Act Your Wage
Rev Dr mark Porizky
10/28/07
Various
Today in the second of a two-part stewardship series, I want to talk
about money management, not as your accountant might speak, but as I believe our
faith encourages us to live. I realize money is a sensitive subject, but the
Bible has a lot to say about money. Jesus spoke often on this topic—in fact he
said more about it than other topic he discussed. Too
ignore the subject is to pretend that spirituality is all prayer and Bible
study. Not true.
Spirituality can be divined from our checkbooks as well.
Let me begin by saying that the consequences of mismanaging money can be
staggering. According to Social Security records 85 out of 100 Americans have
less than $250 to their name when they reach age 65. Only 2% of Americans reach
age 65 financially independent.
Now most people assume their money problems stem from not earning enough.
The truth is, most of us earn a good enough living to meet our needs and afford
many of the things we want. In fact, a person who earns $37,000 a year will
make, in the course of their career, more than one and a half million dollars.
The problem for most people is not how much they earn but how they manage what
they earn.
So today we will talk about money management. We will examine five
foundations for financial freedom given by Solomon—whom the Bible calls the
wisest and wealthiest man who ever lived. The financial principles he teaches us
in the book of Proverbs work as well today as they did then. To the extent of
which we apply these principles to our life, we can experience relief from
financial stress.
The first principle Solomon teaches is: 1.
Live by a budget
The plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)
For some people the word "budget" is intimidating. It doesn't
have to be that way. A budget is simply a plan. You don't have to be a financial
wizard. All you have to do is put down on paper what your income is and what
your living expenses are. You designate a certain amount of money for food,
rent, phone, insurance, automobile, and the rest.
If you're not sure what some of these expenses are, it is helpful to
track your spending for the first month or so to see exactly where your money is
going. This can be quite enlightening. One
month I found that I had spent over $80 on Dasani bottled water.
Do I need to spend that much money on water that is only slightly more
purified than what comes out of the tap. More
money is spent on bottled water in
Planning your spending is very easy to do, yet it is amazing how many
people violate this principle
Solomon's second money management principle is: 2.
Save for the future
He who gathers money little by little makes it grow. (Proverbs 13:11)
The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends everything.
(Proverbs 21:20)
Financial advisors recommend investing at least 10% of your income into
some kind of interest bearing account. If you were to only earn $25,000 a year
and invested 10% ($30 a week) in a mutual fund at 9% interest—in 25 years you
would have nearly a quarter million dollars in the bank.
It's reported that the majority of Americans are only 2 missed paychecks
away from bankruptcy. If disaster strikes—if a person gets laid off or gets
sick—it is impossible to recover from the setback unless they have prepared
themselves for that possibility. Thirty dollars doesn't seem like much, but, as
Solomon said, little by little it will grow.
The third money management insight we find in the book of Proverbs is:
3.
Put God first in you finances
Someone once asked John D. Rockefeller his secret of success. He said,
"Save 10%, tithe 10%, and live on the rest." This is a good financial
habit to get into. Throughout
the book of Proverbs Solomon points out the benefits and rewards of putting the
Lord first in our finances.
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing. (Proverbs 3:9-10)
A generous man will himself be blessed. (Proverbs 22:9)
He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and will be rewarded for
what he has done. (Proverbs 19:17)
Personally, I
believe there are three reasons we should tithe:
First, we should tithe out of gratitude for the past.
This is an attitude that says, "God, I realize that you have made it
possible to for me to earn a paycheck. You have given me this job and the skills
to do it. To show my appreciation for all that you have done for me, I want to
give ten percent back to you."
Second, we should tithe to keep our priorities straight today.
I
met a pastor last year that told me that the top giver in his church was a
wealthy lady. She wasn't employed; she lived off of her investments. Every year
in December she wrote a single check to church for about $20,000. After doing
this for years, she suddenly changed her strategy—she began writing checks to
the church every week for $400.
Now it didn't matter to the pastor whether she gave once a week, once a
month or once a year, but he was curious why she changed her giving pattern.
When he asked her about it she said, "Writing a big check once a year was
like a business transaction between me and God. I felt like I was paying a bill.
Now, when I write a check every week, I am reminding myself that God is first in
my life, day in and day out."
Third, we should tithe as a demonstration of faith for tomorrow. This is
an attitude that says, "God, I trust you take care of me, to provide for
me. Rather than keeping this money to myself, I'm giving it to you."
Next, Solomon teaches us to: 4.
Avoid Debt
Imagine you receive in the mail a letter that says,
"Congratulations, you have been selected to become a slave. Just fill out
the enclosed card and return it in the pre-paid envelope and your slavery will
begin on the 15th of next month." That's what's written in invisible ink in
all of those credit card offers that come in the mail. Solomon said...
The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
(Proverbs 22:7)
A "USA Today" article stated that the United States Census
Bureau reported 109 million Americans used 957 million credit cards (that's 9
cards per person) to buy $430 billion worth of goods, causing them to fall $207
billion into debt.
I heard a financial counselor make this suggestion: Put all your credit
cards in a bowl of water and put them in the freezer. When you have the
uncontrollable urge to use them, you have to wait for them to thaw out, and you
just may have enough time to change your mind. He then said that one woman did
this and was overcome with an impulse to buy something so she decided to thaw
her cards in the microwave. It melted the water, but also warped her cards—so
I guess the technique still worked.
On to Solomon's fifth money management principle. 5.
Don't expect money to make you happy.
I
built homes for myself, with gardens and trees. I had servants to wait on me
hand and foot. I had herds and flocks. I amassed silver and gold. I denied
myself nothing my eyes desired. Yet when I surveyed all I had worked to achieve,
I was still empty and unsatisfied. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11)
One thing about human nature—no matter how much you make, your
yearnings will always exceed your earnings. There's an old cliché about the guy
who loses his health trying to accumulate wealth, then loses his wealth trying
to get back his health. Though we have to have money to survive in this world,
if we look to money for happiness it will leave us feeling empty and
unsatisfied. This is why Solomon said:
Do not wear yourself out to get rich, have wisdom to show restraint. (Proverbs 23:4)
Kevin Harney tells the following story in
his book, Seismic
Shifts:
A little boy sat on the floor of the
church nursery with a red rubber ball in each arm and three Nerf balls clenched
on the floor between his pudgy little knees. He was trying to protect all five
from the other children in the nursery. The problem was, he could not hold all
five at once, and the ball nearest to his feet was particularly vulnerable to
being stolen. So, whenever another child showed an interest in playing with one
of the balls, he snarled to make it clear these toys were not for sharing.
I suppose I should have stepped in and made the little guy give up one or two of the balls, but I was too wrapped up in the drama of it all. For about five minutes, this little guy growled, postured, and kept the other children away from the balls. Like a hyena hunched over the last scraps of a carcass, this snarling little canine was not in the mood for sharing. The other kids circled like vultures around the kill, looking for a way to jump in and snatch a ball without being attacked and bitten. I honestly did not know whether to laugh or cry as I watched.
Then it struck me: This little boy was
not having any fun at all. There was no cheer within ten yards of this kid. Not
only was he unhappy, but all the other kids seemed sad as well. His selfishness
created a black hole that sucked all of the joy out of that nursery…. When
church was over and his parents came to pick him up, he left the balls behind. I
guess the old saying is true, you can't take it with you.
Instead of looking to wealth for fulfillment in life, we should look to
God.
Thus, Solomon's five foundations for effective money management are...
1. Live on a budget.
2. Save for the future.
3. Put God first in your finances.
4. Avoid debt.
5. Don't expect money to make you happy.
This comes down to a matter of controlling the money we have, instead of
being controlled by the money we don't have. Whether you have a little or a lot,
you can live by these principles. If you do, you will experience something few
Americans ever do: you will find financial peace.
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church, Groton
,
Web Site: WWW.SAPC-CT.ORG
Office Email: OFFICE@SAPC-CT.ORG
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