You may have heard that if you want to know what is important to you, list the last fifty things on which you spent your time and money. Jesus told us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Financial priorities are often a strong indicator of what our hearts truly value.

My husband and I didn’t have very much money during our first years of marriage. He was in seminary full time, and my starting teacher’s pay didn’t go very far. I put together a budget, and we tried to stick with it. I couldn’t understand why we were coming up short each month until I realized we had been tithing to the church, but I had forgotten to put that 10 percent in our budget!

Giving can seem like an obligation, but God wants it to be a spiritual priority, which is why he “loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). He only asks for 10 percent, but Scripture also teaches us that his 10 percent should be of the “firstfruits,” our first gift and priority. My budget indicated that my heart for giving to God wasn’t my first priority.

Jesus taught his disciples that the money we give to God is an investment in our spiritual lives and should be thought of as our treasure. Learning to treasure God’s priorities will help us know how to invest our money in things that have an eternal return. 

Do you spend your money, or do you invest it in the treasures of heaven? 

God’s priorities are wisdom. When we follow the financial plan for our money that God has designed, our hearts will be invested in his priorities, and we can use our money wisely. Eternal investments have the greatest returns.