Jeff Schreve - Overcoming The Financial Feud
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Money is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master, and a wrong view of money can create all kinds of problems in your marriage and family. Hey, would you like to experience financial peace in your home? Join me, today, to learn how to use money God’s way and start «Overcoming the Financial Feud».
Now we’re in a series called «We Are Family,» and today, we wanna talk about «Overcoming the Financial Feud». Hey, how can you experience true financial peace in your heart, in your life, in your home, in your marriage, and in your family. God tells us in his Word, 1 Timothy chapter 6. You know, much in the Bible speaks about our relationship with money. Jesus told lots of parables, and in those parables he often would center them around money or use money in the parable, because money is part of life, you have to have money to live, and so it affects everybody. If you have no money, then you are in serious trouble, and so the Lord tells us how to handle money.
1 Timothy chapter 6, beginning in verse 6, he says, «But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang». There are three admonitions that the Lord gives us, from his Word, concerning money, three admonitions.
You say, «Jeff, what is an admonition»? An admonition is a loving caution, it’s authoritative counsel that God gives us regarding money. How can you experience true peace in your life as it relates to money? Admonition number one, recognize the inherent danger found in money, the inherent danger. Now, it says that, «The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil». Money is not the root of all sorts of evil, but your attitude toward money is. That word, when it says, «The love of money,» in verse 10, «The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil,» that’s one word in the Greek, philaguria, It literally means «the affection for silver,» it’s tied to greed and covetousness. You just love money, you want to have more money, you just, «Ah, I need it, I need it».
When I was a kid growing up, we used to like to watch «Gilligan’s Island,» and in «Gilligan’s Island,» you had Thurston Howell III. And he was this rich guy, and he went on a three-hour tour and he brought suitcases full of cash. I mean, it’s kind of crazy, but he did. And when he would sleep, he would just think about money, «Money, money, money». You’d just see him, and he’s sleeping and he’s talking about money, that guy loved money. Now, you’re out in the audience and you’re thinking, you know, you’re here in church, and if I asked you, «Do you love money»? Well, you’d say that the right answer would be no, so I wanna answer no. And many people who call themselves Christians, they would say, «Well, of course I don’t love money, I might have some struggles with money, but I don’t love money».
Let me tell you something, it is easy to fall in love with money, very easy, and not even know that you’ve fallen in love with money, and that’s why you and I need to be very careful as it relates to money because there is inherent danger in money. But not only is it easy to fall in love with money, it is foolish to fall in love with money, very foolish to do that. Why? Well, because money can’t satisfy. Money is something that we need, but money is not the be-all end-all. Money doesn’t solve problems, money doesn’t satisfy the longings of the human heart. Solomon, who had more money than anyone who has ever lived, he said this, «Those who love money will never be satisfied with the money they have. Those who love wealth will not be satisfied when they get more and more. This is all so senseless».
It’s vanity, it’s chasing after wind, it’s meaningless to go after money because money can’t satisfy. Money is a lot like salt water. If you are thirsty out in the middle of the ocean, stranded in the middle of the ocean in a boat somewhere, and you’re dying of thirst, the last thing you want to do is drink salt water. The old, famous little phrase of the person dying out in the ocean, dying of thirst, «Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,» because you can’t drink saltwater because saltwater doesn’t quench your thirst, salt water makes you more thirsty. And money’s like that, it’s not designed, God didn’t set it up where that would solve your problems, where that would satisfy your soul. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money.
It’s easy to fall in love with money, it’s foolish to fall in love with money, because money doesn’t satisfy, and then it’s important for us to remember it is devastating to fall in love with money. Easy to do, foolish to do, devastating to do. Look what it says, again, in verses 9 and 10, «But those who want to get rich». Some people think, «Well, it’s ok to want to get rich». A friend of mine said one time, «Well, I know there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get rich». 1 Timothy 6, verse 9, «But those who want to get rich,» it’s ok to be rich, God is ok with that. God blessed Abraham, Abraham was a wealthy guy, but Abraham wasn’t trusting in riches, he wasn’t looking at riches to satisfy him. You know that you have some people that are very poor and they love money, some people are very rich and they don’t love money. It has nothing to do with how much you have, it’s an issue of the heart.
And it says, in verse 9, «But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang». Pierced themselves, that’s a picture of an animal on a spit. If you’ve ever seen a pig being roasted, they run the spit all through the pig. He’s not talking about having a splinter in your finger, he’s talking about having a stake run through you, you pierce yourself with many a pang, with many sorrows, with many distresses. That’s for those who love money. And, «Those who want get rich,» I like how it says that you, «Fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction». The word for «plunge» literally means «to sink into the deep, to drown».
And that’s what the love of money does, the desire for riches, «Ah, I just wanna get rich,» you sink into the deep. The very first admonition, to all of us, recognize the inherent danger found in money. Second admonition, learn to be content in the Lord and his provision, you find your contentment and satisfaction in the Lord and his provision. «Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink». That’s money, it’s not gonna satisfy you, the one who will satisfy you is the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon said, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, «For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him»? No one, because he is the source of satisfaction.
So, look at verse 6, he says, «But godliness actually is a means of great gain». He’s talking, in verse 5, about the false teachers who use religion to try and get money, and fake godliness to try and gain money. He says, «But godliness actually is a means of great gain when it’s accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content». Contentment in the Lord, in what you have in him and in what he provides. Contentment is defined this way in the Greek, it’s a mind contented with its lot, satisfied with its lot in life. It’s sufficiency in the necessities. If we have food and covering, and covering would be for your body, and also shelter, if we have those things, we have the basics.
Then, «With these we shall be content,» we don’t need any more than that. But so many of us think, «Well, yeah, but I gotta get this and I gotta get that and I gotta get this other». So let me give you some practical advice to help you find your contentment in the Lord. See, Paul said that, in Philippians chapter 4, he’s imprisoned in Rome, and he said, «I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself in. I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how to get along with plenty; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret,» «Of having an abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me». Because Jesus is the one who gives me contentment and satisfaction.
So, how do we focus ourselves so we can see the Lord, so we can get our satisfaction in him, and not be distracted by so many other things and not let the love of money get into our hearts? Number one, stop comparing yourself to other people. How many people have trouble comparing yourself to other people? Two or three, more. Ok, some looked and said, «Well, compared to them, I’m doing pretty good». No, we all tend to have trouble comparing ourselves to other people. You know what «Facebook» is? «Facebook» is people comparing themselves to other people and, in «Facebook,» you look on there, it’s somebody’s highlight reel. You know, they show you, «Oh man, we’re going here, and we’re doing this and we’re doing that,» and you look at your crummy life and you think, «We never go anywhere».
Comparison does one of two things, both are bad, it’ll either make you proud, «Hey, I’m doing better than you are,» or it’ll make you depressed, «Oh, you’re doing better than I am». And God says, «Don’t do that, keep your eyes on me». So stop comparing yourselves to others, and then, secondly, stop focusing on what you don’t have, what you don’t have. You know, when we start comparing, then we see all the things these other people have, and then we kind of look at what we don’t have, and then we feel like we’re getting ripped off, and then we’re discontented and dissatisfied. I mean, my house isn’t as good as their house, my car isn’t as good as their car, my wife isn’t as pretty as their wife.
My wife is pretty, so I’m talking for other people. But you know, we have these things, my clothes aren’t as good, my vacations aren’t as good. Stop focusing on what you don’t have and start thanking God for what you do have, what you do have. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. Hey, praise the Lord, I have food, praise the Lord, I have covering, praise the Lord, I have a place to live. That’s all I really need. The Bible says, in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5, «Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU, ' so that we may confidently say, 'THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT SHALL MAN DO TO ME? '» «Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have».
What do I have? As a Christian, I have the Lord Jesus Christ, through his Spirit, living in my heart, I have my name written in the Lamb’s book of life, my citizenship is in heaven. How rich I am since Jesus came my way, I have so much in the Lord. And I love the words to that song, «How rich I am since Jesus came my way, Redeem my soul and turn my night to day, how very rich, how very rich I am. Such peace and joy I never knew before, And countless blessings from His boundless store, how very rich, how very rich I am. All things have changed, My eyes once blind now see, The whole wide world is like a symphony, And with all this Heaven is my destiny, How rich I am».
You focus on what you have in the Lord. A young girl was memorizing Psalm 23, The Shepherd’s Psalm, but she got a little wrong and she said, «The Lord is my shepherd, I have all I want». That’s a good mistake, because that is true. «The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,» is what the Scripture says, but she says, «I have all I want,» and if you have the Lord as your shepherd, you have all you want because he is everything, and in him you can find satisfaction. So how do we overcome the financial feud? Well, we recognize, «Hey, money’s got some danger to it, I gotta treat this like I would treat a gun and be careful with it. I see that money can’t satisfy me, so I find my contentment in the Lord and in his provision». And then, admonition number three, make money your servant and not your master.
What did Jesus say? «No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, he will hold the one and despise the other. You cannot,» you cannot, you cannot, «Serve God and money». You can’t find satisfaction in money, so don’t go down that road, you can’t serve God and money, and if you’re a lover of money, you’re not going to be walking with God because those two things are mutually exclusive.
Look what it says in verse 17, of chapter 6, 1 Timothy. «Instruct those who are rich in this present world». That would be you and me and everyone in this room, compared to the rest of the world, we would be considered rich. «Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited,» arrogant, high-minded, «Or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed».
Don’t fix your hope on money because money is uncertain, you can have a lot of money today and it can be gone tomorrow. I remember, back a few years ago, silver was going crazy, people were buying silver and the price of silver just kept going up and up and up. And I said, «Man, I need to get some silver,» so I bought silver. The very next day, I think, it dropped. And I bought it, it was the very peak, I looked at a 10-year map of silver, I bought it at the very peak, it’s dropped down from about $48-49 down to about $15. And so, if any of you would like to buy silver at $49, I have some for you. But that’s the way money is, you buy something and then all goes down or it gets wrecked or something happens to it. Money talks, it says, «Goodbye». And the Scripture says, «Hey, you know what? You brought nothing into this world, you come in naked, you can’t take anything with you».
As Job said, «Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD». I mean, money is uncertain, so I don’t fix my, «Hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,» who’s a good God, and he, «Richly supplies us with all things to enjoy». So let me give you, just in closing, some things that will help you, some very practical things that will help you in your marriage, in your home, in your heart, as you deal with money. Number one, put God first in your finances. You want to have a plan, a program to have the right attitude toward money in your marriage and in your family? Put God first in your finances.
The Scripture says, Proverbs chapter 3, «Honor the LORD from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce; So that your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine». It says, in the Book of Leviticus, «The tithe,» the tenth, «Is the LORD’S,» and that belongs to God, a tenth of everything that you make, that I make, that’s God’s. And so, what do we do? We don’t give the tithe, we bring the tithe, we bring the tenth, because we say, «God, that is yours, and I’m gonna honor you first, off the top, I honor you in my wealth». You know why that is so important? Some people say, «Oh, that’s Old Testament, we don’t do that, that’s Old Testament».
Here’s my attitude toward that. God forbid that a Jew under law would give more than a Christian under grace. I mean, I think that that’s the baseline of giving, it’s, «Lord, I wanna give to you,» it all belongs to God. But when you bring the tithe, you’re saying, «God, I’m bringing you the first 10% because I know that it all belongs to you and I want to honor you». «Honor the Lord from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce,» why? So that, «Your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine». That’s a principle in Scripture. 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 30, the Lord says this, «The one who honors Me, him will I honor».
And so, when you honor God with your wealth, when I honor God with my wealth, God honors me, you, back. «The one who honors Me, him will I honor». So begin to put God first in your finances. Secondly, check with God before making any purchases, you don’t buy anything before you talk to God about it. Because so many of us get in trouble, why? Because we impulse buy, we see something we want, and then we confuse wants and needs, and we go, «Oh, I want that new 'Corvette, ' and I just need that new 'Corvette.'» No, you need a car, you don’t need a «Corvette,» you want a «Corvette,» there’s a big difference between wants and needs.
And the Scripture says this, if we honor the Lord with our wealth, that God, Philippians 4:19, and the context of Philippians 4 is people who are giving to the Lord honoring the Lord from their wealth, and Paul says that, «God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus». That’s a promise in God’s Word, you honor God, God will take care of you, he will provide for you. Now, the difficulty is, «And my God shall supply all your needs,» needs, not greeds, not wants, needs. Many of us don’t know the difference between needs and wants. And you know what’s interesting is, the person who’s really content, you know, you find your contentment in the Lord, «If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content».
And the person who is really rich, when we talk about rich, that person is the one who says, «I don’t need anything else, I’m completely satisfied, I don’t need anything else». A very lowly farmer, was just barely making an existence, was out in town one day, saw the richest man in town and he said to him, he said, «You know, sir, I am richer than you are». And the man looked at him, he said, «How do you figure that»? He said, «Because I have all I want and you don’t». Adrian Rogers used to like to say, «You want to know how rich you are? Count up all the things that money can’t buy and death can’t take away, and that’s how rich you are».
We find our satisfaction in Jesus, so we check with God, put him first. We check with him, «Lord, is it ok that I buy this? Because all my money belongs to you. So, Lord, is it ok if I buy this item and buy that item? God, what do you say, is that a need or is that a want»? And then, thirdly, discuss all financial matters, keep no secrets and develop a plan. In your marriage, discuss financial matters, involve your spouse in the finances, keep no secrets. It’s amazing, I did a little search on «Google,» how many couples, husbands and wives, and the husband has a secret account and the wife has a secret account, and they spend money here and spend money there, and they don’t talk about it, and this person doesn’t know and that person doesn’t.
Don’t do that, don’t have any secrets, put it all out on the table. «We’re not going to spend money that we don’t have, we’re not going to overextend ourselves. We’re not going to buy this car even though it’s gonna strap us, we’re not gonna get house poor and buy a house that’s gonna take us up to here. No, we wanna have margin». Why? Because the Scripture says that, «Instruct people to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share».
You can’t be generous and ready to share if you’re up here with your commitments. And if you buy things, not your needs, but your greeds and your wants, and all of a sudden you have all these bills to pay, and then if something happens, you got both people working, and if something happens and there’s a little hiccup, there’s a bump in the road, somebody gets sick or somebody loses his job, then it’s disaster-ville because there is no margin.
God says, «I don’t want you to live that way,» and so develop a plan. Hey, if you will do what God says to do, if you’ll watch out about the inherent danger of money, if you’ll learn to be content in the Lord and his provision, and if you’ll make money your servant and not your master, then you’ll enjoy financial freedom, and the financial feud that many go through in life won’t come to your doorstep, and you’ll be able to talk things out and you’ll be able to be on the same page, and God will be glorified.