After writing my last blog about saving money we went to church at New Life where the sermon series was called "Guardrails". This 4 week sermon discusses the guardrails that God puts up in our lives to keep us on the straight path and that in order to survive we need to stay on the road away from the things that are set up to destroy us. This week our pastor spoke specially on finances.... hello God, I'm listening!!
The pastor said that churches are giving the members the wrong idea about tithing, making it sound like only the church needs the money, when in all honestly we as a church body are giving to those outside the church walls when we give to missionaries, help suffering families around us, or are able to have events at the church that reach out to unbelievers. Tithing is something that as a couple Kyle and I have always wanted to do, but just like starting writing down all our purchases (which we're keeping up on...so far) it is a hard habit to get into. That night we wrote out a new budget and realized that we are more than able to tithe 10% of our income and starting this week we are determined to give back to God in a small way.
Although I've never been one to seriously worry about money, another part of the sermon that meant a lot to me focused on 1 Timothy 6, where Paul writes to Timothy saying that a man who focuses on money in this world only plants the seeds for destruction, while the man who puts his faith in God in all areas of his life, including finances, will succeed and be rewarded in heaven. The verse that stood out to me was 1 Timothy 6:7 "For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it." Or as pastor Troy put it, he's never seen a U-haul behind a hourse. Why worry about the small things in life when we can trust entirely on God to know where our life is going to lead. I want to put everything in my life over into the hands that know exactly what's best for me, and can take my life in the direction that He set out for me... because what do I honestly know about anything compared to what He knows about everything?
Politicians will fail us, money will fail us, family and friends will fail us, jobs will fail us, but God will NEVER fail us! How amazing is that?!
I think this is an awesome message.. kudos to you! :) And I agree when it comes to finances, stressing over it will only make the situation worse. You have to have a budget, do your best to stay within it and don't sweat the small stuff. This plays into the law of attraction thing too, if you are constantly thinking about not having enough, you won't have enough! But if you believe that you have plenty and enjoy your life, you will continue to succeed and have plenty. :)
ReplyDeleteThis was really heartwarming! Thank you for this reminder that all of need to hear!
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