Financial Fitness
What keeps us from investing our lives? What keeps us from moving to financial freedom? I’ll tell you what it is: fear.
In the Bible there are financial principles that God guarantees. God promises that if you do them, you will be blessed. But they require faith, and that scares a lot of people. They are afraid of doing it God’s way.
There are many kinds of fears that can hold you back. One of them is self-doubt. You’ve failed in the past, so you’re never going to try again. But just because you fail doesn’t mean you give up. Everybody fails. It’s the only way you learn what works! God uses ordinary people who just keep on going instead of giving up.
There were two disciples who denied Jesus at the cross — Judas and Peter. They committed the same sin, but the difference was the way they reacted to their failure. Judas had a pity party, got depressed, and took his life.
Peter, however, realized what he did was wrong, so he prayed and repented and asked God for forgiveness. Then, Jesus chose Peter to preach on Pentecost, and 3,000 people were saved the first day. Jesus chose the biggest failure in the bunch to build the Church on.
What a God! He didn’t choose the superstar. He chose the guy who had blown it the most.
You may have really messed up financially in the past. But it doesn’t matter where you’ve been. What matters is the direction your feet are going right now.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, a rich man entrusted his money to his servants before he left for a long trip. When he returned, he asked for an account from the servants. Of the three, two of them doubled the master’s money, but the third was afraid and hid his portion instead of working and investing it. His fear disappointed and angered his master, who said, “Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver” (Matthew 25:28b NLT). The master took away everything the servant had.
Fear is always attached to this desire to do it God’s way. Satan’s going to try to get you to not follow God’s principles for money management by making you afraid of failure or making you doubt your ability to be a good steward of God’s money.
But if you’re going to be successful in life, you must move against your fears. You have to do the very thing that you fear the most!
When you do move forward in faith and follow God’s guidelines for financial peace, you will experience God’s blessing and even more resources and responsibility.
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
- What financial failure from your past has kept you from moving forward with God’s financial principles for your life?
- Do you pray for God to give you more financial responsibility as a steward of his money? Why or why not?
- What is it about God’s way of handling money that makes you afraid to be obedient? Talk to God about those fears today.
Daily Hope with Rick Warren "You’re Only the Manager of Your Money" for Wednesday, 4 February 2015
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Financial Fitness
"You’re Only the Manager of Your Money" by Rick Warren — Wednesday, 4 February 2015
“Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip.” (Matthew 25:14b-15 GNT)
Jesus says in Matthew 25:14-15, “Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip” (GNT).
In those days there weren’t any banks, so when this rich man left for his long trip, he entrusted his property to his servants. When he returned, he asked for an account from his servants; he wanted to know what they had done with his money.
This is called stewardship — the old English word for “manager.” The first law of financial freedom is the law of possession: Everything you have belongs to God. You are only a manager!
We are called to be stewards of our time. We are called to be stewards of our influence. We are called to be stewards of our health, our relationships, and our opportunities. Everything you have you are to be steward or manager of.
You may say, “But wait a minute! I worked for my money, and now you want to tell me it isn’t mine?” Where do you think you got your body to work for your money? Where do you think you got your mind to work for it? Where do you think you got the energy to work for it? Where do you think you got the intelligence to work for it? Everything you have is a gift from God. You don’t really own anything in life; it’s all on loan.
You only get to use God’s money while you’re here on Earth. He’s loaned it to you for 80 or so years. He loaned it to somebody before you, and he’s going to loan it to somebody else after you die. You don’t own it; the Master owns it all. It’s all under management.
Do you know what the sign is that you’ve forgotten the law of possession? When you think your money is yours, you worry about it. You feel a pressure and stress that you weren’t meant to have.
Money management is a spiritual discipline. God is actually watching how you handle his money to see what spiritual riches he can trust you with in Heaven. This might make you feel pressure, but there is actually freedom in the law of possession.
When you remember that God is the owner and you are the manager, you’ll worry a whole lot less and focus more on managing God’s money well.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
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Financial Fitness Study Kit
Learn the biblical principles of how to save, invest, and spend your money. Receive the Financial Fitness Study Kit with your donation.
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Complete Audio Series (Purchase)
Includes all complete sermons from the Rick WarrenFinancial Fitness teaching series.
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Series Summary
Message 1: Foundation of Financial Health
Message 2: The Law of Contentment
Message 3: The Laws of Sowing and Reaping
Message 4: The Habits of Financial Health
Message 5: Where Best to Invest
PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST
PASTOR RICK WARREN
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This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org.
Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America.
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Financial Fitness
Jesus says in Matthew 25:14-15, “Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip” (GNT).
In those days there weren’t any banks, so when this rich man left for his long trip, he entrusted his property to his servants. When he returned, he asked for an account from his servants; he wanted to know what they had done with his money.
This is called stewardship — the old English word for “manager.” The first law of financial freedom is the law of possession: Everything you have belongs to God. You are only a manager!
We are called to be stewards of our time. We are called to be stewards of our influence. We are called to be stewards of our health, our relationships, and our opportunities. Everything you have you are to be steward or manager of.
You may say, “But wait a minute! I worked for my money, and now you want to tell me it isn’t mine?” Where do you think you got your body to work for your money? Where do you think you got your mind to work for it? Where do you think you got the energy to work for it? Where do you think you got the intelligence to work for it? Everything you have is a gift from God. You don’t really own anything in life; it’s all on loan.
You only get to use God’s money while you’re here on Earth. He’s loaned it to you for 80 or so years. He loaned it to somebody before you, and he’s going to loan it to somebody else after you die. You don’t own it; the Master owns it all. It’s all under management.
Do you know what the sign is that you’ve forgotten the law of possession? When you think your money is yours, you worry about it. You feel a pressure and stress that you weren’t meant to have.
Money management is a spiritual discipline. God is actually watching how you handle his money to see what spiritual riches he can trust you with in Heaven. This might make you feel pressure, but there is actually freedom in the law of possession.
When you remember that God is the owner and you are the manager, you’ll worry a whole lot less and focus more on managing God’s money well.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
- If you were the manager of a business, would you have as much pressure to succeed as the owner? Would you still want the business to succeed as much as the owner does? Why or why not?
- What are the qualities of a spiritual discipline? What does it take to learn a spiritual discipline like money management?
- What role does prayer play in your financial decisions? Why is prayer important in money management?
Financial Fitness Study Kit
Learn the biblical principles of how to save, invest, and spend your money. Receive the Financial Fitness Study Kit with your donation.
LEARN MORE
Includes all complete sermons from the Rick WarrenFinancial Fitness teaching series.
LEARN MORE
Message 1: Foundation of Financial Health
Message 2: The Law of Contentment
Message 3: The Laws of Sowing and Reaping
Message 4: The Habits of Financial Health
Message 5: Where Best to Invest
PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST
PASTOR RICK WARREN
Enjoy today's Devotional?
Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio.
Did someone forward this devotional to you?
Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.
This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org.
Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America.
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