Major Mistakes We Make With Our MONEY
As I was studying at my desk, I looked out my window and I saw bodies flying everywhere. My son Jonathan and his friends had a bunch of toys laying on the trampoline and when they started bouncing they flew everywhere. Our financial life sometimes seems that way doesn’t it? We have done all we know to do, work hard, pay our bills, save, give, etc and all of a sudden things are flying out of control. Unexpected emergency, kids need braces, car breaks down, and we are like those toys on a fast track to a crash.
We can’t eliminate this from happening but there are things we can do to lessen the frequency and to reduce the damage. Three weeks ago we started a series on Major Mistakes we make with our Money and by highlighting these 12 mistakes hopefully we can take some of the bounce and crash out of our financial lives. Let me quickly review
REVIEW (quickly)
1. Too Much Debt
a. Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. NIV
b. Seventy-five percent of the Forbes 400, when asked, ‘What’s the key to building wealth?’ said it’s getting out of debt and staying out of debt.
2. Get Rich Quick
a. 1 Tim 6:9 People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them… (CEV)
3. Don’t Save
a. Prov 21:20 The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. TLB
4. Being Lazy
a. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 (MsgB)
i. Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest. [10] Don’t you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? "If you don’t work, you don’t eat."
5. Co-sign a Loan
a. Proverbs 17:18 It is poor judgment to countersign another’s note, to become responsible for his debts. TLB
6. Being Stingy
a. This one really amazes me. The Bible says, “There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is (right) appropriate, but gains poverty.” (Prov 11:24)
7. Bankruptcy
a. Luke 12:33 (MsgB) "Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on.
8. NO Budget
a. 1 Ted 20:20 Where there is no budget, the people perish: TDM
(New)
9. Choosing The Wrong Career
a. There are worse things than a fat paycheck. Your options depend largely on your gifting, education, and skills, but some fields will always pay better than others. Getting the training needed for a better job could be the best investment you make. Ask yourself what the long-term salary expectations are for your career field and consider how you could make yourself more valuable.
i. You may choose a career for the paycheck, but you have no passion for it. You have to wake up every morning and go to work, you might as well find something you like. I believe if you like what you do, you will ultimate do better financially at it. You like learning about your trade, you continue to read and better yourself in it. You have passion for it. (Sam Fahl ?)
b. Does your pay depend on distortions in the market? A lot of semi-skilled but highly paid union workers now know the sting of competition here and overseas. Blue-collar incomes have stagnated over the past 20 years as manufacturers found cheaper workers abroad. Consider other ways your skills can be utilized. My brother worked for a factory on the line, but was always good with mechanical stuff. When he saw and ad in the company paper for an apprenticeship for small engine repair – he took it. Same company, but now he has a skill that can take him in to different fields of employment.
c. Will your skills retain their value in the next century? Increasing your knowledge is the key to survival in the years ahead, whether you’re a carpenter or a computer programmer. The pace of innovation is staggering, and those who fail to keep up will find their personal stock in a nose dive. Nothing has a more disastrous impact on financial security than a lengthy period of unemployment. It is a lot easier chopping down a tree with a sharp axe. It is a lot easier staying on course financially if you stay sharp in your field. They say that current knowledge will be obsolete in 5 years. If you buy a computer today – in 3 years the only value it will have is as a boat anchor.
d. Galatians 1:14 (MsgB) I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. [15] Even then God had designs on me.
10. Fatigue Spending
a. This is where you are so tired you don’t think it through. You come home from work and you are starving (you worked hard) and there is nothing in the house and you decide that you deserve a break and you go out to eat at a nice restaurant with the family. $75 bucks later and you feel great, but you don’t know where the money is coming from and trust me – it won’t be fun when you learn where – it came from.
b. This happens when we are too tight or unrealistic with the budget. We don’t put any money in clothes and we skimp and save and skimp and save and we finally get fed up with wearing rags and we go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. Or we do the same thing with vacations. We haven’t had any for too long and we get so tired of life that we go and buy those tickets to Hawaii and put them on the credit card.
c. Heb 10:36 You need to keep on patiently doing God’s will if you want him to do for you all that he has promised. TLB
d. Here’s the deal. When I am tired of working and tired of even believing and go out and make it happen – it isn’t fulfilling. The Bible says Pr 20:17 Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
e. When you wait for it – not get weary in doing well – many times you are in place for a miracle. Last month we gave more than what we had in our giving budget. We knew that was what we were suppose to do, but the clothing budget was low and Joanne was telling me the kids needed clothes. The kids need shorts for summer camp, shoes, etc. You get to the point that you can just go out and get them. We went to a wedding and one of my daughters didn’t have something that was appropriate. We go down to Grand Rapids the night before and visit a relative and they give us some clothes and there is something in the bag that is a perfect fit and really nice for the wedding. We could have gone out and bought it because (you know all the reasons) but we would have missed God’s provision. Oh, and to finish the story, we received bags of clothing from 3 different people. Now we have More Than Enough!
11. Buy, Buy, Buy
a. Still a boy with Money (immature money habits)
b. Have you read the bumper sticker? The only difference between men and boys is the size (and cost) of their toys.
c. I don’t mean to pick on just the husband’s spending
d. When you have to have lots of good stuff – you have a recipe for disaster. If you can’t walk through Home Depot with out spending, you have to do one of two things. Don’t walk through Home Depot or leave your money home.
e. You will continually make this mistake in your finances until you deal with a dirty “D” word called discipline. Someone just turned to their spouse and said, “Did pastor say a swear word?” No! You will have continual financial problems – lack of money, worry, fear, no peace until you achieve some level of discipline in your handling of your finances.
f. There are little things that you can do to help gain more discipline. Take home your entire paycheck for the month in cash. Put it on the table and then divide money up for each payment or bill. Look at how much you have left. Decide where you want it to go. No more cash – no more purchases. Don’t pay for things with a credit card. It seems to hurt more when we pay in cash. When and where do you do most of your buying? A certain store, auctions or online. Don’t go there. Get rid of your modem so you can’t go online or maybe a credit card so you can’t buy online. If your eye causes you to sin – pluck it out
g. Luke 15:11-14 (MsgB) Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. [12] The younger said to his father, ’Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ "So the father divided the property between them. [13] It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. [14] After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt.
12. Not getting God’s Direction
a. Looking Out Only for Yourself
i. Tell the story of Naaman and Gehazi
2 Kings 5:26 (MsgB) Elisha said, "Didn’t you know I was with you in spirit when that man stepped down from his chariot to greet you? Tell me, is this a time to look after yourself, lining your pockets with gifts?
ii. Gehazi was dishonest, but it’s not just being dishonest.
iii. We can be doing everything right on the outside but we are trusting our abilities and not leaning on God.
b. How many times do we pray after we get a bonus and ask God what it is for? Do we pray before we make a purchase? Do we look in His word for His directions for our money.
c. My father attended a seminar year ago on purchasing land contracts. I remember my dad telling me that the man taught them that they should give 10% of their increase to church or charities. I remember thinking, wow, here a man is teaching a seminar on how to use wisdom in a certain area to increase wealth and I don’t even know if he is a believer but one of his principles is you have to give.
d. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David all tithed. Jesus told us it was right to tithe. I thought the first week that the most costly was the too much debt, the second week I said it was really not having a budget. But honestly after finishing this series – the number 1 major mistake would be to not get God’s direction on our money decisions. Do we tithe, do we give, do we honor him with our purchases, do we let him direct our decisions?
e. If you don’t tithe – I want to challenge you.
i. Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ’How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of Armies, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field," says Yahweh of Armies.
f. I belief this is true. Try it for 6 months (give it enough time to take effect) and if you are not a satisfied believer – we will return it to you. It’s not the money – it’s who is in charge. When you step beyond your understanding and ability and release it into God’s direction – you are in better hands than Allstate. If you have a need God is quicker to be there than State Farm. If you think people listen when E. F. Hutton gives financial advise – you should listen when God gives financial truth.
13. The number one substitute God in our society today is money. God has given us many wisdom principles in His word in the area of finances. When we obey His Word, He is glorified and others will see it. 85% of the divorces in America say the number one problem was over money. When we take to heart the seriousness of stewardship and obedience in our finances – others are impacted. We are to have our financial house in order, to give to every good work, to be a blessing. Not walk around in bondage and despair because we can’t pay our bills.
14. We have hit on 12 areas of mistakes we make with money. I want to give you an opportunity to respond. If you know that you need to make a change, I am going to invite you to come forward in just a minute and give it to God. Many things in life begin with first a conviction and then a decision. You can change! You don’t have to continual in the same pattern for the rest of your life. Start today. Come to the altar, get honest with God, tell Him the area you have made a mistake in, ask Him to change you once and for all, then do the next thing you know you need to do.
If
1) You are in too much debt
2) You have wanted to get rich quick
3) You haven’t saved any money
4) You have been lazy
5) You have been stingy
6) You filed bankruptcy
7) You don’t have a budget
8) You feel you are in the wrong job
9) You have had fatigue spending
10) You struggle with buy, buy, buy
11) You haven’t surrendered your finances to
God’s Leading
Eccl 11:1-2 Be generous, and someday you will be rewarded. Share what you have with seven or eight others, because you never know when disaster may strike (CEV)
