What if the recovery could start with us? We are diving into spiritual principles gleaned from the Scriptures and applied in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. These principles have helped millions of people become debt free, build financial resources, and gain traction on the road to recovery.
This week John Burke shared at the McNeil campus and Bruce Gilson shared at the South Campus. Here are some of the following thoughts:
“A path to peace financially requires a plan. Fights about finances are the number one cause of marital strife because we’re all different. There are cash people and there are credit card people. There are “the tabs on me” people and the “Let’s go dutch” people. No matter how you’re wired, how much or how little you have, you need a financial freedom plan.
Why should I have a plan?
1. To be a wise money manager. All of us are money-managers, like it or not.
‘Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.’ Proverbs 21:5
God’s wisdom tells us that we’ve been given the ability to work hard, think out ahead, and manage what we’ve been given. And what we’ve got to realize is that we’ve all been entrusted with money, time, abilities to manage well.
Jesus taught in line with the Prophets of old that God entrusts us with money, and it’s a lot like us entrusting a money manager with our money.
2. To Relieve Tension. Married or single, without a plan when the down times come like the past few years, a plan helps us out of the struggles. When a married couple has a plan that they created together, they are able to fight their debt rather than each other. A plan also relieves tension because you’ll be addressing all areas of your life wholistically.
3. Be a Blessing. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt 6:21 Where our money flows tells us about our value system. When we get out of debt and save, we are also in a position to bless others with our generosity, including our children and grandchildren.
“The wise person saves for the future, but the foolish person spends whatever he gets.” Proverbs 21:20
Why don’t we create a plan?
1. Fear. Some of us are afraid what we’ll find if we have to sit down and face it. We know it’s a mess, but to look at it makes us feel even worse, so we just ignore it and hope our situation changes—just hope it goes away, but it never does. There are lots of people in our church who have been in a bad place, but they’ve gotten better. Don’t fear—there is hope. You’re not alone. There is no need to feel ashamed or feel stupid or like a failure. We’re a church where no perfect people are allowed anyway—so let’s walk together to help each other be wise and feel free.
2. A lack of self-discipline. Where do you go to get self-discipline if you don’t have it? You borrow it from someone else. Connecting with others who can keep us accountable will help us make better decisions moving forward.
3. No Time! We just feel too busy, too much to do, no time to make a plan or live by it. If we don’t do something like FPU, all our good intentions will go nowhere, cause we won’t make time. Knowing this stuff is not what we need—it’s support and accountability to change our habits and behaviors. So let’s all do it together, and let’s make 2012 the year of new kinds of freedom.
‘The wise person saves for the future, but the foolish person spends whatever he gets.’ Proverbs 21:20 Scripture is clear – it’s foolish to spend all you get and never put anything away for emergencies or unseen needs in the future. It’s very simple, but so hard to do.”
To connect with a Financial Peace University group in Austin, go to www.gatewaychurch.com/fpu.
To watch or listen to this message, go to www.gatewaychurch.com/podcast.
