Ron Blue - Master Your Money: A Step-by-Step Plan for Experiencing Financial Contentment

Ive known Ron Blue for many years and on several occasions have asked for his financial advice. His approach to personal finance based upon a biblical worldview is sound, professional, and objective. Master Your Money has stood the test of time because it is based in Gods Word. It has been my pleasure to call Ron Blue not only an advisor but also a friend.

John Maxwell
New York Times bestselling author
Leadership Expert

Long before Dave Ramsey was encouraging people to live like no one else, Ron Blue was out blazing new trails as one of the great pioneers of Christian stewardship. Through his writing, speaking and teaching, Ron has been an unwavering voice for Gods ways of handling money.

Dave Ramsey
New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio show host

Twenty-five years ago Master Your Money profoundly impacted the way I viewed money and financial planning. Twenty-five years later, the principles that Ron so eloquently lays out continue to form the basis for my personal money management. This is a timeless resource.

Andy Stanley
Senior Pastor, North Point Community Church

When it comes to money management, Ron Blue is the gold standard. Few people have accumulated more wisdom, and that wisdom is communicated with so much grace.

Mark Batterson
New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker
Lead Pastor of National Community Church

Ron Blue has inked the gold standard for financial wisdom. Like advice from an old friend who loves us, Ron coaches us with biblically grounded Why didnt I think of that? insights. Not only does Rons book give us the view from 30,000 feet, he pilots us along at treetop level with useful worksheets and practical how-to tips. Master Your Money presents You can take it to the bank answers for every conceivable money-related question you can think of. Must-reading for the financially challenged.

Patrick Morley
Author and CEO, Man in the Mirror

I know Ron Blue to be a man who loves Jesus and desires to serve people. Ron is wise, and he has a heart for what stirs Gods heart. Readers will find much to learn and benefit from in Master Your Money.

Randy Alcorn
Author of Heaven and Happiness

If you are looking for solid, wise counsel on managing your finances, youve found it. Ron is a rare mix of a leader who has spent a lifetime helping people, couples and families, not just manage their finances well, but do it in a way that honors God and His work.

Dr. Dennis Rainey
President and CEO, FamilyLife

1986, 1991, 1997, 2004, 2016 by
THE RON BLUE LIBRARY, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth and Associates.

Holmes and Rahe chart on is reprinted by permission from Journal of Psychosomatic Research, T. H. Holmes and H. Rahe, The Social Readjustment Rating Scale, v. 11, 1967, Pergamon Press.

Material on estate planning on is taken from Splitting Heirs 2004 by Ron Blue. Published by Northfield, an imprint of Moody Publishers. Used by permission.

Interior Design: Smartt Guys design
Cover Design: Erik M. Peterson
Cover line pattern copyright 2015 by NIK/Shutterstock (4217317). All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Blue, Ron, author.

Title: Master your money : a step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment / Ron Blue, with Michael Blue

Description: Chicago, IL : Moody Publishers, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015042227 | ISBN 9780802414519

Subjects: LCSH: Finance, Personal. | Finance, Personal--Religious aspects--Christianity. | Christians--Finance, Personal.

Classification: LCC HG179 .B565 2016 | DDC 332.024--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015042227

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Thank you for choosing to read this Moody Publishers title. It is our hope and prayer that this book will help you to know Jesus Christ more personally and love Him more deeply.

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M aster Your Money was originally published in October of 1986. I am very grateful that many people read and benefited from it. Enough copies sold that a second edition was published in 1991. Between the first and second editions, much changed in our world. A significant stock market crash occurred in 1987. Eastern Europe and Russia opened up economically and politically. The United States enjoyed a growing economy in the late 1980s and then a recession in the early 1990s as a war with Iraq started.

Between the second edition and the third edition in 1997, who could have foretold the changes as something called the Internet and the World Wide Web entered our lives? The stock market boomed to new highs; cellphones, pagers, and email allowed virtually instant contact with anyone; inflation continued to remain low; and the US economy showed unprecedented strength.

From the third edition in 1997 until the fourth edition in 2004, almost nobody predicted that the US government would balance its budget and show a surplus, that interest rates would plummet to near-zero levels, and that Y2K would come and go without a technical glitch. The stock market kept booming until early 2000 and then nose-dived for three years. The United States was attacked on its own soil by terrorists in 2001, thus starting a war on terrorism. The war effort and the declining US economy brought back large government deficits. Taxes were lowered to the lowest levels in generations.