Handling Your Money on Purpose
Haggai 1:6 NLT
“You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”
Luke 16:10-13 NKJV
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON.”
Three Truths About Money:
1. The way we handle money when we only have a little determines how we will handle money if we have a lot. (v. 10)
2. The way we handle money determines the trust level God has toward our life. (v. 11-12)
3. The way we handle money will determine the reality of which God we really serve. (v. 13)
Principles to Handle Your Money on Purpose:
1. Oneness principle
Genesis 2:24 NKJV
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
Matthew 19:5-6 NKJV
“‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become ONE FLESH’? So then, they are no longer two but ONE FLESH. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Principles to Handle Your Money on Purpose:
2. Ownership principle
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 NLT
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from YOU alone, for YOU rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.”
Three Levels of Control:
1. God is in control of possessions.
2. You are in control of possessions.
3. Possessions are in control of you.
1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT
“But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!”
Principles to Handle Your Money on Purpose:
3. Contentment principle
1 Timothy 6:6-10 NKJV
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Consumer Debt:
$12.7 trillion before pandemic
$15.24 trillion after pandemic
Proverbs 22:7 NKJV
The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Principles to Handle Your Money on Purpose:
4. Wisdom principle
Proverbs 3:13-15 NKJV
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
– Admit what you don’t know and get help
– Invest more than you spend
– Never fall for get-rich-quick schemes
– Never co-sign for something you’re not prepared to pay for
– Know the difference between strategic debt and consumer debt
– Never buy anything you’re not both in agreement with
– Surround yourselves with people who are wise with money
Principles to Handle Your Money on Purpose:
5. Generosity principle
Psalm 37:21-26 NIV
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give GENEROUSLY; those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be destroyed. The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begin bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.