Week 2 of God, Money and You: The Stewardship of Our Money

Louis Rukeyser said, “The best way to keep money in perspective is to actually have some.”

The subject of money has a certain feel to it, doesn’t it? It makes us a little nervous to talk about it. Our money is such a personal thing, and we all can get our dander up if we feel like someone else is poking their nose into our money matters.

But did you know that God has the right to poke His nose into our money, because in actuality our money is His money?

I heard this story from a pastor. He was driving his car with his little girl in the seat next to him. She was eating a bag of skittles that he had bought her, so he reached over and tried to take a few. She slapped his hand and said, “Mitts off dad!” He said in that instant it occurred to him that he probably had the financial resources to buy enough skittles to bury his daughter in them. He was the one who always bought her skittles, but now she was telling him he had no right to even so much as one of them. And then it hit him; that’s exactly how we treat God sometimes with our money!

I believe God wants to mess with our skittles because He wants to cause us to stop and think about the stewardship of our life.

Stewardship = oversight of something that belongs to someone else.

Our time, talents, and treasures all essentially are a gift from God.

Most of us are being moved along so swiftly in the stream of life that we don’t contemplate the ramifications of life stewardship.
James 4:14 says, “For what is your life ? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Today: God, Money & You: The Stewardship of Our Money

Our text = 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
1 Corinthians 4:2 NLT reads: “Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.”

You are I are simply managers put in charged of resources God gives us. God made us. He gave us our unique abilities. And He expects us to take what’s He’s entrusted and invest it well.

There are basically 4 godly things you and I can do with God’s money.

1. Earn Money Honestly

Carol Everett was involved in the abortion industry in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Texas, area from 1977 until 1983. As director of four clinics, owner of two, Ms. Everett was responsible for the clinics’ daily operation as well as for all employee training programs.

I was really quite good at abortion marketing, and soon watched my employer’s abortion business more than double. When I realized how profitable the “business” was, I wanted more money. Because my employer would not give me an equity interest, I negotiated a more lucrative arrangement with the next clinic, I was paid $25.00 for each abortion that was done. The last month I was in the business we did 545 abortions. Multiply 545 times $25.00 and I made $13,625.00 in July, 1983.

Carol spoke at Lakeview Church three years ago this weekend. She said when she was still in the abortion business she attended a Methodist church, and to sooth her conscience about the type of business she was involved in, she tithed to her church. Carol said she felt good about the fact she was the biggest tither in the whole church.

Carol got out of the business when a crisis happened. Everything was rolling along just great, then we had a death. A 32-year-old woman hemorrhaged to death as a result of a cervical laceration. I finally realized, we weren’t helping women–we were destroying them. Women are told that abortion is a “choice.” Abortion is not a choice, but rather a skillfully marketed product sold to a woman at a crisis time in her life. And when she discovers the product is defective, it’s too late–the baby is dead!

Proverbs 13:11,“Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
But he who gathers by {honest} labor will increase.”

This is another reason I don’t think the lottery and gambling is God’s way of giving increase to His children.

Here’s the bottom line. We are to earn our money without cheating, lying, or taking advantage of others. Every time you and I get money someone had to give up money. If you earn money from your job, your employer gave up money for each hour that you worked. If you get money by selling something, the buyer gives up money to get what you are selling. All monetary transactions involve one person getting and one person giving.

So what happens when one of the people in the transaction is not honest? The other person loses. In fact, the other person gets robbed. Even if that other party is a big company, it is still robbery!

Proverbs 16:11 NLT says, “The LORD demands fairness in every business deal; He sets the standard.”

2. Give Money Generously

In Abraham’s covenant, a covenant that you and I are under because of Jesus Christ, God said Abraham – Genesis 12:2-3.

Top line = the promise of the blessing
Bottom line = the expectation of how we distribute the blessing to others

Nowhere in the Bible is stinginess, self-centeredness, hoarding, a me-first attitude ever condoned.

All of us want God’s blessing to rest on us. All of us want an open heaven and for Him to pour out such blessings we don’t know how to contain them.

Here’s Jesus ironclad promise to generous givers — Luke 6:38 NLT “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”

3. Spend Money Wisely

God blesses honest work. God blesses generosity. However, God also blesses the wise spending of the 90% that we live on after the 10% tithe.

Sometimes we take the tithing principle and we look at it in a narrow focus.

If I tithe, everything is going to fall into place financially for me.

Well if I didn’t earn the money honestly, then my tithe won’t be blessed. If I don’t spend the remain 90% frugally, then I still won’t be blessed.

Someone said, “We all know that a fool and his money are soon parted, but how did they ever get together in the first place?”

Part of the stewardship of God’s financial resources is spending that makes sense according to the level of your income.

Living within our means is a Christ honoring lifestyle.

What we spend our money on and how much we spend is really driven by our level of income. Extravagance is a relative term. What’s extravagance for one may be nominal spending for another.

Spending our money well is between you and God; and we will all give an account.

4. Invest Money Carefully

Someone suggest we live by 10-10-80 Rule. The first 10% goes to the church/K-o-G. The second 10% goes to yourself for your future. And the 80% goes to live off of right now.

I think that’s a pretty good formula, and I think it’s a biblical formula.

We spiritualize this parable, and rightly so, but let’s not miss the point. Jesus was talking about money – Matthew 25:20-21.

All money God entrusts into my care is a sacred trust. God expects us to be wise stewards/managers/overseers.

Investing money has one goal = to make it grow.

Look at the strong reprimand God gave to the one who did not see any growth in God’s money – Matthew 25:25-29.

Someone has said that if we took all the money in America and divided it equally among the entire population, within one year the millionaires would have it back in their pockets!

Do you know what the ultimate goal of saving and investing for the future is? To get to the place where the interest on your investments funds all your giving and your spending.

Proverbs 6:6-8 MSG,“look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.”

If you don’t earn money honestly, you could end up in prison.
If you don’t give money generously, you will miss out on God’s blessings.
If you don’t spend money wisely, you might end up in bankruptcy.
If you don’t invest money carefully, you will never have income to live on in your retirement.