Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to a brand new series called, “Dear Money.” Everybody is talking about money right now. Everyone is worried about money. Money is the primary topic of the political discourse in our country right now. Money is a hot topic in a lot of marriages and families right now.

We need to step back and wrap our arms around some truth about money. Instead of listening to pundits and so-called financial gurus, we need to stop. Breathe. And listen to the Word of God.

We’re going to write some letters in this series. We're not going to consult with politicians. We're not going to write letters to Washington. Instead, we're going straight to the source. We're going to write some open, honest, and direct letters to our money.

And we’re going to start with the most obvious one of all. Dear Money…where did you go? A whole lot of us are asking this question. Where did my money go? Where is there so much month left at the end of the money? How did I wind up where I am now financially? Dear Money, where did you go?

It’s really an amazing thing to think about. We are the richest broke nation to ever exist on this planet. I think it was Perry Noble who said, “Only in America can a person live in poverty and obesity at the same time.” It’s true.

People in our country are living a lifestyle that is the envy of the world…and they’re broke. Our government is spending money like there’s no tomorrow…and it’s money we don’t have.

It’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. As God’s people, we’ ve got to understand that there is a different way…and a better way. And it all starts with the perspective we have about money.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5, “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:12, NIV)

You can sum that up with this: money can be a burden. The stress, the worry, the anxiety that comes with having a lot of money can actually have a devastating effect on us if we have the wrong perspective about it.

But the Bible also says this in Ecclesiastes 5. “Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19-20, NIV)

These verses say very clearly that money can be a blessing. And the most interesting part is that this all comes out of the same chapter in the Bible. In one chapter, the Bible says that money can be a burden. And then it turns right around and says that it can be a blessing.

Here’s they key, though. We get to decide which it will be. We get to decide whether money will be a burden or a blessing in our lives. And the decision is made by our actions. How we live will determine the blessing or burden that money will be in our lives.

We’ve all heard the old proverb that a fool and his money are soon parted. It’s more true than we want to admit.

The Bible says in Proverbs, “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” (Proverbs 23:5, NIV)

Did you hear that a hawk recently escaped from the Cincinnati Zoo? It happened during the bird show that they have a couple of times a day at the zoo. In this show, the birds fly freely around this outdoor amphitheater, but they are supposed to return to their trainers. Apparently, this one hawk had other ideas. 

Once it started flying, it just kept on going. I can just imagine the trainers yelling, blowing their whistles, waving their arms, and doing everything they could to get the bird to return. They had to feel pretty helpless as they watched this hawk just fly away.

That’s they way a lot of us view our money. We watch it flying away. We make a lot of noise. We complain. We whine. We yell and scream. But we helplessly watch it fly away.

There is one big difference here, though. The bird trainers actually were helpless as they watched the hawk fly away. There really was nothing they could do about it.

But you are not helpless when it comes to your money. If it is currently flying away, you actually can do something about it. But you have to want to do something about it.

If you don’t want to live a more disciplined life, then nothing else I say today is going to make any difference. You’ve got to want to do something about it. You’ve got to want to stop this disappearing act that your money is performing every month. It’s going to require discipline. You will have to actually change your behavior. You will have to submit to the financial principles that God lays out for us in the Bible.

It’s actually not complicated. It’s very simple to understand. But if you’re not willing to actually put it in practice, then you’ll always be a trainer watching your beloved bird fly away.

The key is wisdom. “Wisdom is like money: they both help. But wisdom is better, because it can save whoever has it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:12, NCV)

That’s a great verse. Now, check it out in a different translation. Let’s rock a little King James Version.

“For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:12, KJV)

The difference between wealth and wisdom? Only wisdom can give you life. Money can’t give you life.

Wisdom is what separates the men from the boys and them women from the girls. People who are wise don’t see their money flying away like a hawk from the zoo. 

So how do we live wisely when it comes to our money?

First of all, we have to realize that money is not who we are. What you have is not who you are.

That sounds simple and logical and Biblical. Almost no one would disagree with that statement, and yet it is amazing how many of us live to the contrary. We live like who we are is totally defined by what we have.

The Bible says, “Even wise people are fools if they let money change their thinking.” (Ecclesiastes 7:7, NCV)

If we start to allow money to change our thinking about our worth…if we begin to view our value based on what we have…we are fools. We are fools because our worth is not determined by our credit. It is determined by the cross.

The Bible says, “God paid a high price for you…” (1 Corinthians 7:23a, NLT)

You were worth enough for God to purchase you with the blood of His own Son. Not cash. Not credit. The cross. That is what determines your worth. 

Here’s how that plays out very practically in your life…you can’t afford to care about what other people think. Someone will always have a bigger house than you. Someone will always drive a nicer car than you. Someone will always have hotter clothes than you. Always. It’s a battle you can never, ever win.

And it’s a battle that you don’t need to win. 

Paul wrote in Galatians 1, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10, NIV)

I’ve always viewed that verse from a leadership perspective. Leaders in the church cannot allow themselves to be consumed with people-pleasing. When we seek to please people, we usually wind up displeasing God. The Bible is extra clear about that.

But I’m learning that this truth isn’t just a leadership principle. It applies to every area of our lives. Plug this into your financial life. What if you lived like God is the only one you have to please with your finances?

That would be a game changer, wouldn’t it? If you didn’t have to please anyone but God when it comes to your money, that would have life-changing implications. 

Here’s the truth…you don’t. You don’t have to please anyone else but God. You don’t have to impress anyone else but God. And the best news of all is that you don’t have to sink up to your eyeballs in debt to do it.

God isn’t impressed with your house or your car or your clothes. He’s just not. You know what turns God’s head? You know what impresses Him? Wisdom. Choosing to live your life based on the wise financial principles of His Word.

Proverbs 14 says, “Wise people are rewarded with wealth, but fools only get more foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:24, NCV)

That is such a simple truth. And it’s impossible to argue with it because it’s so easy to see it played out all around us. When you live like a financial fool, you’re finances will be foolish. It will be an absolute joke.

But when you live with wisdom, the reward is a financial life that is blessed by God. The decision for us is whether or not we want to follow the wise principles of His Word.

And one of those wise principles is budgeting. That feels like a dirty word to most of us. I saw a statistic this week that said that 90-95% of American households operate with no written budget. More than 9 out of 10 families in America operate with no written budget at all. Ya’ll, we can’t all grow up to be congressmen, so something is wrong here! Sooner or later, we’ve got to decide to stop living like a kid, grow up, and be wise. And you will never be wise…you will never be as blessed as you could be…if you refuse to budget. And by budget, I mean write it down. Get it on paper. And then stick to it.

I’m not trying to be good-time killer when I tell you that you’ve got to make out a plan for your money. Sometimes spontaneous is good. 

On our recent family vacation, we did something we’ve never done before. We visited my brother’s family in Virginia for about a week. Once we left, Nicki and I were talking about how much we enjoyed the visit. We also talked about how much we didn’t want to go home. I had a few days left on my vacation and we were planning to spend them at home. But all of a sudden, that just didn’t feel right. 

So, as we were driving, I made the off-the-cuff comment that we should go to Tennessee for a few days. Nicki got quiet for a minute. I thought that meant, “Let’s just go home.” What I didn’t know is that she was doing some figuring with our vacation budget. She figured out that we actually had enough left to take the extra trip, so she looked at me and said, “Do you really want to do that?”

Long story short…we turned south and spent an incredible few days in Tennessee.

But here’s what you have to understand…that spontaneous trip was not so spontaneous that we didn’t calculate the cost. Before we made our reservations and headed south, we made sure we had enough left in our vacation budget. If we didn’t have the money in our budget, we weren’t going to go. We had a great time, but we also came back with no vacation debt. Going into debt for a vacation is short on fun and long on regret. And we simply weren’t going to do that.

Spontaneity is fun, except when it comes to finances. Impulse buys are stupid. Dave Ramsey said, “It is human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity.”

The Bible says it very simply. “But he who is impulsive exalts folly.” (Proverbs 14:29b, NKJV)

When it comes to your money, impulsiveness = foolishness. Budgeting cuts this out of your life. And if that sounds like a killjoy, let me ask you this: how much fun is debt? Seriously. I don’t know anyone that throws a party when they pay a monthly credit card bill. I don’t know anyone that celebrates debt.

“Well, I just don’t want to do this stuff. Budgeting sucks.”

Actually, you’ve got it backwards. Not budgeting sucks.

Now, imagine we inserted this hose directly into your wallet. That’s exactly what happens everyday that you refuse to budget.

Not budgeting sucks. It sucks the money right out of your hands. It sucks your potential investments, your kids’ college funds, your future retirement…it sucks it all right out of your life.

Those are big time issues. College, retirement, those are big time. But here’s what we’ve got to understand…those big time financial deals happen in the small, day-to-day, financial decisions. They happen when you opt for peanut butter and jelly instead of the fast-food drive thru. They happen when you tell the store no, you don’t want to apply for their new credit card. They happen when you decide to live with Biblical financial wisdom.

The big financial war is won when you start winning the small daily battles. You can never win the war if you lose the smaller, everyday battles. You have to be tenacious enough and committed enough to fight the fight every single day.

Remember, there is only one person that you have to impress. One person that you have to please.

That’s why the wisest financial decision you can ever make is God first.

If you are living financially to please you, then here’s the harsh reality…you are always going to struggle. You will never experience peace. I hope you enjoy stress and friction and tension…because that’s going to be your life until the day you die. And the reason is simple. Because you are not designed to live for you. You were not created to live for your own glory. You were created to live to the glory of God.

If you want to live a wise, God-honoring life, then you need to own this word: generosity.

If I had to choose just two words to describe how God wants us to live financially, I would choose the words “wisdom” and “generosity.” Those two financial principles are peppered throughout the Bible. In fact, they are attached at the hip. To be wise is to be generous. To be generous is to be wise.

And that generosity starts in the church. As God’s people, we are called to do good to all people, with special preference given to the church.

The Bible says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10, NIV)

When it comes to doing good and being generous, God calls us to start in the church. One of the simple, Biblical benchmarks for this kind of generosity is the tithe. Giving 10% of your income back to God through the local church.

I used to shy away from preaching about tithing. I was always afraid that I was going to offend somebody. And there have been so many people who have preached abusively and dishonestly about money.

But here’s what I figured out…if I don’t teach the truth, then I am allowing people to remain in chains. So many people are in financial slavery. Generosity holds the key to your shackles.

It sounds totally backwards. If you’re hurting for money, how stupid would it be to just start giving it away, right? If you’re not making it on 100% of your income, how smart would it be to give away 10% of it? It makes no sense…until you factor the power of God into the equation.

Here’s the reality of it…God can do more with 90% than you can do with 100%. You simply cannot outgive God.

There are a lot of reasons why Christians say that they don’t tithe. None of these reasons hold water.

Some say, “Well, the church is doing fine. They don’t need my money.” It’s not about what the church needs. It’s about your heart. It’s about living the generous life that God has called you to live. If our budget here at ACC was a $100 or $1 million, it doesn’t change a thing. God has called you to live generously, and it starts with the tithe.

Others say, “Well, I just don’t trust my church. I don’t believe in the vision, so I’m not giving my money.” It’s time to find a new church. If you don’t believe in the vision of a church, then it’s time to find a new church. Seriously. You are robbing the Kingdom of God when you withhold your tithe. You need to find a place where you buy into the vision, and then give generously toward it.

No one church is the right church for everyone. We’ve had people come to ACC because the church they used to be a part of just wasn’t right. We’ve had other people leave our church and go to another church. No one church is the right church for everyone, and it really, truly is ok. 

Every single believer needs to find a church where they can support the leadership and the vision 100%. And then they need to give generously to support that vision. If you can’t 100% support our leaders and our vision with your time, prayers, and money, then you need to find a church where you can. We’ll even help you and pray for you along the way. It’s nothing personal. We want you to be plugged into a local church where you can go all in and generously give to the Kingdom work that is being done.

If that’s here, then we are challenging you to step up. If you love this church and you’re on board with the vision, let me ask you one question: are you tithing? Are you tithing? Most of you aren’t. It’s just a fact. Most Christians give something like 2% of their income back to God. 

Let me point out something that should be obvious…if you can trust God with your eternity but you can’t trust Him with your money, something is way, way, way out of whack. 

Jesus said it better than I ever could. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21, NIV)

If God isn’t first in your finances, then He isn’t first period. God’s financial formula isn’t really complicated. He’s will for us is to live wisely and to live generously. That’s how we put Him first with our money. And if God isn’t first in your finances, then He isn’t first period.

It’s time to take these godly principles and let our money know what’s what. It’s time that we let our money know that this disappearing act is not cool anymore. It’s time to call the hawk back into its cage.

In Philippians 2, the Apostle Paul refers to the Bible as “the word of life.” (Philippians 2:16a, NIV)

That’s really what God’s Word is all about. Giving you life. The point is not to study the Bible. The point is to be changed by its truth. Brian talked about this last week. The point is not information. The point is transformation.

When you live out the truth of Scripture, your life is changed. And that is so true when it comes to your money. The principles of God’s Word have such a powerful and practical effect on your finances.

But you’ve got to be willing to do it. God has given us the formula. That’s not the question. The question is, “Are we willing to do it?”

That’s why the Bible says in Proverbs 19, “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.” (Proverbs 19:3, NIV)

The blame game is nothing new. It’s older than the Bible itself. If you are living your life as a financial fool and a money moron, it’s your fault. It’s your fault. God has given you the instructions. You chose not to listen. You can’t blame Him or anybody else. Your problem is the person you look at in the mirror every morning.

But there is hope. There is hope because of another powerful truth in God’s Word: grace.

Ephesians 2 reminds us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

If you’ve made a mess of your finances, welcome to the club. Most of us have. If you’ve made a mess of your life because of your sinful choices, welcome to the club. We ALL have.

That’s why we are a people absolutely desperate for grace. That’s where Jesus comes in. His death and resurrection for us changes everything. 

The only hope we have is that we have a God who is as desperate to give grace as we are to receive it.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Dear_Money, generosity, money, wisdom