The biblical teaching on money is not about what god wants from you. Rather it’s about what god wants for you.


FOUR FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS ABOUT MONEY

1. THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY COIN.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10


2. YOU DO ONE OF FIVE THINGS WITH YOUR MONEY:

1. SPEND IT

"Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it."
Proverbs 21:20 GN

Some people . . .

Buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like.

2. SAVE IT

"The wise man saves for the future . . .”
Proverbs 21:20 LB

This is called delayed gratification.

3. OWE IT

“I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go!”

"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."
Proverbs 22:7

4. INVEST IT

". . . whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow."
Proverbs 13:11

5. GIVE IT

"If you have money, share it generously."
Romans 12:8


3. MONEY IS A GOD.

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Luke 16:13


4. IT’S NOT HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE. IT’S HOW MUCH MONEY HAS YOU.

Job, a character in the Bible warns us about this. He writes.

"If I have put my trust in money, if my happiness depends on wealth,... it would mean that I have denied the God of heaven."
Job 31:24, 28 (LB)

"Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
Luke 12:21 NLT

"Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
Luke 12:15. The Message


THERE ARE FOUR ACTIVITIES THAT DEFINE A GENEROUS PERSON

A generous person doesn’t just give money . . .

1. THEY GIVE FREELY:

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion . . ."
2 Corinthians 9:7

not reluctantly - Reluctant giving is giving with hesitation.

under compulsion is when you feel like you don’t have a choice.

2. THEY GIVE CHEERFULLY:

"God loves a cheerful giver."
2 Corinthians 9:7b

Greek word for cheerfully is” hilaron” from which we get our English word “hilarious”.

"Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you."
Deuteronomy 28:47-48

3. THEY GIVE SACRIFICIALLY:

Don’t give what is left over, give out of what you give up.

"I will not . . . sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
1 Chronicles 21:24

"The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives."
Deuteronomy 14:23


4. THEY GIVE CONFIDENTLY:

Generous people give with a confidence that God will honour them. They have learned the skill of giving for the glory of God and not for the glory of self or others and it gives them a unique and special confidence inside.

2 Corinthians 9:10-14 speaks of all the impacts giving to God and his cause can have in our lives and the lives of those around us:

- no regrets
- deep desire to give even more
- want to be a channel for God
- no one on their death bed ever said I wish I had given less
- confident God will take care of it all