Biblical Finance: Act Your Wage

Introduction

In order to get out of debt, we must

Admit we have a problem

Accept our Truth

Adjust our Habits

and Anticipate Coming Out

This morning as we continue developing an understanding of Biblical Finances I want to take this opportunity to shed some more light on the idea of accepting our truth

I believe a major player, leading role, and main character in our inability to be freed from our financial bondage (debt) is our failure to Act Our Wage

Now what do you mean Pastor Davis by Acting your wage?

How many of us have heard our parents or somebody say to us?

act your age and not your shoe size

Typically it was said when an individual was acting contrary to how a person their age is supposed to act

Along those same lines,

According to the Urban Dictionary, Act Your Wage is:

A phrase to address those who spend far more money than they really can afford, attempting to seem rich or wealthy.

A phrase to address those who spend far more money than they really can afford, attempting to seem rich or wealthy.

or better yet, the act of failing to live within ones means

A situation that most Americans find themselves in.

it is believed that if you have debt outside of a mortgage and student loans.....you are not acting your wage

And again I believe the reason for this type of behavior is our ongoing struggle with accepting our truth

we struggle with giving up on trying to keep up

It seems as if by nature we have been conditioned to:

Disguise our Reality

by

Don’t let no one know the your truth

Fake it, til you make it

Displaying our fantasy

Many of us have been told, don’t let no one know your truth

Fake it, til you make it

rying to prove ourselves to others, instead of ourselves

Therefore, we exhaust all of our resources trying to prove ourselves to others, instead of ourselves

We try hard to replicate an idea of what we perceive others think we should be

And in the process, we lost a sense of our true selves

Therefore, we go about life living as imitators instead of originators

Illustration:

Its as if we are unpaid actors on the hit broadway show stage called Imposters

We are like what King Solomon declared in

says

Proverbs 13:7a ESV

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

Proverbs 13:7 ESV

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

This has caused many of us to be like that horse that fell in the hole and couldn’t get out

Illustration: Horse Grave

Because of this many of us are like that horse that fell in the hole and couldn’t get out

Because of this his owner decided to just through dirt on him to bury him

but unlike his master my goal today is to throw some dirt on you with some fertilizer in it to get you out

I’m throwing fertilizing dirt on you to get you out

but you have to want to get out

and do like the horse did

collect that dirt under you feet and stand on it (build a new foundation)

We must learn this truth that our living ought to match our earning

because an unbalanced life is a life destined for failure

How do we act our wage?

Acting our wage requires three things that are found in :

Turn with me to

AN ACT OF VISION

Proverbs 29:18 ESV

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

or as the NIV version puts it

But blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

AN ACT OF VISION

AN ACT OF VISION

AN ACT OF RESTRAINT

AN ACT OF DILIGENCE

Proverbs 29:18 ESV

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;

Vision

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; b

Restraint

but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.Vision

Vision

Our failure to Act our Wage has a lot to do with our lack of vision

we are perishing because we have no vision

living paycheck to paycheck because we have no vision

robbing Peter to pay Paul because we have no vision

running up credit cards because we have no vision

•And as King Solomon tells us the lack thereof comes with consequences

You see, When you understand Vision you understand that:

Vision is for an appointed time

Vision is for an appointed time

•Vision is for an appointed time

It is a pictorial picture of a preferred future

With that being said, when you have Vision,

your focus in the now is only preparation for the future

In other words, my actions now has nothing to do with my now, but my future

Vision causes you to make sacrifices today, so you can be satisfied tomorrow

Vision is a necessity that contains both permissive and preventative elements

Permissive- allows for alignment

Bridging my present with my future

Buying $100 sneakers for a preschooler isn’t bridging my present with my future

But putting that $100 in a savings account is

Preventative- alleviates chaos

You see, when you have vision you put the necessary perimeters in place to prevent you from failing

Illustration- Preventative Maintenance is maintenance that is regularly performed on a piece of equipment to lessen the likelihood of it failing

The car manufacturer put certain perimeters in place like a certain amount of miles before

Oil change

Oil change

Filter

Tire Rotation

•Gives permission to use the vehicle for another identified number of miles

Jut to give permission to use the vehicle for another identified number of miles

What perimeters?

Disgrading credit cards

Budget

Self-control or as our text tells us

Self-control

Restraint

Vision is a pictorial picture of a preferred future

It has nothing to do with my now, but

Restraint

Restraint is a measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control or within limits

it is the ability to practice self-control

Illustration

the thing is desirous, but self control (restraint) tells you know I can’t afford it

so you walk away

The bible tells us that an unrestraint person is a fool

Proverbs 21:20 ESV

20 Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

King Solomon lets us know that the lack of restraint brings about incessant consumption on the part of the fool

A foolish man or woman lacks restraint

Or better yet, one who doesn’t operate within his or her means is classified as a fool

foolish — devoid of wisdom or good sense or sound judgment.

foolish (ungodly) adj. — devoid of wisdom or good sense or sound judgment, especially with an association with insolence or ungodliness.

Listen living paycheck to paycheck is a clear sign that you aren’t acting your wage

A wise person - accumulates

A foolish person - decimates (spends his or her income as fast as it is produced)

And the reason why is because

a wise person is farsighted

whereas a fool is nearsighted (has no vision)

Contrary to popular belief, we are endowed with self control, we just don’t practice it

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Restraint requires sacrifice

and we have to learn to see the value in sacrificing

The sacrifice of today, may be the blessing of tomorrow

Illustration: The Ant

Take for instance the ant. They sacrifice a lot during the summer in order that they might store up for the winter

Illustration : My Credit Card

Pastor’s Credit Card (Disney, Down Payment on Car)

Balance - $9,042.46

Minimum Payment - $178

Interest Rate- 19.49% (Promotional Rate- 5.50%)

If I just pay the minimum balance it will take me 22 years to pay off which will take my total payment to $ 17,570

Now if I would have taken that same $9000 and invested it

Investment - $9000

Years - 22

Average Return Rate - 10%

Addt’l Contribution $178/mth

End Balance- $232,648.80

Without contribution -$73,262.47

Diligence

I firmly believe that its not enough to have restraint, but we must also be diligent

Diligence is the act of persistence

Proverbs 10:4 ESV

4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

The bible clearly lets us know that diligence leads to wealth

We have to be diligent in this thing

committed

dedicated

steadfast and unmoveable

Illustration: Cartoons

Sylvaster the Cat - Tweety Bird

Wile E Coyote - Road Runner

Elmer Fudd - Bugs Bunny

Used to get mad at them

stop chasing it

give up already

find something else

do something else

But they were diligent

reason- because they were hungry

that hunger gave them an edge and the corresponding motivation necessary for taking action.

I wonder if there is anybody here today that is hungry?

Hungry to Get Right

Well if your hungry you’ve got to exercise diligence no matter what it looks like, feels like, taste like

For the bible says,

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

For the bible says,

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

For the bible says,

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes to poverty

�� The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes to poverty

For the bible says,

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

For the bible says,

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

And for the bible says,

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Illustration : Flea in a Jar with a Lid

•operating like fleas in a jar with a lid on it.

•At the onset they would be jumping to get out

•But as they hit the lid, they will eventually become conditioned to jump only so high

•Thereby even when you take the lid off, they will not jump out

•Diligence, restraint and vision gives us permission to jump higher