A Complete Financial Makeover

True, False, or Exaggerated?

· Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Americans are either struggling or in crisis when it comes to their money

· Just under half (45%) of Americans said they have at least $1,000 in savings, and over a third (36%) have no savings at all.

· 50% of Americans said their finances had a negative impact on their mental health.

· Younger generations are more worried about their finances than older generations

· 7 out of 12 women will become widows

· The average age of when someone is widowed in the United States is 59

All these statistics are true which demonstrates the amount of influence that finances have in our lives. This is certainly why money and possessions are the second most referenced topic in the Bible. Money is mentioned over 800 times. God is concerned about the way we use money and the impact that money has in our lives.

A Complete Financial Makeover

Cindy and I both like watching the home makeover shows. It is amazing to see what a team of professionals can do with an old building. In many of the shows the owner doesn’t get to see the renovation in progress. They just show up the last day for the unveiling. Many times, their emotions overcome them, and they burst into tears or start jumping up and down.

Imagine if you could do that with your finances! I believe that we can when we surrender our finances to the Lord. As someone who is responsible for 2 budgets, I can tell you that this idea excites me because I have a way to go before I am jumping up and down but I believe it is possible. It is very possible if we just apply the principles of the Bible and adopt the right attitude of heart.

I want us to look at a parable of Jesus to learn some great insights into allowing God to do a complete financial makeover in our lives.

Four Biblical Principles of Money Management

Let’s read Matthew 25:14-30 to see a lesson that Jesus teaches.

Matthew 25:14–30 NIV

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Biblical Principle #1 – God Owns It All

Matthew 25:14 (NIV) 14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

The parable begins with an interesting distinction – there is an owner and there are the servants or stewards. Now, an owner has rights, a steward responsibilities. We have been given everything from the owner. This expands our understanding of our resources. Not only is my giving (tithing) decision a spiritual decision, but every spending decision is a spiritual decision.

I want to address the idea of the ‘tithe’ before moving on. There are many opinions on the tithe and whether it is for the church today. I really don’t care about the term, but I think that the idea of the tithe is a timeless principle.

The definition of tithe simply means 10%. Historically we see the Bible describe it with Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, and all the way through the OT. In the NT, Jesus endorses it in Matthew 23:23.

Matthew 23:23 (NIV) 23“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

This is a negative statement, but if we make it a positive statement it would say, “You should show justice, mercy, and faithfulness in addition to your tithes of spices…” Throughout the book of Acts and the letters of the apostles we see spontaneous giving and systematic giving. Whether it was 10% or 40% we don’t know. In one instance it was certainly a high percentage:

Acts 2:44–46 (NIV) 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

I believe that there are things that happened in the NT that weren’t detailed in the text. I believe that hundreds of years of giving (call it a ‘tithe’ or not) created an expectation to give. What the Law could not do is create a generous heart. My conclusion is that it is impossible to believe that generous giving is not a description of the modern Christian. Many household budgets are not prepared to tithe (national statistics show only about 19% of Christians claim to tithe but only about 4% really do) but I encourage you to begin somewhere. And, I believe that the tithe is a reasonable response from the heart.

Remember, God is the owner, and we are only the stewards. Giving is an act that demonstrates our hearts – and it responds to the promise of God.

Biblical Principle #2 – We Are in A Growth Process

Matthew 25:21 (NIV) 21“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Your time on earth is temporary and used for training. God uses money and material as a tool, a test, and a testimony. The fact that money is a tool is obvious to us. We must have money to buy the shelter, food, transportation, and clothing. Money gets things done. The fact that it is a test is more of a struggle.

When we talk about the abuse of money the Bible talks about mammon. It is a spirit that corrupts our hearts. The spirit of mammon says, “Man doesn’t need God. We’re self-sufficient.” In the trilogy the Lord of the Rings, there is a creature called Golam who gets corrupted by the treasure, the ring. He refers to it over and over again as “my precious”. Unless we have surrendered it all to the owner, we can get possessive, greedy, and miserly with our money. The test that we continually take is how are we going to relate to our money? Is it the Lord’s or is it mine.

What should distinguish Christians from the world is the absenceof financial anxiety because the world and its temporal possessions do not possess us. Always remember that God is our Heavenly Father who loves us:

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Biblical Principle #3 – The Amount is Not Important

Matthew 25:20–23 NIV

The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

What’s the difference between verses 21 and 23? Nothing! The Christian counselor, Ron Blue, points this out:

“There has been plenty of controversy over the past thirty years about whether an American Christian is more spiritual on one hand by accumulating much (God’s “blessing”), or on the other hand by giving it all away (God’s “martyr”). I believe that both are extremes and not reflective of what God says. He neither condemns wealth nor commends poverty, or vice versa. The principle found in Scripture is that He owns it all. Therefore, whatever He chooses to entrust you with, hold with an open hand, allowing Him to entrust you with more if He so chooses, or allowing Him to take whatever He wants. It is all His. That is the attitude He wants you to develop, and whatever you have, little or much, your attitude should remain the same.”[1]

Biblical Principle #4 – Faith Requires Action

Matthew 25:24–30 NIV

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The wicked servant knew what was expected but did nothing. Failure to steward is wickedness. Does God ask us to pray? Yes. Are we wrong if we don’t? Yes. Are we told to raise up our families with a Biblical worldview? Yes! Are we wrong if we don’t? Yes. We could go through a list of more things. We know what we must do, and if we don’t, it is sinfulness.

This is not just about a gift to the church. It is about 100% of our finances. Do a checkbook inventory. It reveals your goals, priorities, convictions, relationships and even your use of time. Take the time to go through your expenses and see what the expense values. Is it an investment in your children? Good! Food, shelter, clothing are all obviously good. On the other hand, if you can’t give to the Lord with generosity because you NEEDEDthe latest Milwaukee tool, high end purse, or Old Henry rifle. You need to reevaluate your priorities. Invest in your marriage. Invest wisely for the future, etc…

Give in faith. C.S. Lewis remarked:

If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., [is equal to] those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us … they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.

I’ve heard that the leaders of XA at SHSU talk to their students who are graduating out of the college. They tell them that they are about to begin careers in education, law enforcement, communications, or whatever and they are about to see an increase in their income. They challenge them before they begin to spend the higher income to realize they are stewards. Do you really need the more expensive car? Maybe consider the Elliff’s in Qatar. Do you really need the big house? Consider the Clark’s in Turkey. Be stewards, not owners. Every spending decision is a spiritual decision.

The Bottom Line

Begin with a new understanding about finances. Embrace what we’ve just discussed:

God Owns It All

We are in a Growth Process

Don’t strive for financial perfection – Love the Lord and cultivate a generous heart

Don’t let the devil blackmail you with the past. Focusing on the past leaves God out of the process.

Isaiah 43:18 NIV

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The Amount is Not Important.

It is about the heart. 10% might be too much for some and too little for others.

True Generosity Is “ ,” According to U.S. Adults

When Barna asked U.S. adults to select adjectives to complete the sentence, we observed a natural divide in the responses. Between one-fifth and one-third of adults speak of true generosity as something personal, defined by the emotion or outcome. (After all, they give because of who they are!) Some examples: True generosity is “always” selfless(32%), driven by compassion (30%), impactful for the receiver (30%) or giver (27%), a response to Christ’s love (28%) or, quite simply, an attitude (22%). Givers themselves remain close to the national average in describing generosity this way.

Faith Requires Action

God wants us to be different! We are told to be the salt and light of the world. This means that we are to be radically different from others around us.

When we surrender our finances to the Lord, He can complete a financial makeover for us that, I am convinced, will make us shout!

[1] Excerpt From: Ron Blue & Michael Blue. “Master Your Money.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/master-your-money/id1053767655