This week’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from Proverbs 13:7.

   ⁷One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
     another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

Proverbs 13:7 (NIV)

       While I think it’s fun to look at this verse as a warning against “keeping up with the Joneses”, I think the Amplified Bible gives us a more accurate and applicable translation:

   ⁷One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing [to keep permanently]; another man considers himself poor, yet has great [and indestructible] riches.

Proverbs 13:7 (AMP)

       As Christians, we have a great reward in Christ Jesus. Even the poorest of Christians in this life is far richer than the wealthiest non-Christian. This is why I emphasize so strongly that God’s blessing in a Christian’s life may not come in the form of material things. We are already greatly blessed because Christ died for us—material things beyond food and clothing are merely extras.

       Contentment is so important in a Christian’s life because it helps us realize that we don’t need much in this life to be happy beyond a close relationship with our God. Once we fully grasp this reality, we can begin to serve God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.

       Last Sunday, we began looking at the solution to the problem of The World’s message. We’re continuing that discussion today and over the next two Sundays. We’ll look at God’s View of the world, money, and our lives so we can start to focus on serving Him instead of serving Money.

       In Luke 18:18-30, we see the story of the rich ruler. The ruler asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Here is Jesus’ response:

       ¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

       ¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good-except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

       ²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

       ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

       ²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. ²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

       ²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

       ²⁷ Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

       ²⁸ Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

       ²⁹ “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

Luke 18:18-30 (NIV)

This story is also found in Matthew 19:21-30 and Mark 10:17-27.

       When this rich ruler approached Him, Jesus knew that his heart was still focused on his wealth even though he had kept all the commandments since he was young. Earlier in our Personal Finance Bible Study, we learned that focusing or serving Money keeps us from serving God. When Jesus answered the ruler’s question, he quickly honed in on this fact and challenged the rich ruler to give up his wealth if he truly wanted to serve God and inherit eternal life.

       But we see the rich ruler’s response. He was saddened at the thought of giving up all of his wealth. What would we do if Jesus told us to sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow Him? Would we be so attached to our material possessions and wealth that we wouldn’t give it up for Jesus?

       What if Jesus asked us to sell our iPods so we could feed the hungry? Or buy a smaller home so we could give clean water to those in third-world countries? Or forgo a new car and get a used one instead so we could give medicine to the weak? These are small things in comparison to selling everything we own, but there’s a good chance we feel resistance at the very thought of those actions.

       Naturally, we hold the Things of This World very dear to our hearts because we clearly and plainly see them every day. We easily understand the necessity of some things, and we enjoy the convenience and fun of others. But our focus on This World keeps us from seeing the necessity of God’s viewpoint-of realizing that love and relationships matter much, much more than iPods, big homes, and new cars. We can take nothing with us when we die, yet look at how we strive to accumulate so much Stuff all our lives! This is exactly one of the reasons that Solomon said everything under the Sun is meaningless.

       But if it is so natural for us to be attached to the Things of This World, how can we be saved if the salvation Jesus offers requires us to give up that very attachment to our natural world? We can try to remind ourselves that eternal happiness with God in Heaven is worth more than anything The World can offer, but we cannot completely remove the attachment to The World without God’s help. What is impossible for us on our own is possible with God. Through prayer and a close relationship with God, our hearts can be changed so we focus on God’s World and not ours.

       The reward of contentment is very great. Our lives are made easier and much more joyful here on Earth because contentment makes the smallest things very great. A hot meal, warm clothes, or a soft bed-all are great wealth to the person who is content. We also get the eternal reward of communion with God and everlasting life in Heaven. How can any benefit of the world’s wealth be greater than the benefit of God’s rewards for us?

       So this is the first part of God’s view we must begin to take on for ourselves. Our attachment to This World keeps us from fully receiving God’s gifts and fully serving Him. We must give up this attachment if we want to truly receive eternal life in Jesus. And we cannot do it on our own-we must ask God to change our hearts and teach us His ways. If it seems impossible, remember you are not alone. God can do it through you!


Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!

       What if Christmas meant more than shopping in packed malls?

       What if you spent more time with your family than you spent trying to pick out gifts?

       What if you could wake up on December 26th with no debts from the day before?

       What if you could throw out all the stress, traffic, and shopping and just focus on worshiping Jesus, giving to the needy, and loving all people?

       What if we gave up Consumermas and went back to Christmas?

       The folks at Advent Conspiracy have a great little video (2 minutes and 39 seconds) about a meaningful Christmas.

       So why not make Christmas meaningful again? Why not do it this year? If you want to change how you celebrate Christmas, here are some good resources:

              Buy Nothing Christmas
              Alternative Christmas Gifts
              A Do-It-Yourself Christmas


       Finally, here’s “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” as sung by the David Crowder Band. I hope it reminds us why we’re celebrating Christmas in the first place.

       Last Sunday, we talked about the problem with The World’s message. Loving money and believing The World’s message keep us from serving God. Additionally, The World can offer us no eternal reward and the Stuff it tells us to buy can’t be taken with us when we’re dead.

       Today, we’re going to begin talking about the solution to the problem with The World’s message. We’ll only get through part of it now, but we’ll finish up the discussion next Sunday.


Where Does the Problem Start?

       In Mark 7:21-23, Jesus clearly tells us where the problems of greed and envy start:

       ²¹ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’

Mark 7:21-23 (NIV)

       Greed and envy come from within—they’re heart problems. These aren’t the kinds of heart problems that can be fixed by taking the right kinds of medicine, getting enough exercise, or eating right. Greed and envy are reflections of our deepest motives, desires, and attitudes. Humans are inherently prone to these kinds of thoughts because Sin infects every area of our lives. The only way we can get these things out of our hearts is to let God come in and take over.

       Every first Tuesday for the past six months at my Bible study, we’ve had a guest speaker named Butch Marvin. One of Butch’s favorite sayings is that God doesn’t want your money, your good works, or anything else you think you can offer Him. God only wants your heart—because once He’s got our hearts he’ll get everything else in our lives.


Renew Your Mind!

       For God to fix our hearts and get rid of all the evil things that can come from within us, we have to fully accept Jesus and let Him live in us. That means we have to give up our lives, our hearts, our selfish ambitions—everything! We need to ask God to change our hearts and the way we think. We need to ask Him to keep us focused on His Ways instead of The World’s ways.

       ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

       God can rid our lives of greed and envy and teach us to be content, if we’ll just ask Him to change the way we think. Only then can we truly understand the great gain that comes from contentment and begin to see God’s perfect will for our lives.

   ³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
       and not toward selfish gain.

Psalm 119:32 (NIV)

       We can start the process of renewing our minds and becoming new people by simply praying to God. David’s simple prayer here is a great way to start—simply asking God to keep us focused on Him and not on This World.

       Next Sunday, we’ll talk about the next step in this process: getting God’s view on our lives, money, and the things of This World.









Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!

       Last week, we talked about The World’s message – if we can just get more of what The World can offer us, we’ll be happy and satisfied. God has told us The World’s message is wrong and clearly shows us in the Bible that only His Message is true. Only God can bring us true happiness, satisfaction, and security.

       This week, we’re going to look a little more at why The World’s message is a problem.


It Keeps Us from Serving God

In Luke 16:13-15, Jesus tells us:

       ¹³ “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
       ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.

Luke 16:13-15 (NIV)

       If we’re focused on The World and the things it offers, then we’re effectively serving Money. And Jesus tells us when we are serving Money, we absolutely cannot serve God.

       God knows our hearts, and if we value the things of This World above Him then we are detestable in His sight. Putting more faith in the “wisdom” of The World than in God’s Wisdom means that we have demoted God to a lesser status. And we Christians know that the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind – our entire being. If we place The World’s message above God’s Message, we cannot keep this greatest commandment.


It Cannot Provide an Eternal Reward

       In Psalm 49, David does a wonderful job of explaining why we shouldn’t believe The World’s message. The wealth of This World cannot save us from death; and once we die (as we all must), we cannot take any of it with us. Slowly read this passage and reflect upon it as you ask God to reveal the lies of The World and teach you His Truth.

   ¹ Listen to this, all you people!
   Pay attention, everyone in the world!
   ² High and low,
   rich and poor-listen!
   ³ For my words are wise,
   and my thoughts are filled with insight.
   ⁴ I listen carefully to many proverbs
   and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.

   ⁵ Why should I fear when trouble comes,
   when enemies surround me?
   ⁶ They trust in their wealth
   and boast of great riches.
   ⁷ Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
   by paying a ransom to God.
   ⁸ Redemption does not come so easily,
   for no one can ever pay enough
   ⁹ to live forever
   and never see the grave.

   ¹⁰ Those who are wise must finally die,
   just like the foolish and senseless,
   leaving all their wealth behind.
   ¹¹ The grave is their eternal home,
   where they will stay forever.
   They may name their estates after themselves,
   ¹² but their fame will not last.
   They will die, just like animals.
   ¹³ This is the fate of fools,
   though they are remembered as being wise.

   ¹⁴ Like sheep, they are led to the grave,
   where death will be their shepherd.
   In the morning the godly will rule over them.
   Their bodies will rot in the grave,
   far from their grand estates.
   ¹⁵ But as for me, God will redeem my life.
   He will snatch me from the power of the grave.

   ¹⁶ So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich
   and their homes become ever more splendid.
   ¹⁷ For when they die, they take nothing with them.
   Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.
   ¹⁸ In this life they consider themselves fortunate
   and are applauded for their success.
   ¹⁹ But they will die like all before them
   and never again see the light of day.
   ²⁰ People who boast of their wealth don’t understand;
   they will die, just like animals.

Psalm 49 (NLT)

       I especially like the last three verses. How often do we admire the wealthy for their success? Yet despite all their success, if they trust in their wealth they will die just like wild animals. God is the only one who can save us from death, and He can only do that if we give up believing The World’s message and seek His Truth.

       Next Sunday, we’ll start talking about how we can ignore The World’s message and begin understanding the Truth.


Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!

       Bob at Christian Personal Finance has a great post about how cars affect your financial freedom. Definitely check out his post. He estimates that eliminating a $400/month car payment could mean $1,000,000 more by the time you retire. Even a $200/month payment could mean an additional $600,000 over 40 years. Granted that’s not adjusted for inflation, but it could easily mean the difference between retiring and having to work a few more years for many people. It’s just another great reason you shouldn’t buy into consumerism. There’s nothing wrong with buying a used car, and it could save you a lot of money in the long run.

OR

?

Your Choice!

       Be sure to check out this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted at The Digerati Life! It’s a very interesting theme this week!

       Do you buy into the hype of shopping and consumerism? Do you think more money will make you happier? Do you think more stuff will make your life easier? Do you always have to have the latest model, the newest car, the hottest fashions, or the biggest house you can afford? Advertisements tell us every day that we are missing out if we don’t have the things they’re selling. Just watch this video from YouTube titled “Please Buy More Stuff” to see what I’m talking about:

       This is just one of the many messages from The World that flies smack in the face of The Message that God has been trying to tell us for thousands of years. Do you believe The World’s message? Jesus speaks directly to those who believe the world’s message in Revelation 3:17-18.

       ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Revelation 3:17-18 (NIV)

       The World tries to tell us that if we just acquire more wealth & things, then we won’t need anything else – we’ll be satisfied and secure. But the truth is that the more we get the more we’ll want. The World can not offer us any true satisfaction or security. It’s a false hope to think that a bigger bank account will make you happier or more fulfilled. Jesus already knows The World can’t satisfy us, and that we’ll actually be pitiful, poor, blind, and naked if we listen to The World’s message. Only God can provide us with true wealth and open our eyes so we can see the truth.


Something Better

       God has a higher purpose for us than million dollar investment portfolios and 3,000 square foot homes. God wants more meaning in our lives than a brand new car and shiny boat in the driveway. God has a higher calling for our retirement years than day after day spent on the golf course, beach, or back porch.

       There’s a major problem with The World’s message – specifically in that it contradicts God’s Message. We’ll talk more about why The World’s message is a problem next Sunday.


Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!

       This week’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I find it to be a good reminder of what we should do as Christians even when we’re experiencing hard times. If you are going through a difficult period right now, financially, spiritually, or otherwise, I recommend you write out this verse and put it somewhere you can see it every day.

¹⁶ Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

We can easily break this passage up into four main points:

       1. We should always be joyful – even in the very worst of times. And we have a very good reason to be joyful. God gave His only Son to cover our sins so we can join Him in Heaven. That fact should overshadow any adversity in our life if we really take it to heart.

       2. We should always be praying. This is how we communicate with God. Continual prayer means our minds are always focused on God. Whatever we focus our minds on will have a profound impact on our actions and attitude, so keeping God foremost in our minds is the best thing we can do in any situation.

       3. We should always be thankful – and not just in the good times. God has blessed us so much more than we realize. We get caught up in looking for material blessings, but the greatest blessing we have is Jesus. He has taken away our sins and brings us into communion with God. Even if we’re naked and starving, we still have the blessing of Jesus.

       I think most Christians in the U.S. can agree we’re also very blessed materially. Nearly all of us have a home, clothes, food, and much more. There are billions of people worldwide who would be ecstatic to have a home the size of the average American living room, much less all the amenities and abundance of food we find in our homes. So even in what seem like “hard” times, remember that you are very blessed and be thankful.

       4. This is God’s will for us. This is what God wants us to do all of our lives. He wants us to be joyful and happy, to be very close to Him and always in prayer, and to be thankful at all times. Our lives would be so much more fulfilling if we pursued these three things with relentless passion.