LIFE SKILLS VII: THE RICHES OF LIFEAchieving Financial Responsibility
Proverbs 27:23-27 (NLT)
23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, 24 for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be secure for the next generation. 25 After the hay is harvested, the new crop appears, and the mountain grasses are gathered in, 26 your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will be sold for the price of a field. 27 And you will have enough goats’ milk for you, your family, and your servants.
I remember the first day of college. It was a bustling day. All along the main corridor of school many people congregated. It seemed like all of the college clubs were there trying to recruit brand new freshmen to join their cause. From the religious to the environmental, from the athletic to the social, all the organizations were reeling in one individual after another.
And then I saw a group that caught my attention, an organization with bright lights and outlandish offers, a club that will change my life forever: a credit-card company.
“You qualify for a credit card!” “You do not need a job!” “Money at your fingertips!” “Credit limits of up to $5,000!” “Low interest rates!” “Pay only $20 a month!”
Now that is tempting to a first-year college student like myself. I can have money in my pocket without having to work at all. I started dreaming about what I could buy as I was signing up for membership. Hmm… a stereo system, music, clothes… I fell in love with college right after the credit-card representative smiled at me and said that I was automatically approved.
At the end of my first year I had a staggering seven credit cards with an even staggering balance in my accounts. The total? $4,000! Things did not look good for me. In fact, because of poor grades I lost my scholarship. I had to borrow loans just to stay in school. With no job and no scholarship, I was in a financial dilemma. How could such a nice story end up as a nightmare?
This is not an uncommon incident for many of us. In fact, I bet many of you can identify with my story in some way. Money has been a blessing and a curse in human history. We recently witnessed how the Internet and dot.com industries in the 1990s created an influx of wealthy people. We also witnessed such a strong dependence upon money and the irresponsibility of spending that when the financial bubble burst, many of the same individuals lost their entire savings and livelihood.
Did you know that the Bible has much to say about how we should be responsible with our finances? In fact, Scripture is kind of like a financial advisor that teaches us godly principles in how we should embrace money and the pitfalls that come from such a dependence on it. This morning we will look at one such text that challenges us how we can have the right perspective when it comes to finances and the responsibilities that God expect us to have in view of this.
Verse 23 of Proverbs 27 begins by stating that we need to know the state of our flock. As an animal herder it is important to know how many animals are under your care and how much production you will receive from your animals. For example, you know that you need five cows to produce 25 gallons of milk a week to care for your entire family. If you have less than five cows or if you are not receiving 25 gallons from your cows, then your living sustenance will be tight and you will need to make financial adjustments to provide adequate care for your family. Maybe you normally buy 2 dozen eggs with some of the money you got from selling 25 gallons of milk. But, if you only have 15 gallons this week, you may opt to buy only 1 dozen of eggs instead of the normal 2 dozens.
The same is true when it comes to our finances. The first principle is this:
1. Know the state of your financial situation. (verse 23)
You must understand how much you are making and what production you can receive from it. Do not fool yourself to think you can afford everything by what you are earning. Let me give an example:
You make $2,000 a month after taxes. With rent, bills, food, savings, etc., your budget comes out to $1,900 per month. That means you are making enough each month and still have $100 leftover. Normally, you spend that $100 to buy clothes.
But, you find out that your landlord is raising your rent by $50 a month. With your current budget, this means you now only have $50 leftover. This results in buying fewer clothes than before. There is no way you can continue to purchase $100 worth of clothes a month when you know you only $50 leftover. You will be in a deficit all the time. This is what it means to know the state of your financial situation.
Other suggestions related to this are:
· Are we living beyond our means?
For example, you know that you can only afford $700 a month for rent. Yet you live in this house that costs you $1500 a month. You are living beyond what you can afford. Knowing the state of your financial situation means comprehending how much you can spend on rent, clothes, food, etc., and not living beyond your means.
· Our professions could determine our income’s restrictions.
Many times your job determines your financial restrictions. For example, as a pastor, there is no way I can live a lifestyle that a pop star singer might be able to. On average, a singer earns more money than a pastor. MTV has a show called “Cribs” where they go into the houses of well-known celebrities and film how these celebrities live. Many of them have gigantic mansions with expensive cars and lavish pools with waterfalls overlooking the city. There is no way I can ever afford any of those homes. I understand that my profession does not allow me to live such an extravagant way. And I should not pretend that I could live like a singer or actor. Part of knowing the state of your financial situation is comprehending the restrictions you face because of your profession.
· Where we are in our life stages could determine our income constraints.
Our life stages can also affect our financial standing. Generally speaking, a college student is financially poorer than an engineer. An elderly person may be poorer than a middle-aged person since the younger person has greater opportunities to work while an elder person may not have the luxury to work at all. The point here is that where we are in our life stages can limit our financial resources and how we spend those resources.
The second half of verse 23 states that animal herders need to put their hearts into caring for their herds. Since the herders earn their living from the produce of their herds, they must make sure the proper food, nutrients and environment are established for the herds to breed healthily.
The same is true when it comes to our finances. The second principle is this:
2. Be responsible for what you own. (verse 23)
For example, an automobile is important for many of us because it transports us to work and school. Cars are also used to take us to the grocery store, the doctor, etc. Yet, though we pay good money to buy the car, many of us do not invest wisely in keeping the car in good running condition. We could save thousands of dollars in car problems if we only spend far less amount of money on regular car maintenance such as an oil change or a tune-up. As it is, we fail to care for our “herds,” which force us to waste more money that could have been stashed away as savings.
We have to be responsible for the things that we own. This includes our cars, houses, clothes, etc. Properly maintain what we have so that we do not to spend more money trying to fix things. God wants us to be economically responsible for the things that we have. Our possessions are not “toys” that we can rightfully destroy and waste. These are blessings that God has given to bring us comfort as well as be used to be a blessing to other people. Wouldn’t it be a shame that you could not take a person to church just because you consistently fail to get an oil change and now your car is not working? God holds us accountable for our actions.
So far we have learned that it is important to know our financial situation and to be responsible over everything we own in life. Why are these significant? The answer is found in verse 24: riches do not last forever just as human power cannot guarantee peace for future generations. All of us know that politics and human authority cannot warrant security for the future. Kingdoms and “crowns” cannot assure safety forever; they appear and disappear just like the wind.
Since this is true about human power, it is also true when it comes to riches. Here is the third financial principle:
3. Life should not be shaped by how much you make. (verse 24)
· Do not base your identity upon human foundations; money and power do not last forever.
Money and power come and go. They have short-term gratification but do not provide lasting joy. They may give us temporary happiness here in this temporary world, but they cannot guarantee eternal hope.
· Be fixed to the eternal hope found in Jesus alone.
34 Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. “If any of you wants to be my follower,” he told them, “you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. 36 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If a person is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in the glory of my Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)
It is unfortunate that we define our lives based on what careers we have, what rankings we occupy, how much money we earn, even what school we go to. Jesus tells us that this is our way of saving our lives. Yet, if we try to keep our lives for ourselves we will lose it. Gaining the whole world will not rescue our souls when God comes to judge us. Instead, our lives must be fixed in the eternal hope that only Jesus can give. Things of the world do not last forever, but the love of Jesus does if we choose to submit to him and allow him to be our Lord and Savior. Remember that your soul is worth more than what you will ever make in your lifetime. Connect your life to Jesus now.
The passage ends by explaining the purpose of possessing things. Why are there hay, new crops and mountain grasses? Why do sheep provide wool and why are goats sold? What is the purpose of goats’ milk? We come to our fourth principle:
4. Understand that financial resources are meant to provide care for you and your loved ones. (verses 25-27)
· Owning things should reflect our needs, not our abundance.
As a society today we fail to properly comprehend why we own things. We think that ownership allows us to accumulate as much stuff as we possibly can. As long as I can buy it, I have a right to own it.
But, this is not what verses 25-27 tell us. Nowhere does it say that we have a right to live a life of abundance or extravagance. Instead, God gives us the responsibility of ownership in order to help us care for one another, not to collect as much material objects as we possibly can.
Many of us are negatively affected by finances because we fail to understand what it means to own. We might have 15 pairs of jeans in our closet even though we know we only need 3 pairs. I read stories in the Internet of people who would buy countless numbers of computers and computer parts because of great deals, even though they know they do not need 10 systems in their home.
Proverbs 27:23-27 teaches us that we own so that we can care for ourselves and our families. This does not mean that we have to live on the bare minimum. But, all of us can admit that we love to live in extravagance. This is not what God expects from us. Begin to reflect on what you own and you need to ask yourself honestly if God would be pleased with what you have. Do you really need what you have or did you buy because it makes you look and feel good?
· Financial resources support provision, not selfishness.
Ultimately, many of the things we own are due to our selfishness rather than our needs in life. We want the more expensive jewelry, we shop at the more exquisite stores, we desire the sophisticated cars, etc. What we own goes beyond what we need to enjoy life the way God wants us to. This leads us to the last principle of this message:
5. Learn a life of giving and not a life of receiving.
One effective way to break out of our selfish greed and become more financially responsible is to learn to give instead of to receive. We want to develop a habit of caring for others instead of piling things up solely for ourselves. Maybe our extra clothes in our closets could be given away to families who need them. Maybe we can use our automobiles to give people rides or even lend them our cars. Maybe our homes are to be used to bring people in and make them feel connected and well-cared for.
When we root ourselves out of personal selfishness we will begin to understand God’s purpose when it comes to financial responsibility. Finances help us bring care and protection for us and our family so that we can engage this world for Jesus. We are not supposed to hoard up and accumulate as much stuff as we can. We own and have money to provide security for our loved ones. And by giving to those less fortunate than us we train ourselves to give always because that is what God does for us each and everyday. We are not shaped by how much we have; instead we are formed by the unconditional love that Jesus gave to us through his death on the cross. The riches of life are not found here on earth; they are found within the very being of God.
© Arthur Hsu (2003)