What We Heard: 

After the death of his father at a young age, Pat was blessed by the entrance of other men including a baseball coach/scout master who invested in his life. While serving in the Air Force, Pat was put in contact with an insurance sales manager to help his own long-term planning. That manager inquired about Pat’s post Air Force plans and the rest was history. His own father’s strategic planning before passing protected and provided for Pat, his mom, and siblings. His career has involved helping others to that degree.

Pat declares that financial literacy is crucial. Understanding numbers isn’t the same as knowing how to plan, save, and live responsibly with money. We can never be prepared for a death in our family, but we can be prepared for what happens after. When you help someone prepare and protect financially, you help the entire family.

What It Means:

The biggest challenge men face concerning money is [not surprisingly] pride. As in so many other areas of life, men need accountability. Without financial accountability, men make mistakes. Stewardship doesn’t happen solo. For believers, biblical wisdom governs our views of money. Our resources come from God, so stewarding those resources must be accountable to God’s word and the godly people He places in our lives to help us walk wisely. For married couples, financial accountability starts at home and both spouses should strive to live on the same page.

What We Do Next:

Ask yourself the “why” questions about money before you begin with the “what” questions. Is it financial freedom? Is it the flexibility to follow a dream? Protect a family? Honor the Lord? Or more dangerously…achieve greater wealth for material achievement. If there is something getting in the way of living life according to God’s purpose regarding finance [or any area of life] eliminate it. From a godly vantage point and even basic financial principle, people must out-earn their spending.  That doesn’t start with budgets and systems but submitting to God.