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Equipping people worldwide to learn, apply, and teach God's financial principles so they may know Christ more intimately, be free to serve Him, and help fund the Great Commission.
Today on MoneyLife
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
(Originally aired February 13, 2009)
What You Believe About Money (Pt. 2)
Once you determine what you believe, your behavior will naturally follow. We have to know God’s Word to be set apart and different from the world. The Bible says we’re transformed by what we believe. It's liberating to accept God’s truth and allow it to change our behavior. Some people believe in luck, but we know that God controls everything. When we understand God’s Word, we can be freed from false beliefs like luck and our behavior will start conforming to His Word which will free us. I want to help you firmly establish what you believe about money, because I know your behavior will follow your beliefs. Often we get things out of order and get frustrated. When you hear a principle, you have to decide whether you believe it. If you believe what God says about giving, it’s a privilege to do it, and it should be natural to us. Every time we give, it should validate for us that God’s Word is true. God is not a financial principle; don’t put your trust in the principle but in the God of the principle. God used the Crown Small Group Study to change my heart and God can use it to transform your heart and mind too. The study goes through many of the Scriptures in the Bible about money, and it's the foundation you need for this time. Nine years ago, I was doing everything on the outside that a Christian was supposed to do. My financial behavior was pretty good, and I didn’t think I needed to know what God says about money. I was more open to taking a college class on finances instead of the Crown Small Group Study but God opened my eyes to believe His Word. Part of my heart had not been open to God, the money chamber. I tithed, but looked at the other 90% as mine. The Lord broke me with His Word and I was transformed as I believed God’s Word. My behavior changed to align with His Word. I was aware of God’s Word but didn’t believe the full counsel of God’s Word. As I believed God’s Word, I was changed, and I'm not the same man I was nine years ago. My thoughts, desires, ambitions are different, no longer centered on financial goals. Financial goals are just tools to fulfilling God’s purposes. The Lord said to be sanctified by His Word not by how you manage money. The world says to be set apart by money and possessions, but God judges us on one issue, whether we’re faithful or unfaithful to Him. The Lord owns everything including you. So many people today are worried about what they could lose because of the economy, but according to God’s Word, we can’t lose anything, because we never had it. It’s all His; we just have a temporary time on Earth to steward it for His purposes. My burning desire is for your heart to be completely open to the Lord, to realize God is superior to any possession. Knowing, loving, and being faithful to the Lord is what’s important. When you believe God’s Word, your behavior will follow it. God wants His followers' behavior to orient around Him and not money. |
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Attitudes that Identify Self-ControlWhen we turn our finances over to God we must be willing to accept His direction.
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Finding Financial FreedomThe Lord owns everything and we are merely stewards of what is His. He has clear ideas on how He wants His people to function as His stewards. |
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Cupid Aims for the WalletWays to save money on Valentine's Day. |
GamblingGambling is a method by which people can get rich quick without having to earn the wealth by labor—contrary to biblical principles. |
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Other Resources: |
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We tend to emphasize financial behavior in our culture instead of beliefs about finances. I think that’s backwards.
