Leon and Angie were friends of my wife and me from our time in Borger, TX. Angie writes, “In 2000, we had 3 children graduate from college: one from undergraduate, one from law school, and one from graduate school. Free from nine years of triple tuition at private universities, I thought we were rich! For the next seven years, I spent all the money that had been going to college. My husband had wanted us to live on a budget for thirty years, but I kept asking, ‘What does that mean?’”
Then in 2007, Leon fell and broke his shoulder and the couple had $20,000 in medical expenses with no insurance. All of sudden, this empty-nester couple got serious about a spending plan. Let’s circle back to Leon & Angie in a few moments.
Today, we conclude a four-week series entitled Financially Fit. The Book of Proverbs is Principles from heaven for life on earth. Today, I want to assist you in building a personal plan for your financial decisions. A week ago, we witnessed two attitudes of the financially fit. Today, I want to build on last week by causing us to see three habits of the financially fit. And I want to equip you with the tools you’ll need to achieve financial peace.
1. The Financially Fit Work Hard
“The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame” (Proverbs 10:3-5). Take note: poverty is not shameful but instead, but laziness is shameful. In verse five, the lazy son is one who sleeps when he should be working – and his laziness is an embarrassment to his parents. This type of person is lazy, careless, and negligent. When the time comes to work hard, he or she is nowhere to be found. It’s the picture of a person who constantly hits the snooze button. God holds that laziness, carelessness, and negligence is wicked. And when you become wealthy by your hard work, this can be a good thing.
Work is consistently seen as a positive thing to be embraced even in the perfect Garden of Eden. Work gives dignity to life and a sense of accomplishment. Yet, money is an idol for many of us. And an idol is a good thing that we make into an ultimate thing. Profits are vital to creating new products to serve customers, giving an adequate return to investors for the use of their money, and paying employees well for their work. Your salary is an appropriate reward for your contribution and is necessary to provide for oneself and one’s family. But it is not your identity, your salvation, or even your source of security and comfort. In fact, the Bible teaches that God is our creator but He also continually cares for His creation (Colossians 1:16). We mirror our Creator in our work. Hard work is not overwork. It is not working 60, 70, 80 hours a week. That is called unhealthy and unbalanced. Bosses should not ask this of their workers. Workers should not devote themselves to this schedule.
2. The Financially Fit Save
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:6-11).
God’s Word points us to the tiniest of creatures, the ant. It’s the ant that looks ahead toward winter when it is summer. He works hard during the harvest to a time when there is no harvest. The ant plans and tacks actions for the future. The ant is your model because of his self-discipline and for his ability to think ahead. The purpose of saving is to set money aside for the future.
YOU NEED A PLAN. Here’s a good place to begin – a $1,000 Emergency Saving Fund.
Traci and I had so many large car repairs when our kids were firstborn. A good start is to put back $1,000 for emergencies. For some, this will next you ten months of saving $100 each month. But you do not need to stop there. Consider putting back even more as a rainy day fund. Make yourself a challenge of placing back three to six months of your monthly salary.
Saving requires discipline. And if you are single, you are likely to have no one to assist you in evaluating whether you should spend your money when you are justifying the shoe purchase. Find someone who is older and wiser in your church family and ask them to help make a plan with you.
Dave Ramsey speaks of a Single Mom who really started to feel a sense of hope. But then a train wreck happened. One Friday, she got up and got the kids ready for school. She was completely exhausted from a rough week, but was excited that it was Friday— she had made it to the end of the week. Then, driving the kids to school, she had a flat tire. She had to get out and change the flat on the interstate by herself, in the pouring rain, with the kids in the car. Because of the flat, she walked into the office soaking wet and miserable, and her boss chewed her out for being late. She had to stay late to make up the hour, which meant she was late picking the kids up from after-school care. So they chewed her out again and charged her a fee. Once the kids were back in the car, they all started chanting, “McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” She said, “Dave, I just didn’t have anything left. I couldn’t face the thought of going home and cooking dinner. So I wheeled through the ATM and took out a $20 bill and ran through the drive-thru.” Now, twenty bucks may not be a big deal to you, but for this mom, living on a tightly balanced budget, it was huge. “That $20 caused me to bounce five checks. Those two Happy Meals cost me $ 157.” There are times, single moms or dads, when you’ve got to take a deep breath, drive the chanting kids home, and spread some peanut butter on some bread. Those are the moments that make or break you. You’ve got to live to fight another day.
3. The Financially Fit Limit Borrowing
Theo and Marla had been married for a little over three years. Theo had just graduated from Texas State University and was still looking for his career job. Until then, he was working as a dockworker for UPS. Marla was a receptionist during the week and worked at Waffle House part-time on the weekends. Between credit cards, student loans, and department store credit, they were swimming in debt. They were discouraged when their friends were buying homes and they barely eked out enough money to pay rent. They wanted kids but felt they were financially stuck in life. In one recent year, the gross revenue for the entire credit card industry was more than the gross national product of Egypt, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas— combined.
3.1 Does the Bible Forbid Debt?
The Bible tells us there are real dangers to borrowing money. “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7). “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). Many people inside churches believe that the Bible teaches that all debt is wrong. They think that debt is always a sin. Yet, the Bible never says all debt is wrong. Write these passages down: “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8). “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge” (Deuteronomy 24:10). “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution” (Exodus 22:14).
So, the Bible does permit some debt. If we think all debt is wrong then we must believe the Bible contradicts itself. While some debt is permitted, the Bible doesn’t encourage us to go into debt. Since 1945, consumer debt in the United States has multiplied thirty-one times.
3.2 Dumb vs. Smart Debt
I’d have to say that it took me a while to figure that life lesson out. Debt is Dangerous when the possession’s resale value is less than what you owe. Debt is a Danger when it causes you to stop tithing. When Should I Borrow?
3.2.1 Avoid Borrowing Unless Absolutely Necessary
Do I need this right now? If you are borrowing money for something that will go down in value, you should reconsider. You should avoid rent-to-own and cash-advance altogether.
3.2.2 Avoid Long Term Debts
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release” (Deuteronomy 15:1). It was at end of every seven years that God commanded a remission of debts Long-term debt is a relatively new idea. If you stay in debt long enough, you will eventually get wiped out.
3.3.3 Repay What You Owe
Scripture makes it clear that if we’ve borrowed money, whether for good reasons or bad, it’s our responsibility to pay it back as soon as possible (Proverbs 3:27-28; Matthew 5:25-26).
3.3 The Debt Snowball
“The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives” (Psalm 37:21).
The debt snowball is listed at www.nrhbc.org/fit.
1. List your debts from the smallest to the largest.
Get a clear picture of what you owe.
2. Commit to paying the minimum payment on every debt.
3. Eliminate the smallest debt first.
4. Then eliminate the next smallest debt until all your debts are paid in full.
Better to have nothing to live on and something to live for, than plenty to live on and nothing to live for.
Prayer
Thank you for giving us our jobs and for calling us to care for our world. Thank you for modeling this for us and for giving us the creative ability to shape and design our world. Thank you for the health and strength to work and enjoy our work lives.
Father, you are our Helper in a time of need. You have blessed us in so many ways. We stop to give you thanks for our food, our homes, and our jobs. You have provided wise counsel for us by giving us your Word.
We give you thanks for a million answered prayers. Help me destroy spiritual complacency. Cause me to remember the people who I work with who are in pain around me.
Now, Lord give us the discipline we need. Cause us to not make idols of our wealth and our possessions. We call upon the grace of Jesus to take up His rightful home in our lives. We repent of our financial sins and turn to the cross of Jesus Christ to forgive us.
Amen.
