Financial Commandments (part 2)

Welcome to Worshiping the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. Today we're concluding Pastor Robert's series, Beyond Blessed, which is all about godly stewardship.

I'm your host, Janae, and I'm here with my co-host, Patrick. Well, hey everybody. This has been such an incredible series. I gotta tell you, I've learned so much about what stewardship really means, how to view money, and how God really wants to bless us so we can be a blessing to others. Each message has been so eye-opening and inspirational.

Man, I feel the same way. And, you know, what's been your favorite story or nugget of truth in these ten weeks, Patrick? You know, I gotta say, the one week where Pastor Robert talked about the spirit of mammon was just amazing.

It really was eye-opening, and it was talked about in a way that I just really hadn't heard before. Oh, that was so good, and I loved that one. Well, in today's message, Pastor Robert is continuing with the final five of the ten financial commandments.

Let's jump in. So what we're doing is we're talking about today the ten financial commandments. Now, let me just say this. Because there are ten of them, I put this in two shows. And so I've already covered the first five, so today I'm going to cover the next five or the last five.

And so you just want to catch that other show, okay? But let's also remind you, we're going to start at number six, and what we're doing is we're actually lining these commandments up with the ten commandments. The original ten commandments, we're lining up with the ten financial commandments, okay?

So here's number six, because we've already done the first five in another show. Here's the sixth financial commandment. Live on a budget. Live on a budget.

Now, this might shock you, the one I'm lining up with. I'm lining up with the sixth commandment, and it's Exodus 20, verse 13, you shall not murder. Here's the reason I'm lining that up with live on a budget, because if you're not living on a budget, you're killing yourself.

That's what you're doing. Or you're wanting to kill yourself, one or the other. Some say you're thinking about murder, you know, somehow, because you're not living on a budget. A budget is a plan. It's a plan. It's a goal. If you don't have a goal in mind, you'll never reach it.

It's just that simple. Or, let me say this, if your goal is nothing, you probably will reach it. So you have to have a goal, you have to have a plan.

Let's talk about this plan. I said live on a budget. A budget seems to be a bad word to most people. They don't like that word.

It is not a bad word. And one of the reasons is, is because they think, I don't even know how to do a budget. That's why you go to someone who does know how.

You go to a coach. But here's the reason we don't do it. Remember, the coach told the whole class what I was doing wrong. I think some people are afraid to go to, like, maybe a small group where they talk about finances, because I think they're afraid that the leader of the group is going to say, okay, everybody get your checkbooks out. And pass them around.

And then they're going to look at yours and they're going to say, oh my. I want everybody to look at Joe's checkbook. This is the worst checkbook I've ever seen.

Okay. That's not what people do. That's not what financial coaches do.

So you need to ask for help. Now, let me give you a little tidbit about a budget. A budget allows you to make non-emotional decisions about your finances.

You can't imagine how much trouble we get into because we make an emotional decision. And with finances, it's simply numbers. That's all it is. It's just numbers. Do the numbers add up?

I've actually had people ask me before, you know, do you think we should buy this house? And I said, there's no way I can tell you that without looking at your budget. Because it's just a numbers decision. That's all it is. That's what a budget does.

It helps you do that. So let me tell you about this. When I implemented this at our home years and years ago, I came up with this little saying and I started saying, I called him Mr. Budget. The budget.

And so when Debbie would ask me for something, I would say, well, sugar, I would love to buy that for you. But let's see what Mr. Budget says. Oh, Mr. Budget say no.

I'm so sorry. Mr. Budget's mean, isn't he? He's mean. Yeah, he mean. And then I, you know, come give you a hug, you know, so.

Okay. That worked fine until I wanted some new golf clubs. And then she said to me, oh, Mr. Budget say no. I remember I told the whole church this illustration. And so this lady was telling me that there was a time, and I don't know whether it's still doing it or not, but there was this certain McDonald's by their house and on some night of the week, you could go get a Happy Meal without a toy for a dollar. And so that became part of the budget. And so they're going one Tuesday night, little girls in the backseat in their child seats, you know. And so she says, Mom, can we please get a toy tonight with our Happy Meal?

And the mother said, I would love to buy you a toy with your Happy Meal. But Mr. Budget says no. And in a little while, she heard this little three or four-year-old girl say, I want Mr. Budget to die. I understand that feeling, but I promise you a budget will help you, okay?

If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. Well, I just got to say that that Mr. Budget story was hilarious. I mean, there are days when I really do want Mr. Budget to die. I mean, she just said what we were all thinking.

Absolutely. But in all seriousness, when Pastor Robert and Debbie did by calling their budget Mr. Budget, it really does make total sense. And it's such a great idea to create a plan together and then act as if it were a separate person enforcing it.

You know, that way neither of you end up feeling like the bad guy for saying no to things. It's kind of brilliant. I also loved what he said about how a budget allows you to make non-emotional decisions about your finances. I've never thought about that as a perk of having a budget. I feel like we've all been there. You know, times when you're sad and you impulsively buy a new pair of shoes or you get online and decide I need to buy a new TV. Hopefully having Mr. Budget in place will really make you pause before pressing the Buy Now button. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, there's more insight and understanding for us ahead, so let's dive back in. Here's number seven. Live below your means. Live below your means. This is, goes along with the seventh commandment, Exodus 20 verse 14. Listen, you shall not commit adultery. Now listen, a person who commits adultery is living beyond the means that God has provided for him or her. And there are two reasons why we live beyond our means.

One I'm going to talk about will apply even with adultery, but the other second will both apply to math, all right, and the finances. But here's the reason. We're not content with what we have. That's why man commits adultery. He's not content with what he has. That's why Christians don't live within their means. Now please hear me.

This is very strong. But when you do not live within your means, you are actually shaking your fist in the face of God. And you are saying to God, I am not content with you, and I'm not content with what you've provided for me. I'm not content with your provision, so I'm going to find another way to go beyond your provision.

Live within your means. Here's one thing Paul said, Philippians 4 verse 11. I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. Now he's talking about, he said, sometimes I've been abounding. You know, I've had more than enough.

Sometimes I've been abased, which means I didn't have enough. But he said I've learned. I love this because he said I've learned. That means you can actually learn to be content.

And this is the apostle that wrote a third of the New Testament, and he needed to learn this principle. I have learned in whatever state I'm in to be content. You can learn to be content. So, two reasons people don't live within their means. The first one's content.

They're not content. Here's the second one. Let me read you the verse first.

Luke 14 verse 28. For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost whether he has enough to finish it? Okay, here's the second one. Count.

People don't count, so they don't live within their means. Now, I'm going to use a word that to some of you is a bad word. You're going to have chills go up your spine when I use this word, all right? Everybody ready? Math.

Anyone have chills? Okay. And did you tell your teacher, I'm never going to need this when I grow up? You do, though, don't you? Yeah, see?

Yeah, you do. You need math. Okay, but some people are good at math, some are not good at math. But that's why we have coaches.

That's why people that can help us, people that can give us instruction, all right? But we have found when we've helped people with their finances, so many times, they're not bad people. They just can't count. They just can't count.

I actually remember saying to this couple, you're not rebellious, you just can't count. I said to them, what is your monthly income? What's your total monthly income?

They said $4,000 a month. I said, okay, so we're going to, in my mind, I'm taking out the tie, taking out the taxes. I can pretty much figure out what that's going to be, taking out savings, taking out things like this. But I said, okay, so that's how much you have coming in. So I said, now, you don't need to tell me how much your house payment is or your car payment or any of that or if you have two car payments.

I just need numbers, okay? You have $4,000 a month coming in. Tell me, give me some numbers that you know you have bills that are going to come every month. So they said, well, $1,200 a month, $400 a month, $600 a month, $400, $400, $300, $300, $200, $200, $400, $400, $300, $200, $400, and $400. I said, do you realize that you passed $4,000 a long time ago?

But they didn't. Again, no budget, no way to know. If you have this much coming in, no way. And one thing that you could easily start a budget is this. And when we talk about living below our means, too, 10% tithe and 10% savings, that's just a simple way to start a budget. You never, ever budget to spend everything you make because you've got to have a contingency fund.

You've got to be able to do this. So we need to live below our means. We need to be able to count and do our math.

We need to be able to have a budget. Here's number eight, don't buy now and pay later. The world tells us this, don't buy now and pay later. This goes along with Exodus 20, verse 15, you shall not steal. And you might think, well, who am I stealing from if I pay it off?

You're stealing from yourself. Because you don't have the funds to do what you're free, what you would like to do anymore. Your funds are already committed. Sometimes there are people that I know who have 80% of their funds already committed. They're just committed. It's committed to house payment, it's committed to car payment, it's committed to boat payment, it's committed to this, committed to this, committed to this.

They have no free money at all, nothing free. You shall not steal. This is stealing. Now let me tell you why. Behind every commandment is a principle and there's a principle about debt in the Bible. So please hear me with this.

This is very, very important. God wired you to have hope. He wired you to have hope. Romans 8, 24 says, for we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. Now listen, hope that is seen or realized is not hope. For why does one steal hope for what he sees or what he already has? Why would you still hope for it if you already have it?

So in other words, if you're hoping to be able to get some outdoor furniture and you just go put it on a credit card, you don't hope for it anymore. Why would you hope for something you can see? You can see it, it's in your backyard. But every time you look in your backyard and it's not there, you're hoping for it. And you're planning for it and you're preparing for it and you're saving for it. And what's happening is hope is building up in your life. And this is something God planned. It's called delayed gratification. And God wired emotions for delayed gratification so that when you get it after six months of saving, every time you pass by, now you look out there and you think, thank you, Lord. That looks so nice.

That makes our backyard look so nice and it's so nice to sit out there and watch the sunset and all. But if you go down and buy it and you didn't have the money and now you got payments and it's another payment on top of payment, now every time you walk by, you have stress. Are you all following me? These commandments, these financial commandments, these things I'm talking about, relate to more than just budgeting your money. It relates to your emotional health.

And God wired you to have that delayed gratification. By the way, one of the signs of clinical depression is a lack of hope. Would you also like to know two other statistics? America is the most in-depth culture in the world and the most depressed culture in the world.

More diagnosed depression and more debt. So please hear me. When God tells us things, it's not for His good.

It's for our good. Just a few weeks ago, I did Dave Ramsey's show and Dave and I are good friends and we love each other. And so we were talking about Beyond Blessed and things like this.

And we were talking about delayed gratification and all. And there's something that happened and he told me the start of it, how it started. This guy called in and when he answered the phone, this guy started shouting, I'm debt free. I'm debt free.

And Dave was like, man, that's great. And he just kept shouting, I'm debt free. I'm debt free.

Now I don't know if you ever listened to Dave Ramsey, but that's become something now that when people call and when they get debt free, it's the debt free shout, they call it. Here's what it is. It's delayed gratification. It's joy.

God wired you to have joy, but buy now, pay later takes it all away. You're listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. To get a copy of this or any other messages in the Beyond Blessed series, check out our podcast at pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. All that Pastor Robert said about the seventh commandment, do not commit adultery, and how it's really about contentment, that was incredible. When he said, if you cannot live within your means financially, you're actually shaking your fist at God and saying that you're not content with what he's provided. That was just so good.

Man, I agree. That financial commandment is a great reminder to learn to be content in and grateful for whatever God has for us, wherever we are. I also thought what he said later about Americans being the most in debt culture and the most depressed was super interesting.

We consistently live outside our means, and we buy now and pay later, and it shows. But God has a better way. He does. Well, there's more of this message, so let's get back to Pastor Robert now. Here's number nine, be a good witness. What we're talking about with your finances, be a good witness. This goes with Exodus 20, verse 16. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Okay, now we've, in the commandment, we say, well, you shall not lie, and that's true, totally true. But if you're bearing a false witness to your neighbor, could you be doing that financially? In other words, you're sitting there talking to your neighbor about the Lord, and he's looking over your shoulder at a new car but a yard that looks horrible with unpainted shutters, and it's the worst house on the block. I wonder if the way we handle our finances is a bad witness about the Lord.

I think it is. I think what we ought to be doing is helping people understand when you get your life lined up with the Lord, he can help your finances as well. So that's the ninth one, be a good steward. And here's the tenth one, be content. Be content. We talked a little bit about contentment, but I need to go into it a little bit more. Exodus 20, verse 17, the tenth commandment. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

Then it goes on to say, or anything that is your neighbor's. Okay, why am I saying being content? Because if you're coveting what someone else has, you're not content with what you have. As a matter of fact, it actually makes you more discontented. You become more discontented with your car that blows a puff of smoke every time you start it up, when your neighbor starts up his nice new one. You become more discontented because you're looking at his car.

But let's go on, let's think about some other things. When you covet what someone else has, that person becomes God to you. And that person's material possessions become idols. And here's the reason I say that person becomes God. Because what he buys, now you have to buy.

What he has, you have to do. He becomes your God. And what he has becomes an idol to you because you're coveting it. By the way, I say an idol, let me read you the scripture. Colossians 3, 5. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, now listen closely, and covetousness which is idolatry. Covetousness which is idolatry, that's Colossians. So when we covet, we've made an idol of something. And we've been talking about living beyond blessed.

God blessing us for the purpose of being a blessing. So for years and years, Debbie and I were on the cash system. We didn't have credit cards, we didn't use them, because we wanted to make sure we could account for everything that we had.

We now use credit cards, but we obviously pay them off at the end of every month. We have savings in the bank. We're in a good place financially. Not because we make more, but because we manage well what God gives us.

That's the main thing. Because some people say, well, yeah, maybe you have made some more money now because you've sold some books or something. Okay, I know people that make a lot of money that are still messed up financially.

So it's not whether you make a little or a lot, it's how you manage what you have. But for years, we were all cash. So when we were going on vacation, I took cash.

I took a bunch of cash. And then we got to the place where we would use a credit card. By the way, I use a credit card. Some people say, you know, why do you use a credit card? And they expect me to say convenience.

That's actually not why. I use credit card because of points. I love points. I love points.

I'm giving free stuff, okay. But you've got to pay it off within the month. You can't carry a balance. It's the worst debt in America is credit card debt, okay.

It's the highest interest of it. So I had all this cash. We went on vacation.

We were going to use the credit card because we had the money in the bank and in the budget to cover it. But I just, without even thinking, went to the bank and got $1,000 in cash, which would be normally what I would take on vacation. So I had 10 $100 bills.

That morning, I'm having my quiet time. And I just was thinking about, I had jeans on, about how big my wallet was. And it dawned on me I had this roll of money, this $1,000 of cash in my pocket, you know. And I'm talking to the Lord. And I kind of had a little laugh with the Lord. I said, Lord, here I am. Thank you for bringing me to the place that I don't have to carry this much cash with me anymore because I've got the money in the bank. I've got the money in the budget. But it is kind of funny.

My old habits die hard. I got $1,000 cash. And the Lord and I laugh about it. That day, Debbie and I go to lunch. This family walks in, two parents, four kids, okay. It's a family of six.

They start looking over the menu and they start adding up what things cost and they talk about sharing meals. They're talking about being good stewards. And I thought, they're believers and they're trying to be good stewards. And pretty soon when the meal came, they held hands and they prayed. And all of a sudden it was like I thought to myself, I know why I have all this cash with me. And it was like the Lord said, I do, too.

I planned it this way, actually. And then Debbie knows that sometimes I give $100 bills away when the Lord tells me. And she said, do you have a $100 bill?

Because she looked over and saw it, too. I said, I got 10 of them. So we went over and we told them, we want to give you this because you're being good stewards.

And the guy told me, this will pay for our whole vacation. And I remember saying to these four kids, don't ever forget today that a stranger paid for your meal because you asked God to bless your meal and you were being good stewards of what God's given you. My prayer for every one of you is that you will be a good steward of what God gives you so that you can give generously when God prompts you. Wow.

What an ending to such a phenomenal series. You know, God wants to bless us. And he's given us all the steps to be good stewards and generous givers. We just want you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. To get a copy of any of the messages in this Beyond Blessed series, visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. So be sure to visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. You can also follow Pastor Robert on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We're so glad you tuned in today to hear the final message of Pastor Robert's Beyond Blessed series. Be sure to listen in next time. Thanks for your support and have a wonderful day.