New Hope Counselor Continuing Education Notes, July 2006
William
Gaultiere, Ph.D.
THE
CALLS KEEP COMING: “If only I had more money…”
Chronic
crisis management of money problems (cycle: ignore, panic,
ignore…)
Resignation
to debt or “barely getting by”(depression,
poverty)
Stress from overspending or overworking (anxiety)
True financial crisis (unexpected loss: job, health problem,
divorce, law suit)
THE
BIBLE & MONEY
According to Crown Financial Ministries there are 2,350 references
to money in the Bible and 15% of everything Jesus says in the
Bible is about money and possessions! How we handle our money
must be very important to God. Indeed, that is the repeated
teaching throughout the Bible.
Unfortunately,
Christians have tended to see money as bad. Some view it
to be more godly to be poor than to be wealthy. The truth
is that money is neither good nor bad – it’s
our attitude toward it and our use of it that defines the morality.
When we use it well God entrusts us with greater opportunities
MOODS UNDERLYING MONEY PROBLEMS
Impulsive Spending to Feel Better
· Buying things you don’t need or won’t
use
· Indulging
wants to feel better (e.g., when depressed or lonely)
· Investing
outside of expertise and knowledge (unrealistic)
· “Get rich quick” schemes
Compulsive Spending to Cope
· Addictive
pattern of spending more than make; lack self-control
· Coping
mechanism; expression of anxiety disorder
Keeping up with the Joneses
· Image management; haven’t
abandoned all to God
· Envy
and selfish ambition; lack of contentment in God and his
provision
Stuck in Poverty
· Self-identity
as poor or struggling
· Possible
victim mentality, helplessness, waiting for rescue
Unprepared for a financial crisis
· Denying inevitable unexpected expenses and need for “emergency
fund”
HONORING GOD WITH YOUR MONEY
Be God’s
Property Manager
- Accept that God is the Creator, giver, and owner of all
good things and you get to be the steward for him!
- Be content
with what God has provided (6 times repeated in Bible): “Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews
13:5).
- Give a tithe (10%) to signify your acceptance and appreciation
of all that God has provided for you
Be Debt Free
- “The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs
22:7)
- “There
are many ways to get into debt but only one sure way to
get out and stay out of debt: self-discipline.”
- The only good debt is temporary and for an
appreciating asset: home, education, business
- Cut up credit cards
- Retire debt by starting with smallest debt
first
- “Want-to-buy list” (no
emotional spending, force self to limit, shop around,
wait)
- Drive
the “Ultimate Driving Machine”:
keep the car you’ve got at least three
years after it’s paid off, but keeping
making payments to a new savings account, buy
a decent used car with trade-in value and cash. “Which
one of you, when he wants to build a tower,
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke
14:28).
Be God’s
Co-Worker
- “Be rich in good works… be generous and ready
to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).
- Live below your means (simplicity)
- Save and invest; learn the power of making your money work
for you (faithful with managING a little and God gives you
more opportunity/responsibility)
- Give offerings (grow to give more than 10%) to the poor
and needy (generosity)
Summary: Put God first, retire debt second, save third,
live on the rest
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ON MONEY
BE GOD’S
PROPERTY MANAGER
God is your Provider
“Wealth and honor come from you; you are the rule of
all things” (1 Chronicles 29:12)
God is the rightful Owner of all you have
“Give an account of your management… Use worldly
wealth… so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed
into eternal dwellings… Whoever can be trusted with
very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:2,
9-10).
Trusting
in wealth chokes God’s Word of life within
your heart
“But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke out
the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
Trust in the Lord as your refuge, not money
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous
run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified
city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. Before his downfall
a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs
18:10-12).
Be content by loving God not money
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be
content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews
13:5).
Rich or poor we need to learn to be content by relying
on God
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it
is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether
living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him
who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13).
Be faithful with the talents/treasures God gives you and
receive more to manage
“You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s
happiness” (Matthew 25:21).
BE DEBT FREE
Debt hinders your freedom to serve God and enjoy life
“The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs
22:7)
Pay off your debts
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing
debt to love one another” (Romans 13:8).
Don’t
buy until you have the money
“Which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does
not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has
enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28).
Live below your means (live simply)
“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another
pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth” (Proverbs
13:7).
Be patient and diligent to improve your finances
“He who gathers money little by little makes it grow” (Proverbs
13:11).
BE GOD’S
CO-WORKER
Handling worldly wealth honorably prepares you for godly
wealth
“So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly
wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11).
Store up true riches in heaven
“Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew
6:19-20).
God is generous and blesses us to be generous
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can
be generous on every occasion” (2 Corinthians 9:11).
Use
your money to point your heart toward God’s purposes
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matthew 6:21).
True wealth is being generous with what you have
“Be rich in good works… be generous and ready
to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).
Give tithes (10%) and offerings (above and beyond) and
the Lord will continue to bless you
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits
of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs
3:9-10).
Be generous with the poor and needy
“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he
who closes his eyes to them receives many curses” (Proverbs
28:27).
Invest some of what God provides, make it work for you
to serve him better
“The man who had received the five talents went at once
and put his money to work and gained five more” (Matthew
25:16).
Always diversify your investments
“You do not know which will succeed, whether this or
that, or whether both will do equally well” (Ecclesiastes
11:6).
RESOURCES
“Financial Help” (see “New Hope Referrals”)
Crown Financial Ministries: Resources
and church-based educational programs teaching people to
get out of debt and manage money God’s way, 1-800-722-1976, http://www.crown.org/.
Turning Point Financial Counseling: A free Christian
service to lower debt payments and help people get out of debt,
1-800-624-9747, http://www.turningpoint.org/
Money Management International: Free budget counseling,
educational programs, debt management assistance, and housing
counseling, 1-800-762-2271, http://www.moneymanagementbymail.org/.
“Basic Needs” (see “New Hope Referrals”)
Salvation Army: Help and support for the hungry, homeless,
seniors, addicts, and disadvantaged in community centers around
the world, 1-703- 684-5500, http://www.salvationarmy.org/.
Catholic Charities: Network of social service organizations,
1-800-919-9338, http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/.
Honoring God with your Money: What the Bible
Teaches
William Gaultiere, Ph.D.
BE GOD’S
PROPERTY MANAGER
God is your Provider
“Wealth and honor come from you; you are the rule of
all things” (1 Chronicles 29:12)
God is the rightful Owner of all you have
“Give an account of your management… Use worldly
wealth… so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed
into eternal dwellings… Whoever can be trusted with
very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:2,
9-10).
Trusting
in wealth chokes God’s Word of life within
your heart
“But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke out
the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
Trust in the Lord as your refuge, not money
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous
run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified
city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. Before his downfall
a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs
18:10-12).
Be content by loving God not money
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be
content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews
13:5).
Rich or poor we need to learn to be content by relying
on God
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it
is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether
living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him
who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13).
Be faithful with the talents and treasures God gives you
and receive more to manage
“You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s
happiness” (Matthew 25:21).
BE DEBT FREE
Debt hinders your freedom to serve God and enjoy life
“The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs
22:7)
Pay off your debts
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing
debt to love one another” (Romans 13:8).
Don’t
buy until you have the money
“Which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does
not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has
enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28).
Live below your means (live simply)
“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another
pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth” (Proverbs
13:7).
Be patient and diligent to improve your finances
“He who gathers money little by little makes it grow” (Proverbs
13:11).
BE GOD’S
CO-WORKER
Handling worldly wealth honorably prepares you for godly
wealth
“So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly
wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11).
Store up true riches in heaven
“Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew
6:19-20).
God is generous and blesses us to be generous
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can
be generous on every occasion” (2 Corinthians 9:11).
Use
your money to point your heart toward God’s purposes
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matthew 6:21).
True wealth is being generous with what you have
“Be rich in good works… be generous and ready
to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).
Give tithes (10%) and offerings (above and beyond) and
the Lord will continue to bless you
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits
of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs
3:9-10).
Be generous with the poor and needy
“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he
who closes his eyes to them receives many curses” (Proverbs
28:27).
Invest some of the money God provides to make it work for
you so you can serve him better
“The man who had received the five talents went at once
and put his money to work and gained five more” (Matthew
25:16).
Always diversify your investments
“You do not know which will succeed, whether this or
that, or whether both will do equally well” (Ecclesiastes
11:6).
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