Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn. And whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform or watching on our YouTube channel, I'm really thankful that you've joined me for this episode. So far in our series on money, I've covered what Jesus taught, what the Bible says. We corrected some bad teaching or maybe some misinformed teaching on tithing while highlighting the right view of giving. And those are all foundational, but now we're going to get a little more functional. On this episode, we're going where few resource ministries go, I think, as far as I know when it comes to doctrine and theology. Most don't get too far into this topic, but I think we should biblically, because it all really stems from scripture. In no way am I claiming to be an investment advisor or some financial guru, but as part of this series on money, I want to prove to you how the Bible can make you an excellent steward of the money God has entrusted to you, not just as a giver, but as a saver and an investor. This is about saving and investing for Christians. And I'm not here to give you some financial advice on how to play the market. I want to talk about the principles that every single Christian can employ to be a wise financial steward. As much as I thought about having on a financial expert and maybe digging into some of this, which I still plan to at some point, I thought it would be really helpful to just show you how a pastor and regular Christians can just study the Bible and extract truths that can guide us all the same way. And that's coming from someone who I am now a big fan of Christians who lead in the financial sector. One of our elders at our church is a CPA extraordinaire. He's on boards of all kinds. I've spent time with Christian investment advisors. I know friends who dabble in all kinds of uh market investments and different aspects of the financial world. We talk to people who've written books on this topic. You could think of Ron Blue and a number of others who have great resources. But I wanted to just show you that if you study the Bible, you don't have to have a degree in accounting. You don't need to have gone through some investment training, although certainly wisdom will help you and knowledge can help you from uh, we'll call them worldly wise experts. But the Bible will guide you in being an excellent money manager, and it'll change the way you save, invest, give, and live. I didn't always think about this topic the way I do now. I think I swung from the prosperity gospel to the poverty gospel for a number of years, and I was new to sound doctrine, and everything I was reading about doctrine was helping to shape, I would say, right beliefs and a better understanding of scripture. But money, and I don't mean the prosperity gospel side of things, I mean the right management of money was really something that escaped me for a number of years. And the reason was I came out of the prosperity gospel, and those who mentored me or spoke with me really uh pushed away any type of financial planning. I remember asking once about how the you know, you guys, the the guys on the right side, view things like investing in retirement and savings and having any type of money at all. And one man in particular said, you know, it's all about eternity and pastors don't retire, we expire. You know, we're not worried about some retirement fund or all of this earthly focus. We are focused on eternity and just worldly Christians worry about saving and building bigger barns. And so even that phrase from the parable that Jesus tells was applied to the idea of saving and investing and retirement. And so for years I just thought, man, these people that are so caught up in the world, they're Christians, but man, they're so worried and filled with anxiety and they're padding their stats, you know, the real Christians, the real pastors, you know, we're we're living on the edge. You know, we don't really have anything in our savings account. And that's because we're like the Puritans and we're like the missionaries, and we just live by faith. Well, I bought into that for a while until an old, seasoned, wise Christian pulled me aside and said, Hey, listen, let me tell you what, you're not in sin if you are wisely planning for the future. You know Proverbs 6, right? And I said, Yeah, you know, go to the ant, be a hard worker. And he helped me remember something about how the ant saves for the future. And I remember being so convicted, he pressed in, he said, You know, God's not angry if you own a nice home. People aren't compromised if they've saved money or invested wisely. You know that if I own a few pieces of real estate and I'm using those as a wise steward and I'm investing in the market or doing this, that, and the other, and then I'm using and leveraging my financial prowess to be a kingdom investor. Am I wrong? And I remember thinking, oh no, I have no legs to stand on in this argument. No, pastors aren't in the game to get rich, and no, Christians should not weary themselves to be rich. Proverbs says wealth has wings and it's not a hedge of protection. But the idea that we are not savers and investors because we're focused on eternity is a real, I would say, misinformed, it could be a dangerous caricature that prohibits a lot of Christians from using wisdom from Scripture to be good financial planners. I think a lot of Christians fall on one of two sides, like me. Some think, some, some think, you know, ridiculous to plan and do all these things. We're just eternally minded. That's how I used to think. Others think that, you know, financial planning is just for the people with high net worth wealth, and the rest of the normal folks only live from paycheck to paycheck. The truth is, every Christian is called to live as a good steward with what God has given them. Whether that's your nine to five job, whether you're an entrepreneur, minimum wage, or millionaire. And so let's help strengthen our view from scripture on saving and investing. I want to look at some key wisdom from the Bible, and then we'll finish with some financial steps that you can take today. Number one, biblical wisdom for saving. Saving is completely biblical, it's part of God's will. And Proverbs 6, 6 to 11 is one of the best illustrations for this. It says, Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, meaning copy the ant. Verse 7, which having no chief, no officer or ruler, so no one's telling her what to do, she prepares her food in the summer and gathers provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? The wisdom of Solomon saying, Listen, lazy, you got a plan for the future. Think about the season you're in and think about the season that's ahead. Goes on to say in verse 10, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. You picture just putting your hands on your chest for another nap. Your poverty will come in like a vagabond, your need like an armed man. The principle being you got to work hard. You don't work, you don't eat. There's no free pass, free ride, an easy street in life. A lot of this generation is entitled. A lot of past generations are entitled. They think, yeah, give me what I want, it's a handout, or else I'm gonna go somewhere else. Well, if you don't work, ain't nobody gonna pay you. But also there's another principle in that proverb. Do you know the season you're in? What about the season that's ahead? Maybe saving is more biblical than we ever imagine. Solomon's telling his son, you need to have some site, some sort of contingency for the future. Do you have a plan for emergencies? Do you have a budget? Have you made some projections on what you might make if the Lord wills? What bills you need to pay this month, this week, next week. Financial planning is not a worldly thing, it's a Christian thing. And when done in a way that honors the Lord, saving money is one of the wisest Christian actions you can take with what God has given you. And if you're concerned about putting too much security and how much you've saved, then just double check your motives. Make sure you're giving generously to the Lord's work, and think about 1 Corinthians 10 31, whether then you eat or you drink or whatever you do. So even in your saving, do all for the glory of God. Simple question Is my savings plan, is your savings plan glorifying God or just focused on greedy gain? It's really simple to be a faithful Christian saver and glorify God. Number two, biblical principles for investing. Now, investing can take on different forms, and I'm not here to tell you you need to dump all your money into the stock market. I will say this whether you choose a high yield savings that provides maybe a guaranteed 3.5%, 4% return, or a retirement plan that's tracking with the S P 500, with the market, or maybe you self-direct a Roth IRA or you do that through your employer, the biblical principles and ethics that should govern and guide you and I are all the same. Let me give you a few. Number one, check your motives. If you think that you're going to invest in crypto as some get rich quick scheme and you just want to be loaded, check your motives. I think there are some who invest in the market or crypto or they take aggressive strategies to try to cut corners. That's unwise. It should not be part of your Christian worldview on investing. Get rich quick stuff. Now, could there be times in God's providence where your investments return high yields at a fast pace? Yes, or the market plays into your favor? Of course. Are there people who, with kind of a Warren Buffett approach, buy low, sell high, when everybody gets, you know, very greedy, they get nervous. When everyone's nervous, they get more aggressive. Warren Buffett uses the word greedy. I don't want to use that word, but yes, there's people, there's Christians who are very wise. And I tweeted, or I don't have Twitter, I didn't tweet, I posted something recently on Instagram and on Facebook. And I basically said, if you're more excited to buy, you know, stocks when the market is down than you are to give to the Lord's work, you're in sin. And here's all I was saying: God loves a cheerful giver. And there are people who don't get excited about giving towards kingdom work, but man, when the market goes down like it just did, they're grabbing all they have, they're dumping it in there, they're playing like it's Vegas and they're going, yeah, let's, and they're just rolling the dice. But when it's come, when it comes to investing in God's kingdom, which is a guaranteed return on your investment, maybe not more money for you, but more advancement of the work that God is doing, well, you know, we're we're kind of uncomfortable or we don't want to give too much. Or I mean, you know, they're probably fine, but man, when it's more money in the market for us. Now, if you're investing like that, using wisdom and principles to produce a higher yield down the road so you can be a faithful kingdom giver, amen. But oftentimes there are people in Christian circles looking for a kind of a gamble. That's not faithfulness and that's not wise investing. Jeremiah 17, 9, 10 says, look, the heart is more deceitful than all else and it's desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. God knows our heart. So check your motives. Why are you investing? What are you going to do with your gains? When do you plan to use them? And how will it glorify God? Strengthen your home, which is a part of kingdom work. Prepare for the future, maximize your stewardship. Absolutely. But number one, check your motives. Number two, seek wise counsel. Proverbs 19 2 gives wisdom against rushing into foolish investments and decisions without acquiring knowledge. Says also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs. You're going to make mistakes if you invest with haste. Proverbs 28 20 is another great passage. It says, A faithful man will abound in blessings, with blessings rather, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. Reminds me of some really good investment advice I got from a close friend once with regards to investing in the market. He said, Time in the market always beats timing the market. The axiom is taking a wise, measured, informed approach to investing will win in the long term, as opposed to those who are always trying to time things just right and play the market like some amateur day trader. People are doing this a lot with those meme coins. If you haven't heard of those, it's really almost a scam. If not, it is a scam. It's not like some of the more arguably stable, and I use that word. I know there's some people that say crypto's not stable at all. I know there's others that would argue for it. I'll just say this meme coins are not the way that you want to be paying the bills. Okay. Even though some guy out there made a million bucks in two hours because he got the timing right, this is not how Christians roll the dice with God's money. I would caution against that type of vagus mentality, just throwing your money into get rich, quick strategies. That's the best way, by the way, to go broke, unless you're one of the few experts out there who has Warren Buffett's resume. Number three, be humble. When investing and planning for the future, humility is so vital. This world is not your home. You're not, and I'm not somebody because you made good decisions with this, that, or the other. You're not somebody if you got a million bucks in your 401k or 10 million or 100 million. You're not protected from trials, dangers, market crashes, or cancer. And so careful with your big plans for the future. We want to say, like James says, if the Lord wills, we'll do this, that, or the other. Proverbs 27:1 says, don't boast about tomorrow. You don't know what a day will bring forth. And so let's be humble in the way we invest. We don't need to be cocky and talking a big game. It could all be gone in a second. Now, the third aspect of this is putting your money to work. I want to give you some steps here to take action to put your money to work. Number one, be a worker. What I mean by that is your work ethic. Your work ethic sets the foundation for money management because it gives you the ability to manage something. The world will always be loaded with lazy people and distractions and entitled silver spoon types who act like paychecks just magically show up every two weeks because you sit in an office chair, or maybe whose parents do everything for them, micromanage them, and then deploy them into the world with no understanding of how the we're the real world works. Look, don't do this to your kids. I don't want to do this to mine. Yes, we want to protect them from things that we've had to endure. And yes, you want to make a better life for your children than you ever had, but don't rob them of a work ethic. A work ethic is attached to our witness for Christ. If you're a grinder and a go-getter and a self-starter and a workhorse, I guarantee someone will hire you. I guarantee your life would continue, if the Lord wills, to get fiscally better at some point. If you are gifted with high character and you have strong output and a strong work ethic, and you say, well, apply that to missionaries. Okay, no problem. It doesn't have anything to do with money, but I guarantee if you're a missionary who's a grinder, a go-getter, a self-starter, a workhorse, and you have a character to boot, guess what? People are gonna support you. Even if you have nothing in a village on the mission field, people are gonna get your back and make sure that you're cared for because you're out there getting it done. Work ethic is the number one step in putting your money to work for you, you gotta start with working. Number two, set your priorities. There's at least five components that should be in every Christian's financial plan. Number one, giving. You've been with us already in this series. You know, Kingdom First. Number two, bills. Break down your have to versus your want to. Do you need it or do you want it? What are your bills? Your debt. Number three. I'd say Christians should limit their consumer debt balances and work hard to pay off traditional debts. Watch your status symbols. Don't worry about keeping up with the Joneses. But debt's going to be in your financial uh plan to some degree, and you want to have a good layout and know what you're looking at and what your goals are. Number four, your savings. We just talked about Proverbs 6, 6. And number five, you're investing. Most Christian financial advisors and experts would say you should invest when you have surplus. Again, not at the expense of uh perhaps some retirement planning or some aspect incorporated with your job, but most certainly not at the expense, your surplus of the expense of your four priorities I've just laid out. You don't take all your surplus and go, great, I'm gonna go play the crypto game. Meanwhile, you're not giving, you're not paying off your debt, and you're not paying your bills, and you're saying, well, I'm gonna hit the big one. Not a good idea. Those five should never be neglected. If you assess them and rank them biblically, you're gonna be in good shape. Step number three, create a balance sheet. I use Excel. Some people use Google Sheets, maybe an app like NerdWallet, Rocket Money, or the app every dollar. Some people like QuickBooks for your home. Bottom line is whatever works for you, create a layout for your income, your expenses, your savings goals, your debt pay down, your projected pay cycles. And like a pilot, sit in the quote unquote cockpit of your financial life and look at all that you have available to you and all that is required of you so you can fly the plane safely and land well. Number four, set your budget. You got to take all that information in your spreadsheet and you've got to put it into a budget. You got your income, you got your expenses, you got your goals, your debt priorities, and your giving and all of it, and you're putting that in saying, okay, here's what we're gonna spend on these things. This is what absolutely needs to go out. This is what's coming in. Here's the things that are making it into the budget. Here's the things that we're gonna wait on in the budget. What are you gonna give? What are you gonna spend at Christmas? Groceries, gas, utilities, oil changes, clothing, education, birthdays, retirement, life insurance, eating out or not, haircuts or not. I my wife cuts my hair now, which is great. It's free. But, or maybe you want to just grow yours out. Babysitting, date nights, home maintenance, hygiene, all of it. I mean, it's my experience that maybe, maybe 50, 60% of people in the church don't have an accurate, detailed list of their actual expenses somewhere. So they run out of money and they're shocked. But if you lay it all out and set a budget, hey, you're taking a step in the right direction. Finally, step number five, live within your means. You gotta live on what you make, not what you want to make. Dave Ramsey famously said there's a lot of American Christians just out-earning their stupidity. If we make a lot, we just spend a lot, and then we think we have a lot, but we're actually wasting a lot. Stewardship is living within our means. And so perhaps one of the best financial planning steps you can take is discipline. Live within your means. Proverbs says a good man does leave an inheritance for his children's children. I think a lot of that starts by living within your means and being wise with every dollar. So put your money to work rather than becoming a slave to it. You can save biblically, invest biblically, and work and put your money to work wisely. That's it for this episode. Here's what I would say there are some characteristics that are universal that we want to have in the midst of all this. And so next time, I want to unpack 10 qualities you need to be a faithful money manager. And so you can save prudently, invest wisely, and take those five steps I just talked to you about. And I guarantee if you have these characteristics in your life, by the grace of God, you're gonna look back next year at this time, more thankful and more faithful as a steward. That's my goal for you. And don't forget, I'm gonna be finishing this series with a QA answering all your questions about money, theologically speaking, and practically, and can't wait for that. Thanks for listening, thanks for watching, thanks for supporting. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.