Straight Talk About Real Life
Straight Talk about Money - Interest in Principles
“Plan carefully and you will have plenty. If you act too quickly, you will never have enough.” Proverbs 21:5
[Communion Service]
Today we are going to be talking about debt. Before we begin, we are going to celebrate Communion together.
The Bible tells us that each of us is a debtor. Even if we owe no one a cent, we are in debt to God. “The wages of sin is death.” We owe God our lives because of our sin. The failings, mistakes, errors, attitudes of life separate us from God and put a pricetag on our heads.
The Bible says, “without the shedding of blood, there is not forgiveness of sins.” The only payment for our sins is blood. That’s why for centuries God had His people sacrifice animals for their sins – but that blood was a poor payment – that’s why it had to be done over and over again. God had a better payment plan in mind. God Himself became a man, Jesus Christ, lived on this earth, committed no sin, even though He was tempted just like us, and He willingly sacrificed His life – poured out His blood to pay the price for our sins.
The night before His death, He asked those who followed Him to remember regularly the price He paid, and we are going to do that this morning. So as we begin this service, let’s pause, reflect and give thanks for the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. And let’s worship the God who loves us so much that He paid the highest price for our deepest debt.
[Sermon]
We are continuing our series on “Straight Talk About Real Life.” We’ve been looked at straight talk about problems, relationships, change, forgiveness, and stress. But there’s one area that causes more struggle than almost any other area - and that is the area of finances.
This is a real-life issue. Fifty-one percent of all divorces occur over financial tension. More importantly, the Bible says that the way that you handle your money determines how much God can bless your life.
Today we are going to review the five most important financial principles found in the Bible. You’ve got to do all five things in order for your finances to be the way God wants them to be and for you to be financially free.
These are habits – principles, a way of life. We don’t just do them once and that’s it. We’ve got to make them a part of our lifestyles. If you’re in debt today, if your finances stress you out, then you picked a good day to come to church. I want to encourage everyone here to take notes. Today we’re going to show you how to get out of debt. We’re going to show you five Biblical principals, but even more than that, we’re going to give you a very practical way to make it happen…intrigued? Good!
Money Priciple # 1. Earn IT.
The Bible says we were created to work, the very first command of God is go to work (subdue the earth), we’re made in God’s image and God is a worker. One of the 10 Commandments says, “Six days thou shalt work…” Paul says in 2Thessalonians 3, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we appeal to people – no, we command them: settle down and get to work. Earn your own living.” The first principle of financial freedom is you’ve got to earn a living.
In fact the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “If a man won’t work, he shouldn’t eat.” Now, notice that doesn’t say if he can’t work because sometimes you can’t. It says if he won’t work. If it’s a matter of character, you’re just lazy. The Bible says you shouldn’t eat. God wants us to earn an honest living. Most of us here don’t have this problem, we are workaholics – but that’s a whole different sermon!
MONEY PRINCIPLE # 2 - PLAN IT.
Proverbs 27:23 says, “ 23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds. ” When Solomon wrote this almost everybody had their assets tied up in flocks. They were shepherds and ranchers, so he’s saying know where your assets are. Know the state of your flocks. Today Solomon would say, “Know the state of your stocks. Know where you’ve put your money. Know where it’s going.”
You’ve got to be aware of how you use your money. Have you ever said, “I just don't know where it all goes.” If you’re saying that, that should be a warning light – a great big red warning light that says you need a plan. People say, “Money talks.” It doesn’t talk; it just quietly slips away. And it doesn’t leave any forwarding address. And if you don’t keep track of it you’re going to get to the end of the month asking, “Where did it all go? I have no idea where it went.”
Here are four things we all need to know:
Ø First I need to know “What I own.” That’s your assets. You need to make an inventory, a list of all the things you own. You need to know what you own.
Ø Second, I need to know “What I owe.” That’s your liabilities, your debts. Get them all out on the table and figure out how much in debt you really are.
Ø Third I need to know, “What I earn.” It’s amazing how many people don’t even know exactly what they earn.
Ø Fourth, I need to know, “Where it’s going.”
But knowing where it’s going is only the start - You need to plan where it’s going. How do you plan spending? A BUDGET! A budget is simply planned spending. A budget is telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went. If you don’t do that, it’s just going to go all over the place.
Proverbs 21:5 reads, in the Good News Translation, “Plan carefully and you will have plenty. If you act too quickly, you will never have enough. [i] ” If you don't get anything else, get what I say right now. Financial freedom is not determined by how much you make. It is determined by how you spend it. If you don’t have a plan, your yearning will always exceed your earnings and you’re always going to be in debt. No matter how much money we make, our expenses always rise with income. What we need to do is write it down and get a plan.
Here’s your homework: I want you to go home and make a little, crude budget, if you don’t have one. First, put down how much you pay for rent or house payments, how much you pay for utilities, how much you pay for gas and food… You get to the end and how much do you have left over? Nothing. Because you’re spending more than you really make most likely. Then you go back and start cutting. It’s never any fun. But if we want to get to financial freedom we have to design a budget, and we’re going to have to learn to live on that budget.
There’s a third principle of financial freedom.
MONEY PRINCIPLE #3. SAVE IT.
The Bible says it is wise to save. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 21:20 that a wise man saves for the future. But we’re not very good at this as Americans. The average Japanese citizen saves 25% of their income. The average European citizen saves 17% of their income. The average American saves less than 5% of our income. Study after study shows that Baby Boomers are going to be broke in retirement. Why? We’re not saving anything. We live in this “Spend it now, live for today” mentality. We don't follow God’s principles to save for the future.
Solomon also said, in Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away. But money that is gathered little by little will grow.” What’s little by little? It’s saving. You need to set three kinds of financial goals: Saving goals, spending goals, giving goals. You need to know those and be clear about them. John D Rockefeller, one of the richest men in American History was asked his secret to wealth – he said he gave God the first 10%, saved the next 10%, and lived on the rest. That is a great savings goal to set for each of us. The Bible has a lot to say about saving, far more than we can cover today. In Proverbs 6 it says, “Go study little ants. They store up food in the summer so when the winter comes they’ll be well taken care of.” The reason we don’t do that is we want everything now – and that is foolish.
Earn It, Plan It, Save It.
MONEY PRINCIPLE #4. RETURN IT. That’s the principle of TITHING.
You know about this. We’ve talked about tithing earlier this year. God says the first ten percent of all that I make goes back to Him to honor Him as number one in my life. Most of you understand this but maybe some of you are new. In Malachi 3:10, God says, “Bring to My storehouse a full tenth of what you earn.” Tithing means ten percent. It doesn’t mean five percent, two percent, twelve percent. It means ten. That’s what tithing is. “Bring to My storehouse a full tenth of what you earn. And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. .” Circle “Try Me”. This is the only place in the Bible where God says, “I dare you!” Only one place in the Bible does God say, “This is how you can prove that I exist. You can prove it by tithing. You put Me first in your money, give Me the first ten percent back, and see if I don't bless your life. Test Me. I dare you. Try it out!”
Why do I tithe? The Bible says three reasons:
1. Out of gratitude for my past. When I give my tithe to God, I'm saying, “God, I realize that I wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for You. You gave me my mind. You gave me my health. You gave me my body. You gave me the clothes on my back. I'm just saying here’s ten percent back to You out of gratitude but I know that it all came from You in the first place.”
2. It’s a priority statement in my present. It proves that God is number one in my life. You can say that God is number one in your life but if you’re not tithing, you’re kidding yourself. God says, “I want to be number one in your time, your money, your relationships.” I can do lip service, saying, “Jesus is number one in my life.” But if I'm not tithing I really don’t trust Him. I don’t believe He’ll do what He says.
3. It is a statement of faith for the future. Every time I tithe, I'm saying, “God, I believe Your promise. I believe that You will take care of me, that somehow You’ll figure out how I can live on 90% better than if I had all 100%. So I'm going to trust. If I trust You enough to save me and get me into heaven, I’ll trust You enough to take care of my finances.”
Some of you are saying, “I'm broke. I can’t afford to tithe!” Can I respectfully submit to you that you can’t afford not to? You need God’s blessing in your life to get out of debt. The best time to start tithing is when you’re in debt. “Test Me in this,” He says.
There are more promises related to giving in the Bible than any other subject. Let me remind you of one: Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honor the Lord by giving Him…” the leftovers of all your income? “Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income and He will fill your barns to overflow.” That means right off the top. I’ve discovered that if I pay all my bills first and then put God last instead of first, there isn’t any money left. There’s too much month left over at the end of the money. Have you noticed your money runs out before the month does? So I say, Right off the top. We have a group of people here who have taken God up on His test – for 90 days they are giving 10% - and if God does not keep his end of the bargain, Gateway has agreed to refund their money. I have had so many of you come and tell me of amazing ways God has come through in the last month since we began this adventure. Try it! You will see God at work in amazing ways!
Earn it, plan it, save it, return it, and you’re going to like this one…Enjoy It!
MONEY PRINCIPLE #5. ENJOY IT.
Ecclesiastes 6:9, says “It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to always be wanting something else.’ Would you agree that that verse is being violated in our culture? We are not satisfied with what we have, we always want something more. Hebrews 13:5 echoes this verse, “Be content with what you have.” One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not covet.” So much of our lives is wrapped up in coveting what the next guy has – the car, the house, the toys. We spend so much time trying to keep up with the Jones’ that we never get to enjoy what we have! Learn contentment. Take that old car of yours out to a park and relax under a tree with your family and thank God for all He has blessed you with! If you live in this country, get up in your own bed, have a roof over your head, and food on your table, you are in the top 10% of the wealthiest people on earth.
Now don’t confuse contentment with laziness! We talked about that earlier – we are commanded to do all we can to be good, faithful stewards of what God has given us, and to work diligently at our work as unto the Lord – but we can work hard, and want to do better without being greedy and discontent.
Conclusion
Gateway Community Church is committed to helping you succeed with your finances. We want to help you be financially free. Apply these principles, and you will get there – but we want to go one more step. We want to bring you some practical assistance in making it happen. We are going to be holding a workshop at Gateway that will give you practical advice on how to get out of debt. I have contacted an individual who helps people do this – his job is to help people get out of debt. He has the resources and the experience to help every person in this room be debt free, including your mortgage, in a timeline that will amaze you. He’s helped people who were eating bologna every night to pay the minimums on their debts go from a 49 year pay off to 6 years and 3 months – and have $400 per month in spending money every month! Kurt is president of a company that uses Biblical principles to free people from the bondage and slavery of debt and poor money management. The workshop will be on Tuesday, March 15 at 6:30. You don’t want to miss it! And this is a great opportunity to invite your neighbor to a church event that can give them back money – rather than try to take their money!
None of us got in debt overnight. We’re not going to get out overnight. But if we don’t do something it’s going to get worse and worse. We need to take these principles and make them work. If you feel the pressure of finances in your life, if you find yourself arguing at home over bills, if you’re saving nothing and you’re spending all - those are symptoms of a much deeper problem than you think. Yes, you need financial principles and yes, you need a money manager to help you make this thing work. But you need more than that. because unmanaged finances represent an unmanaged life. Out-of-control finances are a symptom of an out-of-control life. You don’t just need money manager; you need a life manager. And His name is Jesus.
The Bible says you will never ultimately be satisfied by things. Isaiah 55:2 says, “Why do you spend money on that which doesn’t satisfy?” The greatest things in life aren’t things. That’s why the car that you used to think was so cool, you’re bored with now. That’s why the decorations you thought were so great, you’re bored with now. That’s why the computer you bought last week is already out of date. Things don’t change but people do. So you’re never ultimately going to be satisfied by things. The root of your financial problem is really a matter of values and trust. “What do I value and whom do I trust?” Things will disappoint, Jesus Christ will satisfy.
We have looked at 5 practical, Biblical principles for financial freedom – but there is one overriding principle that must be in place – you need Jesus to be Lord of your life, He died, and paid the debt for your sin so that you can be free from every form of bondage – financial, relational, emotional, physical. Without him, even financial freedom will not satisfy. I invite you to make him Lord of your life today.
[i] Good News Translation - Second Edition Copyright (c) 1992 by American Bible Society.