Getting your first credit card can be an exciting experience. But with it comes a lot of responsibility, and as Christians, we also have to behave with integrity. And that includes being sensible with our money and what we spend. The Bible actually has a lot to say about how we should manage our money. Here are a few things we should bear in mind to help us: 1) Think about your money as God’s rather than yours. We’re called to be good stewards of the resources He’s given us, one of which is money. He’s trusted each if us with a certain amount of resources, and expects us to use them wisely, whatever the amount. (Have a read of the Parable of the Three Servants in Matthew 25:14-30 for an example.) 2) Remember the warning in Proverbs 22:7: ‘the borrower is the slave of the lender’ (ESV). When we borrow something, we then have an obligation to give it back, fulfilling any conditions that the lender’s imposed on us. We have a choice to say no and not borrow if we don’t agree with them. 3) If you borrow or buy something on a credit card, only do it if you honestly intend to pay it back (and are pretty certain you’ll be able to). It’s tempting for us to think ‘I can buy this £200 item now, and only have to pay £5 for it at the end of the month.’ But thinking like this can get us dragged into even bigger debts, and isn’t a good demonstration of our integrity. Proverbs 10:9 reminds us that ‘whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out’ (NIV). 4) Get God involved. If we make Him the centre of our decisions about our money, we’ll have the best guidance possible.

What now?

Have a think about how your spending’s been recently. Are there any areas where you haven’t been behaving with complete integrity in your spending? Invite God to help you improve in those areas.