Wiregrass Church
I’m easy to keep up with, but I’m difficult to catch up with. Keep up or you’ll be playing catch up. Keep up with me and I’ll keep up with you.
It's easier to stay warm than to get warm.
MONEY TALKS
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Three things that it would love to tell you
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I can add meaning to your life, but I am not the meaning of life.
Money becomes most meaningful when it becomes a means to an end that's not you.
To what ends do we want our lives to be a means?
Your life will not be meaningful until it becomes a means to an end that's not you.
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I'm a better servant than master.
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Your self-control determines which of us gets control.
Money woes often begin with our character rather than our income.
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I'm easy to keep up with.
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But I'm difficult to catch up with.
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Keep up or you'll be playing catch up.
There's really no excuse for not knowing where your money has been going.
When it comes to money, we should never find ourselves saying...
"It seems to me..."
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"I'm not sure..."
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"That can't be..."
As it relates to our finances, a certain amount comes in...
We send it places.
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We should all be knowin' where our money is goin'.
When it comes to knowing where our money went, there should be absolutely no mystery,
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I'm easy to track.
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But lose track of me and you will lose your peace of mind.
All of us need a plan for tracking our spending so we all know where our money is going.
This is true whether you have a little or a lot.
A budget is a theory that rarely reflects reality.
You need a simple way to track your actual spending.
When you know you're gonna log it, you're more inclined to hog it.
When you know you're going to record it, you'll be more inclined to consider whether you should afford it.
In the paycheck-to-paycheck seasons, this habit actually takes pressure off.
...because it takes the guess work out.
In the years of plenty, this habit puts pressure on.
The more you have or the more you make, the closer attention you should pay to where it's going.
...because it is actually in your best interest to.
Human nature is, "Since I don't have to be careful, I'm not gonna be careful."
But if you're a Christian, when it comes to your money, that cannot be a reflection of the reality of what you do with your money because of what Jesus taught.
CHALLENGE
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Document your spending for two months.
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Then sit down and look at it.
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Adjust if necessary.
Knowing you can know is not the same as knowing.
You're betting your eternity on John's words:
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For God so loved the world that He gave...
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You've actually defined your relationship with God based on Jesus' invitation to
address him as "Father."
So why wouldn't you lean just as heavily on what he said about money and possessions?
If you're a Christian, you invite God in on everything you can invite God in on.
Your money and your possessions are where the rubber meets the road in
terms of your ultimate devotion.
It's so much easier for you to give your heart to Jesus than your money to Jesus.
Jesus' parables, for the most part, explain how heaven meets Earth. They explained the Kingdom of God.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
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Matthew 25:14 NIV
Matthew 25:14-29 NIV
The issue was...
Not the amount they were asked to manage.
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The issue was...
What they did with what they were asked to manage.
The idea of a tithe leaves the false impression that 100% of it is yours.
Money managers don't feel guilty. (It's not their wealth.)
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Money managers feel responsible and accountable for all of it.
We should be knowin' where our Master's money is goin'.
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Stop every once in a while and look.
How we manage our money speaks volumes about who and whose we are.
Pay attention.
If you pay attention, you will live better. You will love better. You'll definitely be more generous.
You will have less fear, and you will have far more purpose.
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I can add meaning to your life,
but I'm not the meaning of life.
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I'm a better servant than I am a master.
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Your self-control determined which of us gets control.
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I'm easy to keep up with.
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But I'm difficult to catch up with
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What you choose to do with me speaks
volumes about who and whose you are.
