know the effect that social media or online shopping has on you, and if you are affected you might need to set some boundaries for yourself around how you’re inflaming those desires you have.” - Jen
“In regard to online shopping, what if we just hesitated, and took a moment to ask ‘What are you feeling right now? What are you hoping for? How are you going to feel about this six months from now?’” - Jen
“What’s my part in furthering the message of the gospel? I have received something that I have eternal hope for, and so how am I stewarding my current resources to make sure that everybody else gets to hear that same truth?” - Elizabeth
“The gospel assures us that we have the greatest possession we could ever require. We have it and we can’t lose it. I don’t need anything else. I have the one possession that I need and it can never be taken away from me.” - Jen
“It’s helpful for me to recognize the bounty that I have instead of the thing that I lack.” - Jen
“For the believer, our mentality is not scarcity, but abundance. We live out of the fear of the Lord, not out of the fear of loss of other things. When you have rightly placed fear, it allows you to live in a place of abundance rather than scarcity. Think from a mindset of how much I have to give and how much I have received versus how much I have to lose and how much I still want. That’s a Christian mindset.” - Jen
“God showed up for me with his people. I got to see him do that over and over again.” - Elizabeth
“How am I spending what God has given me? Maybe I don’t have the financial resources, but I can do life with you in a significant way. And not just focus on what I don’t have, because sometimes the overflow comes when we can get out of our space and go be with other people.” - Elizabeth
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Embrace Your Life: How To Find Joy When The Life You Have Is Not The Life You Hoped For by Elizabeth Woodson
From Beginning To Forever: A Study of the Grand Narrative of Scripture by Elizabeth Woodson
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin
None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That's a Good Thing) by Jen Wilkin
In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character by Jen Wilkin
Ten Words to Live By: Delighting in and Doing What God Commands by Jen Wilkin
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How would you describe your relationship with money?
Do you have any examples you can look to of people who have epitomized what it looks like to steward money well?
How does the gospel drive you to give generously and to live differently in regard to the way you steward your money?
How have you seen God richly provide for you in a season where you have been experiencing lack?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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