Proverbs 27:23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds.

Personal finance is all the things you choose to do with your money.

Personal finance encompasses all the choices you make regarding how to earn, budget, save, spend, and share your money. Imagine for a moment that you founded a company called YOU, Inc.—where your responsibility is to oversee every dollar that flows through this business. If you approached the management of funds for YOU, Inc. as you currently do for yourself, would you feel confident in your ability to retain your position?

Ouch! That’s a tough question, but a necessary one. That’s because you really are charged with handling important finances. You may not be the chief financial officer of a huge company, but you’re responsible for managing the money God’s entrusted to you—and that’s even more important! We call that stewardship, which just means being a manager of the money God has given you.

So how do you make sure YOU, Inc. stays on a solid financial footing? First, you’ve got to know your stuff!

Money is active. It’s always moving, always flowing from one thing to another. Dave Ramsey

See, money is active. It’s always moving, always flowing from one thing to another. That makes it really hard to manage, but you’ve got to take control. Money always flows away from those who don’t manage it and toward those who do. The biggest part of managing your money is simply knowing what you have and what you’re doing with it.

In ancient days, flocks and herds were a common currency. They were the measure of personal wealth and the foundation for a family inheritance. People who wanted to build wealth knew all there was to know about their stuff. They knew exactly how many sheep, goats, or cows they had in their herds. Proverbs 27:23 is a challenge to know the state of your flocks—or your personal finances, in today’s context.

If you want to experience financial peace, you’ve got to learn to manage what you have. You’ve got to build a zero-based budget on paper (or with an app), on purpose, before each month begins. You need to know how much money is coming in each month and how much is going out. You need to know how much total debt you have (if any)—and create a plan to get out of debt. You’ve got to manage expenses and work hard to get out of debt. You’ve got to build a three- to six-month emergency fund that keeps you out of crisis mode. You’ve got to save and invest now so you can be secure in the future.

Money is sort of like a thoroughbred horse. When it’s properly trained, it combines beauty and power like few things on earth. But left on its own, it becomes wild—even dangerous. The key is you taking control. Dave Ramsey