Biblical Principles for Financial Freedom and Generosity

In 1926, Ernest Hemingway wrote a novel titled The Sun Also Rises, in which two men are having a conversation and one man asked the other man, so how did you go bankrupt? And the other man responded, well, two ways. Gradually and then suddenly. Gradually and suddenly. And sometimes that's the way it happens financially. [00:00:41]

He says, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up. Do not store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [00:03:18]

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [00:04:14]

Imagine further that you're in a position where you can actually help the needy when you have a chance to do that. You have money to give to missions. You have money to give to the poor. You have money to give to needs here in San Angelo. In other words, imagine a life of financial freedom and a life of financial peace. That'd be great. [00:06:11]

Jesus very clearly ties together two things. He ties together following God's path to financial peace, following God's financial principles and peace are tied together, following God's principles and peace are connected. In other words, financial peace. God wants you to have financial peace. God wants you to sleep well at night. That stress you feeling from not being able to pay your bills. That stress is not from God. [00:09:05]

If God doesn't want us to worry about our needs being met, Jesus said it over and over. Do not worry. Do not worry. Then why do we have such a hard time? trusting god and his ways could it be that it's because we're stuck on doing things our way here's what god wants us to do he said in matthew 6 33 jesus said but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you're worrying about all these things will be given to you as well will be added to you as well [00:10:33]

Doing things the same way and you're in this seems like a perpetual money crunch the number one Acknowledge that your way of handling your money isn't working We've got to acknowledge Something is not right here. Something's not working in my life. If it were I wouldn't be where I am financially if it if it were working that wouldn't be stressing out about money and arguing with my wife or The woman I might say with my husband about money if it were I wouldn't just be having to make minimum payments on my bills [00:11:59]

Let me tell you what God's paradigm is. Let's talk about the paradigm shift. The paradigm shift says, first of all, says this, God owns everything. God owns everything. Haggai 2 .8 says, the silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. It's his. Everything is his. Psalm 50, I love this, Psalm 50, verses 9 through 12, God says this, I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. [00:19:25]

stewards right that just means we manage his money Romans 14 12 Paul writes this so then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God now Paul here is writing about how we shouldn't judge other Christians when it comes to disputable matters I mean there are things that that are like they're not disputable they're they're part of the correct doctrine of Scripture the Trinity you know that that's not disputable if somebody doesn't believe in the Trinity then we can't have the same kind of fellowship with them that Jesus was born of a virgin we can't just that's not disputable we believe that somebody doesn't believe that then we can't have the same kind of fellowship with them and other doctrines of you know that are Orthodox doctrine Orthodox Orthodox but there are disputable matters and Paul is writing how we shouldn't judge each other as Christians when it comes to disputable matters he says because we're each going to give account of our own lives to God so he says worry about yourself the big idea though is that we will give an account to God of our lives not just in this area of judging others but in every area of our lives we find that teaching throughout Scripture so that means that we will also give an account of our own lives to God so that means that we will also give an account of how we handled our money do you know that Jesus told a parable about a rich man who had a money manager and this money manager was being accused of mishandling the rich man's money he was being accused of wasting his money so the rich man came to him and he said to him give an account of your management or you're gonna be fired give an account of your management. [00:21:25]

God wants us to be generous with our money. Because it's his money, right? Now, he doesn't want us to be foolish with it. No. But he wants us to be generous with it. Proverbs 11, 24. We're going to read several scriptures. I'll put them all up here. We'll have them all up here so you can look at them quickly. Proverbs 11, 24 and 25. One person gives freely, yet gains even more. Another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper. You see that? [00:26:53]

Acts 20 .35, I love this. The scenario here is that Paul has been in Ephesus. He's saying goodbye to the leaders of the church. It was a large church. It had several elders and pastors, bishops, overseers, all this. And so he's having to leave town. He's being persecuted. And it's a very emotional goodbye. He calls them all out to the beach. He's about to get on a boat and leave. And he gives them final instructions. He tells them the most important things about the church there. He tells them, don't put up with false doctrine, just different things. And included in these very important instructions, last minute or last, about to leave them instructions, he says this, in everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of heart, we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. [00:31:03]

God's way is always better. He doesn't want you living in constant stress, worrying about bills, drowning in debt, or letting money control your life. That's not God's way. He wants you to experience peace. The kind of peace that comes when we seek his kingdom first and trust him with everything else, including our finances. But here's the truth. This is so important. As I conclude, this is so important. Beating the money crunch isn't just about numbers. It's about faith. It's about trust. It's about shifting our perspective and trusting that God's ways are higher. [00:33:14]