Our relationship with money reflects and shapes who we are, how we live, our relationships with other people, and even our faith. Yet we often go about life not connecting the material with the spiritual. That disconnect can leave us feeling trapped in our money choices and leaves us separated from God and God’s community. How can we make the connection? It starts with understanding our relationship to money. The money autobiography is a powerful tool you can use to better understand your behaviors and feelings evoked by money.
Click here to begin your money autobiography
“The money autobiography exercise is among the single most important experiences that I have had in raising my awareness and helping to prepare me for transformation around my relationship with money. I am so grateful for the care and support of the staff and other participants that came along with the experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take next steps on their journey with right relationship to money and the larger world around us.”
– Jim K., workshop participant
Don’t like to write? It’s not an obstacle. The benefit from the money autobiography doesn’t come from the quality of the writing but the quality of the reflection. That’s why this tool is so useful. The money autobiography offers an extensive list of questions to prompt your reflection and nudge you several layers beneath the surface to probe many aspects of your relationship to money. Choose the questions that are relevant to you and start exploring
A money autobiography for parents!
Parenting Faith and Money: A parent’s supplement to the money autobiography
Our attitudes and assumptions about money often remain unexamined, yet they are there for our children of all ages to see and absorb and repeat. Some of these attitudes and behaviors are helpful to our children; others are not. Either way, if we are aware of our own feelings and actions around money, we can more intentionally communicate with our children, giving them tools to deal with their own feelings about money-related issues and to make choices consistent with their faith and values.
Please remember that there are no right or wrong answers that apply to every situation. Like all other aspects of parenting, appropriate and faithful financial education and decision-making depend on the circumstances and personalities within your family.
“I thought I knew everything about myself and my relationship to money. Working with the money autobiography I found out that the things that I did not like that my parents did around money, well, I was doing the exact same thing with my kids. That was painful. But it also gave me the awareness to make some changes in my own life and home. It is a great tool of awareness.”
– Mary C.
A money autobiography can be useful not only in personal growth, but also in the growth of the church. Whatever blocks our response to God as individuals also cripples the Body of Christ, the church.