GIVE, SAVE, LIVE

Give, Save, Live: Proverbs 3:9-10 and the Three Moves Toward Financial Freedom

5-Day Devotional · November 2026

Amazing family,

Between $7-a-gallon gas, rent hikes across our area, and paychecks that seem to disappear by midweek, we all feel that money pressure. Today I want to talk about what money does to us. As a reminder, I am your pastor, not your financial advisor. I'm not here to manage your portfolio; I'm here to pastor your heart.

Money promises us safety, control, and the sense that we'll be somebody, and when the pressure mounts, it's easy to get caught between greed grabbing for more and fear refusing to let go. How we see money is a spiritual issue. Jesus talked constantly about money not because He wanted people's wallets, but because He knew that wherever our money goes first reveals what our hearts truly trust.

This week, we are cutting through the noise to align our finances with God's design through a simple framework: Give, Save, Live. Anchored in Proverbs 3:9-10, this plan isn't about rigid percentages or living a small, joyless life. It's about putting things in the right order. We honor God by giving first, reminding us who owns it all. We save wisely, building the kind of margin that grants real freedom when life shifts. And then we live richly, enjoying God's blessings at our tables and on vacations without guilt, because our priorities are anchored in Him.

Over the next five days, we're taking small, practical steps together through Proverbs 3 to trade financial stress for genuine peace. Then, bring your family and join us in the room this Sunday for Week 3 of Money Moves, because the order we actually live by is the legacy our children will inherit.

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DAY 1 - What Money Reveals

Luke 12:15 · NRSVUE

“And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’”

Nobody has to tell you the economy is tight. You probably felt it at the pump while filling your tank, when the rent went up again, when the paycheck had already thinned out within the first week.

What's harder to notice is how much space all of that takes up in your head. It shows up in the sharp tone at dinner. It shows up at two in the morning when the house is quiet and your mind won't shut off. It shows up in the job you're afraid to leave, and the hard conversation you keep putting off.

Jesus understood this deeply. He talked about money more than almost anything else because He knew what money does to us. Most of the people listening to Him were day laborers and tenant farmers carrying heavy debt, unfair taxes, and rising expenses. He met them right where they lived because He recognized that money is the one rival god that can take the throne of your heart.

Money makes promises it simply cannot keep. It tells you: I can make you safe. I can keep you in control. I can make you somebody. But the moment we look to our accounts for security that only God can provide, our trust shifts without us ever making a conscious decision to move it.

Here is the good news: God isn't standing over you with a clipboard grading your budget. He isn't waiting to scold you for being stressed. He is offering you a better, lighter way to carry the weight, and you don't have to have everything figured out to take that first step.

“No election can tell you what money means to you. No election can tell you who you trust. How we see money is a spiritual issue.”; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Today's Move

Open your banking app and look at the last 30 days. Write down the first five things your money went to after the paycheck landed, in the order they actually left. Circle the one that was truly first.

Why. You cannot reorder something you have never looked at. This week asks you to change the order of your money, and today is the day you find out what the order currently is.

Reflection

If someone looked at your spending habits without any context, what would they conclude you trust most?

Prayer

Lord, open my eyes to see my finances the way You see them. Give me the courage this week to be honest about where my trust actually lives. When the pressure rises, keep me from reaching for control instead of reaching for You. Amen.

DAY 2 - More Than Words

Proverbs 3:9 · NRSVUE

“Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce;”

Honor is a word we use loosely. We say we honor God and we mean it when we sing it. But the Hebrew word sitting under this verse is kabad, and it comes from a root that means heavy. To honor something is to give it weight. It is the same word God uses when He says honor your father and mother.

That is why the verse says first fruits and not leftovers. In ancient Israel a family could not eat bread from the new crop until God's portion had been brought in. They had waited all year. The children were hungry. And the rule held, not because God was hungry, but because the family needed to remember who grew the crop.

Jesus confronted religious leaders in Mark 7 who had found a loophole around this. They would declare their money an offering to God so they would not have to spend it caring for their aging parents, and He told them plainly that was not honor. You cannot say you honor someone and leave them with nothing. Honor shows up in the lips, the heart, and the hands, and God is not asking you for perfection here. He is asking you for priority.

“To honor God is to treat God as the heaviest thing in your life and to show it with your words, your heart, and your hands.”; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Today's Move · Give

Decide the number. Pick an amount you will give first this month, before a single bill is paid, and write it somewhere you will see it before your next paycheck lands. Start small enough that you will actually do it.

Why. First fruits is a decision made before the money arrives, not after. If you wait to see what is left, you are not giving first, you are giving last and calling it first.

Reflection

In what areas of your life do you honor God with your words but struggle to follow through with your actions?

Prayer

Father, help me move past honoring You with my lips alone. Show me one practical step today that puts weight behind what I say I believe. Let it be small enough that I actually do it, and let it be real enough that it costs me something. Amen.

DAY 3 - Steward, Not Owner

Psalm 24:1 · NRSVUE

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it,”

There is a difference between an owner and a steward, and your body knows it before your mind does. An owner carries every decision alone. Every surprise expense, every uncertain season, all of it lands on one set of shoulders. A steward manages what belongs to someone else, and that single shift changes how heavy the whole thing feels.

Psalm 24:1 says the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it. That includes your paycheck. It includes your savings. It includes your debt. When that actually lands on you, the pressure starts to lift, because you stop being the final word on your own finances.

This is not permission to be careless. Stewards are more intentional than owners, not less. They save on purpose, they give on purpose, and they spend knowing it matters, because they understand they are managing something that belongs to someone they answer to. What changes is the weight. You can decide out of trust instead of fear, and you can sleep at night, because you were never meant to carry all of this by yourself.

“A steward sleeps better than an owner because the owner carries all the weight.”; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Today's Move · Give

Make yesterday's number automatic. Set the gift to go out on the day you get paid rather than the day you remember. Ten minutes in your bank or at uamez.com/give settles it for the rest of the year.

Why. An owner decides every month under pressure. A steward sets the order once and then manages inside it. Automating it is not less faith, it is the posture made permanent.

Reflection

How might your financial decisions change if you genuinely believed everything you have belongs to God and not to you?

Prayer

God, remind me today that I am a steward and not an owner. Help me manage what You have entrusted to me with wisdom and with an open hand. Take back the weight I was never meant to carry, and teach me how to rest while I still have work to do. Amen.

DAY 4 - Give, Save, Live

1 Timothy 6:17 · NRSVUE

“As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Most of us run the order backwards. We live first, we save whatever survives the month, and we give out of what is left at the end. Then we wonder why the pressure never lifts and why nothing ever feels like enough.

God's order is give, save, live. Giving first says out loud that God is the source before anything else is. Saving is not small faith, it is wisdom, and it builds the margin that lets you take a risk later. Put some money aside so you can take a risk. So you can hand in a resignation and walk out without needing 14 days or a severance package, because the borrower is a slave to the lender and savings is what breaks that grip.

Then there is living, and this is the part people get wrong in the other direction. First Timothy says God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. He is not a reluctant provider. Take the vacation. Have people at your table. Enjoy what He has given you without apologizing for it, because the order is already right. This is not about having more money. It is about putting what you have in the right order.

“Give, save, live. These are principles that God has given you.”; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Today's Move · Save

Open a savings account today, or put something into the one you already have, however small. Then name it. Write on it what the margin is for: a risk you want to take, a job you want to be free to leave, a family member you want to be able to help.

Why. Unnamed savings gets spent. Named margin buys you a decision later, and that decision is what freedom actually looks like when it arrives.

Reflection

Which part of the give, save, live framework is hardest for you to follow, and what do you think that reveals about where you are placing your trust?

Prayer

Lord, help me trust Your order even when it runs against my instincts. Give me the faith to give first, the wisdom to save well, and the freedom to enjoy what You have provided. Keep me from guilt in the places where You have already given permission. Amen.

DAY 5 - Your First Dollar

Matthew 6:24 · NRSVUE

“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Where does your first dollar go? Not the leftover dollar, not the one that survives after everything else is covered. The first one. Whatever gets that first claim is, in a real sense, the master of your money.

Jesus said it without softening it. You cannot serve two masters. Money makes a demanding master and it is subtle about the way it takes the job. It does not announce itself and it does not ask permission. It moves to the front of the line and waits for you to agree with the arrangement.

Here is what makes this survivable. You get to choose again every single time you get paid. You do not have to overhaul anything this week. Give something first even if it is small. Open the account even if it starts with almost nothing in it. Make one spending decision out of contentment instead of comparison. Your heart follows your treasure and not the other way around, so move the money and the heart will catch up. You do not have to feel ready. You have to begin.

“Whatever gets your first dollar is what weighs the most.”; Pastor Kaloma Smith

Today's Move · Live

Spend on people instead of things. Put a meal on the table this week with somebody sitting across from you, and do it without guilt and without checking what it cost afterward. Then text one person and ask them to come Sunday.

Why. Living is the third move, not the leftover. God richly provides everything for our enjoyment, and enjoyment you have to apologize for is not what He had in mind.

Reflection

What is one concrete change you can make this week to ensure your first dollar reflects what you say you believe about God?

Prayer

Father, I want my money to tell the truth about who I trust. Give me the courage to take one faithful step today, however small it looks from the outside. Meet me there the way You have promised to meet people who start before they feel ready. Amen.

A Prayer for the Week Ahead

God, this week has shown us where our trust actually lives, and some of what we saw was uncomfortable. We have been carrying weight that was never ours. We have been giving You what survived the month instead of what came first. We have called money a math problem when it has been a heart problem the whole time.

So reorder us. Give us the nerve to put You first before the bills are counted, the wisdom to build margin while we still can, and the freedom to enjoy what You have already provided without guilt or comparison. Where there is fear at two in the morning, send rest. Where there is pressure at the dinner table, send peace.

And let this hold past this week. Let our children watch us order our lives around You and learn it without us having to explain it. That is the inheritance we actually leave them, and it is worth more than anything we could put in an account on their behalf.

Amen.

Your Assignment This Week

One. Find out what actually got your first dollar. Pull up your last 30 days. Not what you meant to give, not what you planned to save. What actually went out first. Write it down, then move one thing to the front of the line before your next paycheck is spent. It does not have to be large. It has to be first.

Two. Join us for Open Hands. This is the part we get to do together. Open Hands is our year-end giving through Offering Sunday on December 6, and it is building the things that let us hold people well: curriculum and supplies for Amazing Kids, a nursery with somebody in it every Sunday morning, and the mics and cameras that carry the service to whoever cannot be in the room. Give something this week, whatever the amount, and let it be the first thing out rather than the last. There is room for you in this.

Three. Bring somebody with you. Think of the person in your life who has been doing math at the kitchen table and has not said a word about it to anybody. Text them today and ask them to sit with you on Sunday for week three of Money Moves. You already know who came to mind.

Sundays at 10 · 3549 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kaloma