Financial advisor James Wise understands the draw to materialism. He said in the 1980s he bought into the myth that to be happy he had to have a big house, a new car and a six-figure income. But after he committed his life to Christ, he said, his priorities changed.

Wise says Christian financial management must begin with an understanding of all resources as God's. Wise claims Christians must have a better understanding of biblical principles for money management. Too many, he says, have been lured into the trap of materialism.

Agape Press reports that Wise's workbook, "Five Steps to Financial Freedom: Money Management Made Easy," offers a systematic approach to planning and managing resources.

Most Christians, Wise says, do not have a firm understanding of stewardship. "God claims ownership over all things," Wise said.

"The thing that was most transforming for me personally was [when I started] to understand that everything that has ever run through my hands belongs to God," Wise said.

"And once I take that perspective--that God is the owner--then I look a little further into God's Word and ask ‘What is my responsibility?'"

Wise is managing director of a financial firm. As a financial advisor, Wise says many Christians harbor common but unrecognized symptoms of materialism.

"I've seen this in the Church in the form of compulsive saving," he said. "For example, I've seen a lot of cases where a Christian may become very obsessive about saving for some future event, and [sometimes take that] to the extreme where there's not enough money left to buy clothes for the kids."