Following Jesus with Our Finances
Part 4 – Developing a Healthy Attitude toward Finances
Various Scriptures
March 27, 2011
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Audio of this message can be heard at www.aberdeenwesleyan.org.
Me: Today we’re wrapping up our series on finance, and I’ve got to tell you, last week’s message was a turning point for me in terms of preaching about money.
I think because it wasn’t a message about giving or the “eeeevil” of riches, but about being content, I felt more free to relax.
Today I think will be the same way, or at least I hope.
We’re going to look at some basic financial principles from Scripture – very basic things that if you’ll put them into place, will go a long way to eliminate something we all deal with from time to mine regarding money: worry.
We: I think I can say with confidence that I’m not the only one who hates worrying about money.
The Bible says we’re not supposed to worry about anything, but most of us here break that command on a pretty regular basis, especially when we come to the end of the money and we got a whole lot of month left, right?
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt – which I’ll sell to you cuz I could use the extra cash right now…
Who couldn’t?
Well, I think that what we’re going to look at today will help us get past that, as well as give us some very practical teaching that all of us can put into practice very easily if we’re willing to just do it.
God: How many people here like Chinese food? I love Chinese food.
Well, a couple weeks ago I was eating at the Chinese place on Main Street. I eat there pretty often when I forget to bring my lunch to work at the shoe store.
Anyway, once after lunch I grabbed my fortune cookie and brought it back to the store.
When I opened it, this is what I read on the fortune:
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Can anyone here tell me who the author of that quote is? (John Wesley)
John Wesley was a guy who believed that Scripture addresses the issues of the day, and that Christ should be the Lord over all those issues.
And this pithy quote is his way of condensing Biblical wisdom regarding money.
We’re going to look at the three main points of his saying with some passages from the book of Proverbs.
The book of Proverbs is a great collection ancient wisdom. But as you will see, the wisdom is just as applicable today.
The financial advice in the book of Proverbs is right on for what we need here in the 21st century. But good advice, good teaching is timeless because it’s applicable in every time period.
In this case, it’s kinda like what Dave Ramsey says on his radio show: “the same financial advice your grandmother gave – except we keep our teeth in.”
So let’s start with looking at the first portion of John Wesley’s saying, that is – remember?
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Don’t be afraid to memorize that – and you probably will be the end of the sermon today.
Make:
Unless you’ve inherited a fortune from a wealthy relative, you will have to actually do something to bring money into.
You need to MAKE some money.
You do that by having a job, owning a business, or doing something to bring in some money.
God can, and has, at times, brought money into the hands of His people that they didn’t earn in one way or another.
But usually I’ve found that that happens to people who are already working hard to bring in what they can already and God says, “here’s something extra for you.”
A couple passages from Proverbs:
Proverbs 14:21 –
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
All what? Hard work.
Not wishful thinking, and according to this passage, not just talking about it.
Folks, there are lots of people who are good about talking about making money for their families. But that’s all it is – talk.
They don’t do anything about it.
They don’t find a job, they don’t do anything tangible about starting a business, they just talk.
And in the meantime, the family’s not getting fed, the bills aren’t getting paid, and they just sink further into the hole.
It happens more often than you might know.
On the other hand, hard work brings a profit.
- God has given most people the ability to work in some form to bring an income.
Some people are unable to work, but the vast majority of people are capable of holding a job or running a business.
And God expects you to bring in an income, especially if you have a family. You should do all you can to provide for them.
But the caution is that making all you can can become an obsession, especially as that income grows.
You need to make sure that doesn’t happen, and the way you do that is to make sure God has access to your income, which I’ll talk about a bit later.
So, the first part of the plan for having a healthy attitude for your finances is to “make all you can.”
God expects you to do your part, and blesses your efforts.
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” Let’s look at the “saving” part.
Save:
The writer of this part of Proverbs gives us an object lesson in what it means to save.
Proverbs 6:6-11 –
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Three things here:
- Saving should be a natural action.
No one has to tell the ant to put something away for the future. He just does it.
The wise person catches the lesson here and puts into practice.
He knows that cars break down, gas prices go up, kids need clothes, and Christmas comes every December.
And so he saves what he can when he can to help in those situations and hopefully avoiding debt to cover those things.
I can tell you that it’s a lot nicer to be able to pay cash for a repair or something because we’ve been stingy in some areas so we could save for emergencies.
- Saving should be done on a regular basis.
It’s a good idea to set some aside as often as you can.
Some put some in savings every week or month, others put it in once a year, maybe if they get an income tax refund.
But they make the effort to do it regularly, because they never know when something will come up.
Put some aside as often as you can. Debra and I have a little taken out of our checking account each week.
It’s not much, but it’s something, and it really relieves the stress.
The third lesson from the ant is that…
- Laziness in setting aside for the future invites disaster when hardships come (and they will).
Many of us spend money we don’t need to, and then when something comes up like a car repair or a doctor’s visit, we think, “Wow – that would have paid for this.”
Am I the only one that that’s happened to?
Or we’re quick to spend money some of our wants, but slow to putting something away for the future.
Folks, this was me for years.
I wasn’t necessarily extravagant, but I spent money that would have been better used in savings so that when the ugly stuff of life happened, I didn’t have to panic or grab the plastic, which is what so many people do.
But Debra and began to listen to the counsel of godly people who knew what they were talking about, and now we save regularly so that when the icky stuff happens, we can generally handle it.
We thank God for the ability He has given us to set a little aside each week so that we won’t invite disaster when the hard stuff comes.
Folks – you’ve got to save some money if you’re not already.
“But Pastor, we’d make more money in the stock market – shouldn’t we do that instead of saving it in something that pays next to nothing in interest?”
No.
I’m not against the stock market, but how many people think they’ve got it figured out only to lose their shirts. And their homes. And their families.
Let me show you another passage from Proverbs that has proven itself in the wisdom of saving over time.
Proverbs 13:11 –
Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
Gathering – just a little bit by a little bit, pays off because it grows.
Put some savings away.
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Let’s look at the third part of that.
Give:
Okay, this is church, and it’s just part of the church culture that the pastor talks about giving from time to time, and I did that a couple weeks ago.
And I’m not going to beat on that again today, but I want to show you just a couple things from a passage in Proverbs about giving back to God some of what He has given you:
Proverbs 3:9-10 –
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Two things here:
- We’re supposed to give God the firstfruits, not the leftovers.
This is where most people who struggle with giving live.
They think that they are supposed to give to God after everything else is paid for.
But that’s not the Scriptural order of things.
God says we give back to Him FIRST.
Let me tell you – and others in here will be able to say “amen” to this – when Debra and I got that in the right order, things started happening for us as we dug and clawed our way out of the hole we had gotten into.
In Bible times, the firstfruits where the best part of the crop or herd or flock, never the worst or the leftovers.
But we have bought into the lie that God can wait. “Oh, God will understand that we just can’t tithe right now.”
He understands all right. But He’s saying, “Look, man. If you’ll just do what I tell you to do, then I’ll do what I say I’ll do.”
And that leads to this second point here about this passage, and that is that…
- God’s blessing comes AFTER we act in faith.
God say, “Give back to me, THEN your barns will be filled.”
But we say, “When God gives me something, I’ll give something to Him.”
It doesn’t work that way.
We step out in faith that God will come through. And then He does.
I KNOW it’s hard, especially when you don’t have much to begin with.
But when you start giving to God before you start paying the bills, then you start to see God providing for the rest of your needs.
Notice I said He provides for your needs.
He may not provide for some of your wants. He may not provide for your cable TV or internet.
He may not provide a mortgage payment for a house you shouldn’t have bought because it was too expensive.
He may not provide for your weekly trip to the fancy restaurant you like so much.
But He does provide for your needs.
He promises to do it, and God is not a liar.
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
You: So what do we do with all this?
Get a real live plan in place. This week.
There is a word that helps us handle our money in ways that help us make all we can, save all we can, and give all we can: budget.
“Budget” is not a four-letter word (it’s a six-letter word…), and instead of a curse, it can and will be a blessing, if it’s handled correctly.
Believe me, I hate budgets as much as anybody. I really do.
At least, I hate anticipating the work involved in doing one that works.
That’s the way it is with most things. We anticipate the pain and discomfort, but then when we actually get going on it, it’s not so bad.
Budget what you make, what you’ll save, and what you’ll give, along with what you spend on your day-to-day living.
Get some budgeting software, or just some forms. Dave Ramsey, Crown Ministries, whatever.
Get with your spouse and actually LISTEN to him or her about prioritizing how you spend your money.
Just get something that will help you see with clear vision what you need to do to meet your expenses and give and save all you can.
But do it this week.
Don’t wait until next week. Start this week.
Make it start on Friday, April 1. The beginning of the month is a great time to start a new budget.
But get it done this week so you can make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.
We: You want to know one of the best benefits of doing this budgeting thing?
It goes a long way to taking away one of the plagues of people today: worry.
Christians aren’t supposed to be filled with worry. We’re supposed to be filled with the faith that God wants to give us, so we can live in cheerful obedience because we trust God to come through like He says He will.
And you know what?
When you go around in life not panicking about your finances, people notice.
It makes you weird.
I’m not saying you pretend things aren’t tough, or that you imagine you don’t have money troubles or anything like that.
I’m saying that you put your faith in the One who promises to meet your needs.
And when you do that, the worry lessens.
Because you see God doing all that.
But it takes you stepping out and letting God do His thing.
Folks, I won’t lie. Things are tight with my family – that’s why I work a second job (by the way, that’s one of the ways God provides sometimes).
But I don’t lie awake at night anymore wondering how I’m going to make ends meet. Because God is making the ends meet.
God is helping me make as much as I can, save all I can, and give all I can, so that I can have the right attitude necessary to handling money in ways that honor God, advance the Kingdom, meet my family’s needs, help others.
And it’s based on the fact that it all belongs to God anyway. He’s just letting me use it. And when you get that, it’s easier to make it, save it, and give it.
If you’ll act on God’s Word, you’ll find it true for you. I guarantee it. Because God guarantees it.
Let’s pray.
