We continue our series looking at God’s wisdom for making the right choices in our everyday living from the book of Proverbs written by the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon. Not only was he the wisest man, he was also the wealthiest. The Bible says God gave Solomon more riches than any before him or after (2 Chr. 1:12). If anyone knows a thing or two about money, it’s Solomon. And apparently we need help in managing our money, sixty-four percent of all families argue over money (I’m surprised it’s not higher), and fifty-four percent of all divorces are over money. Let’s look at some of the principles God gives us for financial freedom from Proverbs.
1) Plan Your Financial Future
The first principle God gives us is to plan our financial future. Read with me Prov. 21:5:
“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”
Last week we looked at God’s principle of hard work, God expects us to work hard, but the principle of good planning is also a crucial piece. We can be hard workers but if we fail to plan we plan to fail because the income we earn from our hard work is squandered if we don’t have a plan and stick to it. Do you know what we call that plan today? A budget. A budget begins with knowing your financial condition.
a) Know your Financial Condition
Prov 27:23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; 24 for riches do not endure forever,
Remember when this was written people’s assets were not a bank account or an IRA or a pension or social security, the only assets for their future were their flocks and fields. God’s wisdom tells us we need to know our financial condition because it gives us a picture for where we are already at. As Solomon reminds us, riches do not endure forever. If you are not careful in managing your money and having a plan it may evaporate and not be there when you really need it. Begin by answering these questions:
• What do I earn? – How much money do you bring in?
• What do I own? – What are your assets? House, car, investments, pension, anything worth something.
• What do I owe? – These are your loans, student, car, or mortgage.
• Where does it all go? Where am I spending it all? Add up all the bills you have and figure where it’s going.
Today knowing the condition of our flock requires good record keeping. We need to keep track of where we are financially with a ledger or computer or whatever system you come up with. Personally I use a computer program because it keeps all of this information in one place and I can download my statements through the internet and keep up to date. Whether you use a computer or not you should have this recorded in one place and keep track of it. Perhaps you are married and one of you is better at this than the other, give it over to the financially astute one.
b) Plan Your Spending
Once you know where you are at, you need to plan your spending lest it get out of control.
NLT Proverbs 21:20 The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.
We have a huge problem in our country right now. We enjoy spending our money way too much, we are spendaholics. A study found that nine out of ten people interviewed said they have a problem with impulse buying. I see it, I want it, I buy it. Why do you think grocery stores have all that stuff stacked up at the end of the aisles or in the check out line? Because they know we will buy it, after all what’s a candy bar or magazine going to hurt? Perhaps we argue with ourselves, “but it’s on sale.” It might be on sale but you don’t need it in the first place. It’s a running joke in my family that my dad can’t go to the grocery store without finding some great “deal” and instead of buying the two or three of whatever item is on sale he will buy ten or twenty.
“My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.”
Errol Flynn, actor (1909 - 1959)
With the availability of credit cards we have an easy way to express our gross habits. If we don’t have the money to pay for it right now, no problem, charge it. However Solomon’s wisdom tells us to plan your spending, have a plan and stick to it because only fools spend more than what they have.
“Never spend your money before you have it.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
If you have a problem with spending, particularly with credit cards, and can’t seem to control it, radio financial guru Dave Ramsey suggests cutting up all your credit cards and pay on a cash only basis. That way you either have the money or you don’t, you’re not spending it before you get it. In fact he doesn’t think anyone should have credit cards.
Or perhaps if getting rid of credit cards is too much for you, you can use the advice of one person in Prevention magazine article called "Are You a Shopaholic?," who suggested the creative idea of keeping your credit cards in a bowl of water in the freezer. If you get the urge to spend you have to wait for the ice to melt.
These new credit card commercials really get my goat, you know the ones where everything is running smoothly like an assembly line until someone uses cash, then what happens? Everything stops and they look at the guy like, ‘how old school, you’re slowing us down.’ The credit card companies are doing everything they can to get you to buy things, whether you have the money or not, because that is how they make their money, especially if you don’t pay your bill in full every month and pay their extraordinary interest charges.
Problems with spending is usually a problem with lack of contentment. Do you know what the Bible says, it tells us we need to be content with whatever we have.
NRS Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
Be content with what God has already given us. I realize this is tough in our day and age. Of bigger, better, houses, toys, looks, but God gives us more than we need, if we control our spending and make a plan using our money in the way God would want us to, not to appease our impulsive, selfish desires.
The Apostle Paul found the secret to contentment
“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength (Phil. 4:12-13).”
It was through Christ he found true contentment, otherwise we are like an ocean on the wave of selfish desires pushed this way and that by our culture. Jesus is our anchor and fills all our needs and desires.
c) Plan Your Saving
The next part of planning is to plan our saving. Do you know the average Japanese person saves 25% of his income? The average European saves 18% of his income. But what would you guess the average American saves? (Take a stab at it) The average American saves only 5% of his income. Why? We’ve already discussed, we’re an instant gratification society and we don’t have a plan and stick with it.
Proverbs 13:11 "He who gathers little by little makes it grow.”
In American Demographics magazine they reported that when most Baby Boomers (post WWII kids) hit retirement they are going to be broke and flat out poor. Why? Because they’re not saving anything. They’re spending it all right now living from paycheck to paycheck. God expects us to plan for our future, save little by little to make it grow. Those of us who are under 40 can’t even count on social security being around when we retire. We need a plan for how we are going to support ourselves in our old age. Of course we could plan our retirement like they did in Jesus’ day and expect our kids to take care of us, but I wouldn’t count on it. How much are you setting aside for your future?
If you began setting aside only $100 a month and invested that money and earned an average of 8% a year (which is a fair estimate if you invest wisely) and didn’t touch the money, after 30 years you would have over $140,000. If you waited another 10 years, 40 years total, let’s say you were 20 when you began, by age 60, you would have over $320,000. By saving only $100/month. He who gathers little by little makes it grow.
Somebody once asked multi-millionaire John D. Rockefeller one time what was the secret of his success. He said, "Save 10%, tithe 10% (we’ll talk about that in a moment), and live on the rest." That’s a good rule. If you earn $2000 a month, save $200, give $200 to God, and live on $1600.
Make a plan by putting together a budget and set goals for yourself. You need to set three goals: a spending goal, a saving goal, and a giving goal.
2) Give Generously
Which brings us to the next principle, give generously. John Wesley once said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
God’s people have open hands, they give freely and generously because they realize God gives freely and generously. As Christians we realize God has given to us first by providing everything we have. Don’t kid yourself by thinking everything you have is just from your hard work. Who gave you the skills, the abilities, the health, the job? God modeled giving when he gave his greatest gift in his Son, Jesus, to do what we could not do on our own, die in our place for our sins so we can have eternal life. God is a generous God. We give out of love because God gave out of love to us first. In fact the Scriptures say everything on earth is God’s, he owns it all and distributes it to others as he sees fit (Ps. 24:1), which means we are stewards, not owners of everything we have. A steward is a person who manages someone else’s wealth. We manage what God has given to us.
In Proverbs Solomon reminds us that God expects us to be like him and give generously. When we do he will bless us:
NIV Proverbs 11:24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. 25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
God expects his people to give generously and the first way we give is back to God.
a) Give to God First
If God really takes priority in our life we should demonstrate it with our giving. Do we put our money where our mouth is? All of us probably say God is important to us but do we demonstrate it in our giving? Solomon wrote in Prov. 3:9-10:
“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
The firstfruits were exactly what they suggest, the first fruits of their harvest. They would collect the first of their crop and give it to the Lord. It was both an act of thanks for what God had provided and it was an act of faith. By giving the first fruits you were saying to God I trust you to bring in the rest of the crop.
Obviously most of us are not farmers anymore, but the principle is still there. When we get paid, do we give to God first or do we give God the leftovers after all the bills are paid and our desires fulfilled, and then say to God, “here you go God, here’s the $10 I have left over.” What we are communicating to God when we do that is that He is not really that important and I don’t trust Him to provide for my needs with the remaining money I have.
NLT Proverbs 15:16 It is better to have little with fear for the LORD than to have great treasure with turmoil.
We give to God first, even if it means having less to live on. But how much should we give? In the OT God established the tithe, which is 10% or 1/10 of their crop or flock, in other words it was 10% of their income. The purpose of the tithe was to provide for the needs of the priesthood, the upkeep of the Temple, and to care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. In the NT Jesus affirmed the tithe as a good thing as long as it wasn’t given ritualistically while forgetting other important concerns like justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Mt. 23:23).
We shouldn’t take this issue of tithing lightly, the Israelites back in the OT made that mistake and God responded through the prophet Malachi:
Mal. 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse-- the whole nation of you-- because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
God was pretty upset when his people weren’t generous. Part of it was an obedience issue, will we be choose to be obedient to God in our finances. But notice also that for the first time in Scripture God challenges his people to test him with the tithe to allow him to prove himself. In fact in all the Scriptures I have used this morning on giving, God promises to pour out blessings when we give. You may be thinking I can’t afford to tithe 10%, according to this scripture you can’t afford not to give because you are cutting yourself off from all the blessings God promises. Not that the return is always financial mind you, but God will always bless us in some form in our joy filled giving. Our motive for giving should not be to receive a blessing because that destroys the purpose of giving. When we give to receive we are giving out of selfish ambition. But when we give in a spirit of true generosity, God promises to bring blessing and refreshment to us. You cannot out give God.
Some people have asked me, should I tithe on my net or gross income, and I tell them, “it’s your choice, do you want God to bless your net or gross?” If you aren’t tithing already I challenge you to do exactly what God said, “test him” try tithing the first 10% of your income to God for six weeks and see if God doesn’t bless you. I’m not saying it won’t be difficult but see what God will do. After all it’s not my promise, it’s God’s.
b) Give to those in Need
God also expects our generous giving to support those who are in need. Solomon repeats this several times in different ways throughout the Proverbs:
NIV Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
NIV Proverbs 22:9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
God expects us as His people to care for those who do not have the means for caring for themselves. In Bible times God expected his people to help the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner. We are the hands and feet of God. In the United Methodist Church we do just that, our tithe to the church goes up to the denomination which supports these very people. Additionally we give to special projects such as the CROP walk (and Heifer International) over the last couple weeks as well as many others over the year.
Conclusion:
Are we following God’s plan for managing money? Do you have a plan? Do you have a plan for spending, saving, and giving generously? If we want to be wise and experience God’s blessing we will follow his plan. I challenge you to step up to his plan.
