Life of Courage | Pastor Rodney Thrift and Lovett Young
Lovett Young   -   May 22, 2022

Life of Courage

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Soul Tattoo: God cares about you and your finances. He is our biggest fan and knows our needs before we do. 

Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV) 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

He cares so much, that finances are mentioned in over 2000 verses in the Bible.

5 Pillars of Good Personal Finances…

1.) Giving. 

  • God loves a cheerful giver who sows bountifully. 
    • 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ESV) 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
  • God asks that we give him 1/10th off the top of our earnings and challenges us to test Him. This is called tithing. 
    • Malachi 3:8-10 (ESV) 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
  • God asks us to and it is his to begin with. 
    • 1 Chronicles 29:14 (ESV) 14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
    • Psalms 50:10-12 (ESV) 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
    • Proverbs 3:27 (ESV) 27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
    • Malachi 3:11-12 (ESV) 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
  • We build character that changes our nature. 
    • 2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV) 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
    • Psalm 37:4 (ESV) 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
    • Luke 6:38 (ESV) 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
    • Mark 12:41-44 (ESV) 41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

2.) Delayed Gratification. 

  • This is one of the ten commandments. 
  • When we covet the possessions of others, we are opening our hearts to a love of money that leads to us distancing ourselves from God. 
    • Exodus 20:17 (ESV) 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
    • 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV) 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

3.) Budgeting.

  • We will never have Peace about our Finances without a plan for our money called a budget. 
    • Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) 28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
    • Luke 14:28-30 (ESV) 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
  • God calls us to take care of our families first and then use the overflow to help others. 
    • 1 Timothy 5:8 (ESV) 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
    • Proverbs 12:1 (ESV) Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

4.) Margin.

  • When we live without margin, we are inviting stress and catastrophe. 
  • Without margin we are left unprepared for unexpected life events. 
    • Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
    • Proverbs 22:26-27 (ESV) 26 Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

5.) Investing in the Future.

  • The lesson of the Parable of the talents is about the wisdom and spiritual rewards of wise investing. 
    • Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV) 14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 
  • There is great wisdom in investing with a long-term mindset. 
    • Proverbs 21:5 (ESV) 5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
    • Proverbs 13:22 (ESV) 22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

Soul Tattoo: God cares about you and your finances. He is our biggest fan and knows our needs before we do.