God desires for us to have margin in our lives financially so that we can live generously and leave a wake of generosity for others.
This week, Louie Giglio reminds us of the difference between living at the forefront of God’s plans for us versus living reactionarily at the tail.
Key Takeaway
The Lord wants to bless you. That doesn't mean health, wealth, and prosperity gospel is what He has promised, but He has promised abundant life and desires for you to live in freedom. Living free allows you to live a life that leaves a wake of generosity this brings glory to God.
We often have the mentality that large debt will not be our problem. We view debt as normal and how we get to live the life that we want to live.
Proverbs 22:7 warns that God wants us to live differently. The borrower is a servant to the lender. We choose to either be a servant or to be free. Jesus came to set us free. Our entire story is predicated on a debt being canceled.
Matthew 6:12- Jesus, as part of teaching us to pray, said to forgive our debt as we forgive those who are indebted to us. We realize this is to be reflected in attitudes and actions, but the principle remains the same; Jesus cancelled our debt and gave us a ledger of freedom. We are children of God and need to live fearless and free. The enemy wants to have a living Hell on earth and one way he accomplishes that is through debt. We can't be servants to the Most High God if we are servants to the bank in debt.
Two ways to live free.
1) Attacking Debt- get militant about it.
Why attack debt? Because it's attacking us. It's cruel and it's intentional. (See Part 2: of this message, "Attacking Debt" for more on this point.)
2) Creating Margin- we have a promise to cling to. We have to move from a finance lifestyle to a pay-as-you-go lifestyle.
God wants to bless you. Do not get this confused with the prosperity gospel. He wants us to follow the Spirit and leave a wake of generosity. He is the Creator of the Universe, made everything with His Word, and owns everything. He has given us His inheritance and we have every spiritual blessing through Christ. It's not about silver, gold, property, or goods- our greatest possession is what He has given us spiritually. We can live free in every area of our lives.
There are two different ways to think about this.
World's Mindset- No Blessing, The Tail (adjusting saving and giving based on our lifestyle.)
Our Goals
1) Me
2) Living
3) Saving
4) Giving
God's Mindset- Promise, The Head (adjusting lifestyle based on what's left after saving and giving.)
His Goals for us
1) God
2) Giving
3) Saving
4) Living
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
He is talking about national blessing, but it can be applied individually. This is where we get the terminology about being the head and not the tail. Verses 12-14, "believing in other gods and serving them", most likely another god is going to be money. See Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13.
Funnel Illustration:
Upside down the funnel (spout up)- the catch point is really small, but whatever comes in is being blown out the back, it's going everywhere.
Right side up funnel (spout down)- the catch point is huge, but it leads to a super focused life.
Giving
- A recognition of who God is.
- God says to test Him in this. See Malachi 3:10.
- See what happens if you give 10% of everything brought in for one year. The percentage goes up over time.
- Creating margin. You don't have to harvest to the edge. He doesn't want us to have to use up every resource that we have. The best way to do this is to give first. This keeps you from being a servant to the lender. This is entirely counter-cultural.
Saving
- Gives us the ability to help others.
- An emergency fund of 3-6 months keeps you from having to go into debt.
Living
- Rethink this! Stop trying to have everyone else's Instagram lifestyle. After giving and saving, you live off of what is leftover and soon you'll be free. You have to dictate your thinking to the credit offer that comes in the mail, not vice versa.
Do it God's way. If you can pay for it, then you can do it. Don't borrow to do it. You can enjoy life a lot more when you get back home from a trip and not be beholden to paying it off for the next year.
Discussion Questions
What is your mentality toward money and debt? How were you raised in that?
What is the principle found in Proverbs 22:7?
Why is a life of freedom a desire of God for you? How is this life accomplished?
Why does the enemy work so hard to keep us in debt? How does monetary debt affect your everyday life?
What is the purpose of creating a margin or not harvesting all your resources to the edges?
When Louie says, "God wants to bless you", what does he mean by that?
Can you explain the difference between the world's way (upside-down funnel) and God's way (right-side-up funnel) when it comes to handling money?
Why do you give first and save second?
Do you need to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate your giving and saving?
What is one practical step you can take this week to grow one of the areas discussed in this message? Forego a coffee? Donate? Cancel some subscriptions?
Scripture References
