Chasing More Money Is Costing You W/ Scott Davis

What does the Bible really say about money and providing for your family?
How can I balance chasing career success with being present as a husband and father?
Why is giving such a struggle, and how can I develop the right attitude toward generosity?

This week on the MOI Podcast, Scott Davis unpacks a powerful truth that could transform your approach to finances, leadership, and family. Are you chasing more money at the cost of deeper priorities? Do you find yourself working harder to provide—only to realize you’re missing out on the moments that matter with your spouse and kids? Dive into this honest conversation and discover the biblical framework for “Give it, Save it, Spend it.” You’ll hear real stories about how financial decisions become a reflection of your heart—and how shifting your trust from your bank account to God can drive lasting change.

Scott and Colton tackle the tough questions men face: why does giving feel so personal, how does your relationship with money impact your marriage and home, and what are the first steps to financial freedom with a Christ-centered perspective? If you’re ready to lead your family boldly and grow in every area of life, you don’t want to miss this episode.

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#menofiron #biblicalmanhood #christianleadership #familyfirst #generosity #giving #menspodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What do you trust in? Do you trust in your bank account? Or the God who created the universe and came up with the bank account.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

And welcome back to the Men of Iron Podcast. This month, and even this episode, we're jumping into finances. And this is one of those topics that I always feel some guys start squirming in their seat a little bit about. This F is always just a little, ah, I don't know that they're going to tell me what I should do, or but we're basing it, we're coming right out of the Bible with this kind of stuff. So this isn't something that we're making up or what men of iron believe. Like this is biblical. And today I have Scott Davis back with me, and I'm super excited to jump into finances and talk about this topic. The way that we kind of explain it at Men of Iron, I love how we do it is give it, save it, spend it. But before we dive into those three things throughout these couple up next couple episodes, I want to kind of set the framework biblically for it and where we're coming from for this thought, talking about some maybe some higher level 30,000 foot view before we get in the weeds a little bit. But thanks for joining me, Scott. And I appreciate you coming on the pod again.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, man. Good to be here, Colton. Thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

So when we think about finances, I think, and you know this too. We jump onto that F when we're out, you know, being reps, and guys are like, ugh, like this guy's on stage telling me, or even on a Sunday. I mean, you've been a you've been a pastor, you preach that message, and you can see people like a little bit squirming their seats, start moving. You know, what's he about to say? Like, what's he about to tell me to do? I want to start with the high level first. Like, what's the Bible say about this? Because I think sometimes we can get in, well, people get church hurt on this topic. I've heard that even in some of the groups. Like, I stopped going to church because all they preach is money, money, money, and or it's it's too much of this, and they don't even go anymore because of that. So I want to start at the high level. What does the Bible actually say about finances before we even get into the give it, save it, spend it?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yeah, that's a that's good. I mean, to me, and I've heard that my whole life too. About I couldn't tell you how many people have told me I'll quit going to that church because all they did is talk about money. So I went to another church, and uh the first day I was there, they talked about money. So that's all churches want is your money. And uh that's a hard thing to hear because if you know the truth about that, um it's just a uh and if you're listening to this and that's your take on it right now. Let me just throw something out. Um there's an old saying among pastors and preachers that everybody knows that the wallet's the last thing God gets when he gets your heart. So it takes a minute to pry that out of your hands. And uh to me, that's exactly what it is. It's a heart issue uh because what we love, we want to hang on to, right? And it's hard to uh hear that you should just give money to a church or to uh any organization or any person. Um even when I was growing up, I was thankful that I was taught differently. But I've heard people say that just go out and earn your money, get a job, you know, uh do whatever do what I've had to do to get your money. I'm not giving the money. Um so it's a hard topic, but to me, it goes back to the heart. Um, you know, even Jesus and and Matthew and and Luke is quoted as saying that uh no man can serve two masters, right? You either love one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other. You can't serve God and money. And to me, that's it. That's the bottom line. You're gonna love one or the other, and uh when God gets your whole heart, he gets all of you, you know, and your perception about a lot about life changes and how you look at the topic of giving. But it doesn't come easy, it takes a lot of prayer and a lot of study and a lot of belief and trust that what God's telling you is the best way. So I think that that's where it starts.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Hey guys, if you're enjoying listening to this episode of the Men of Iron Podcast and you're looking for some practical next steps and what to do and how to grow in your finances, we offer Finance Restored, a six-week devotional to get you back on track and elevating to the purpose that God intended for your finances. If that's something you're interested in, you can check out the link down in the description. Enjoy the rest of this episode.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

I think I think what you said right there is something I want to I want to pinpoint because I think as as we look at finances, we think of that, and we created like an idol in our life very easily. And you think about guys going out there like in and we were talking a little bit before we started recording on the pod, but we started to take that concept of like, I'm putting money over family. I'm putting, I started putting money over these things. And for guys, you know, you always gotta go be the breadwinner, got to go make that money for the family, but we start to elevate it higher than even some of those other Fs in our life, and it starts to put put that shadow over, hey, I'm not being the husband I should be, not being the father I should be. And what happens is it starts to eat away at those other Fs and it's an imbalance. I mean, if you put if you put it on the scale, it's like, well, I'm doing it for the dollar. Like, I'm, you know, my kids have everything they need, my wife has everything, but they don't even have you at home.

unknown 5:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

What are you talking about? Like, well, you can't be that leader that God's called you to be if you're at the workplace 24-70 and you're wondering why your marriage is falling apart. So when we talk about finances, I think sometimes we think it's not a big deal because it's oh, I'm providing. Like it seems like a good thing, but it's it's actually hurting the other F's or the other people in our lives, truthfully, and we don't even notice it.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Absolutely. And I can't tell you, you know, I've been in ministry a long time, and uh the guys who come for counseling or they want to talk, uh, their marriage is in trouble, their kids are in trouble, and you you find out they've been pretty much non-existent because of trying to do a good thing, work and work hard, but when's enough enough? I think that's the question. Um, and unfortunately, I've talked to some of the kids and some of the wives that have lost marriages and and kids who despise their father because he never came to a single game or sporting event or whatever they're involved in, a recital or a chorus or whatever it is. He's never been there because he's he's working and he justifies it by saying, I want my kids to have better than I had. I want them to have these nice vacations and all these experiences. But what God wants is for us to be fathers who are at home raising our children. And uh, you know, there's a lot in in the Bible about that. And the passage that comes to my mind is in Deuteronomy, where he even tells the people to uh write it on their hands, put it on the front lid of their forehead, write it on the doorpost of your house, talk about it when you lay down at night or when you're sitting in your home. This this is saying to teach your children what's most important is that relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And if you're not there to do that and to model that, of course you're gonna have problems in the home because you've got things out of order. Um, there should be, and and the Bible says there should be no other God before me, is what God says in in Exodus, even. Um so yeah, man, it's uh you can think you're doing a good thing by providing, but really it gets down to the heart because it it don't it don't take all that just to provide. Provide means more than money. Provide means leadership in the home, provide means uh responsibility, uh provide means to teach how to have a a life of joy and happiness with the without the things of the world, you don't need that to be joyful and happy. What God says is follow me and He will provide everything you need. But kids don't know that. I mean, people don't know that until it's they read it in God's word or they're taught to do it. So yeah, that's a hard issue, brother.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

That's good. When we think about as we start to dive into this a little bit on the give it side, we break it down as we said before, give it, save it, spend it. And when we think of the word giving in itself, what kind of emotion does that bring up? Because I think someone, when someone says give it, right? I can even think of some of the studies that I've done where we go through, you know, a man's game plan and we talk about this briefly, or we bring up the word of like, and they're like, Well, that's my money, right? You know, you instant emotion. It's like I I was the one that worked for that, so that's mine. So when we even say the word give it, like there it does what's emotions comes out of guys of like, oh, they're excited too, there's a stress that comes to it, or it's a defensive, like, no, that's mine. I I did the work. What do you think drives that? And I know you're telling me a story that I want to hear about the give it side of it, but like, what why do you think that emotion gets wound up in people on that?

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Well, you know, it it comes, it has to come out of the uh human nature, sometimes we call that a sin nature. Um and that's rooted in pride. And you know, I worked for this, it's mine, whatever. But if you think about it, it goes all the way back to being a child. Because have have you ever given a child something and then ask them another child comes in the room and asks them to share with that child? What do they say? Mine. No, that's mine. And uh it's all the all of a sudden theirs. And that story you referenced, uh, Lori and I were at 12, we were members of 12 Stone Church in Atlanta, Georgia. And Pastor Kevin Myers tells the story of he and his son going to the the movies, and his son was five years old. I think his name's Jaden. And uh he he wanted some candy to go in the in the movies, so he bought him his favorite candy with Skittles. And so he buys the Skittles, he goes in, sits down in the movies, his movies getting started, things have quieted down, the previews are over, and the movie's about to start. And Pastor Kevin reaches over into the Skittles and grabs a few. And all of a sudden, his son snatches the box of Skittles away and screams at the top of his lungs, mine! And he goes, Oh my goodness, it just went all over him. You know, it's like, little dude, let me tell you, those are yours because I bought them. I provided them for you. As a matter of fact, I could buy all the Skittles in the world if I wanted. I could go fill up my bathtub with Skittles and sit in and just throw Skittles if I wanted. He said it was just uh all over him that the kid did this. And he's like, but isn't that what we do when God says, just give me a little? And then we respond with, mine. I worked for it, it's mine. I'm not gonna be able to get my vacation or the car or whatever. And God's just saying it, just a little, and then you have the rest. And it's not because God needs our money, right? Pastor Kevin didn't need the Skittles, he was gonna enjoy them with his son because he bought them for him and provided for him, and he said, Let's enjoy this together. Same thing with God. He he provides everything we have, everything we are, it's because of him and his goodness and his grace and mercy in our life. And so when he says, Let me enjoy this with you, as a matter of fact, I've got a lot of things I want to do in the earth, and it's gonna take money. So I want you to give a little to it. And yet we snatch back and say, mine. It's pretty crazy, isn't it? We're telling the God who created the universe and us and everything in it and everything we have that no, this is mine. I I know you gave it to me, but it's mine now. I'm gonna do what I want with it. So that that story all always resonates with me. Every time I hear a call to give, it's a heart posture. Is it really yours? Or is it God's? It's already his. So we're not we're we're actually returning some to him instead of giving some of what's ours. Yeah. And then we can talk about that for a long time. Because a lot of different lot of different views on that one.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

But I think what's so cool, even about that story, I think even in my own life, several times that I reached back and yelled, those Skittles are mine. Right? Yeah, like I mean, that's such a simple example in the Skittle story, and you're like, you my dad would reach for something, right? We can think of that story. It may not have been the Skittles, but I can that can resonate with that story so much because my dad did stuff for me that I, you know, could back then would never imagine or whatever. And if you translate that, I think uh for myself right now as being a dad, right? You want the best for your kids, and he's he's starting to crest that like I do it myself, it's mine. You know, I mean he's in that, he's getting to that stage, he just turned two, right? He's he literally says, I self, I self, and he washes hands or whatever he's doing, I self. And I just think it's so interesting when I think of that story, it literally plays in my mind like how many times I say I self or it's mine, or I'll do it myself. But what makes it so beautiful and I love it, and it makes me think of it is like even though he says I self, I'm still standing beside him because he can't wash his hands yet, right? He thinks he can, right? I self, I self, right? And or he thinks those things, but actually it's like the Father, our God is still standing there. Jesus is still standing there, even though I'm saying I self, I self, he's the one still standing there helping us wash our hands, right? I'm helping my son wash his hands, he's helping us do this thing called life, right? Take those face steps, and when we talk about finances and we talk about that give it part, he's given us so much. So, how can we even have that even heart posture, right? To be like, nah no, no, like no, no, it's mine, like it's not yours, God. Like, I've I've worked this hard. Like, how can we even put that into perspective? But we do all the time, yeah. We do all the time, and I think that's something to really like check ourselves on when it's on that give it side, because I don't think we do enough, right? I think sometimes even in we've been in situations, and I'm sure you have as well, like you feel like that tug on your heart that I should be giving it, right? And then I don't, right? I put I I said, nah, that nah, I you know, so the lady gets up and she, you know, a missionary from across the world, and it's like, God's like laying on your heart that you know, maybe I should, and nah, I'm good. Like, I didn't give I didn't hit that bonus, or I didn't, I I didn't make that money, or whatever it is, and we don't give it, or they she didn't work for this, I did, like, and we have that internal struggle. But I think what go back to what you said, and it's so important, like it's a heart posture. Like, we got to check our heart, and I think it's a daily thing, I think it's a moment-by-moment thing. I think we have to consistently check in where our ultimate nature is fighting day in and day out with us, and are we checking it to have the right heart attitude on the give it side?

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Yeah, and I know uh when this topic comes up um with friends or acquaintances, it's it's funny how when the political climate changes in our country and the economy economy takes a downturn, the first thing people do if they because to me I say heart posture, it's a trust issue. What are you trusting in to provide for your needs? Are you trusting in your job, your money? Because that becomes real when the economy takes the downturn and everybody stops giving to church or tithing. That's the first thing they do, and it shows where the trust really is. And that's a hard thing to say. Um, it's been times in my life that I've done that or felt like doing it. I'm gonna stop giving for so many weeks and save that because you know, things might happen, and that's fear-driven. That's a fear-based way of thinking instead of faith. God wants us to have faith in him, even if the economy does take a downturn and we lose our job or we lose part of our pay or whatever that looks like. He wants us to have faith in him that he loves us enough to take care of us and provide for us whatever it takes. But everybody gets there at different seasons in their life. I mean, that's really what we're talking about is what do you trust in? Do you trust in your bank account or the God who created the universe and came up with the bank account and even gave you the money to put in it? Um so it that's where it starts to really get deep, and we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves those questions. Do I really believe that God is who he says he is? Do I really believe that that he loves me enough to take care of me and provide for me and my family when my heart is for him, why would he not do that for his children? So that's that's the question. What do we trust in?

SPEAKER_02 18:59

When we think on that, even that thought, and we talked about the emotion, but I think something that as guys we had, and we talked about checking the heart and these things, but I think some of the emotion that comes out of that, and we need to make sure is it a joyful response that we have? Is it that response of anger? Right? Like, what is that response when you know the pastor gets up or someone asks that piece? Like, what is that actual response that comes from it? Because sometimes as guys, and I don't, and I see it all the time. So this is why I I can I can spend you see it all the time in Tampa. We're doing the same thing in just different areas, but I think when you start digging into any of these F's, there's deeper things going on, right? It's it's not that they don't have $10 to give it, right? It's not that they don't have the $10, they definitely have the $10 to give it, but it's something deeper. And I want to hit on that a little bit because we're in the same role here at Men of Iron and we're doing and we're talking about this day in and day out. What do you see about even from the finance side or the give it side in guys' lives? We talked about the hard issue, but I want to talk like real life application here when we say give it, and they have like this that the response we said, but do you see a lot of times it's something deeper going on? It's something deeper that's actually affecting that.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Yeah, I mean, here again, it's um you can kind of tell how how close a person is walking with God by responses like that. Um not long ago, we had a retreat, Equilibrium retreat, and I shared what we do, of course, at this retreat, and how we're uh a hundred percent donor funded or based. Uh you and I as as reps and the other ones for men of iron. Um we depend on uh believers who believe in Jesus, number one, and they believe in what we do to reach men and change a culture of men one at a time. We depend on their uh heart posture and their donations to uh fund the ministry, right? To put it bluntly. But I I how people look at that is so different. Um I had a young man at this last retreat, very young, and we talked about all the stuff. There's no there's no pressure, there's no push, there's just the explanation of how this happens. And all of a sudden I I start getting these uh he signs up as a monthly partner at a very high level. Now he's a very successful young man, but he he had his life impacted through men of iron. Enough to where he felt like this is something that God wants me to do. I can help reach other men. And so that response is driven by experience. When a person experiences God in their life, that's that's something you really can't argue with. I mean, it's like, yeah, of course I'd I would do that, of course I would, because this has happened. So I think sometimes that's where people are like maybe they hadn't had that experience closely with God personally. I don't know if I answered your question or not, but um you can you can usually tell some of the guys my age or even a little younger who've been walking with God for a while, um, learn to hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit. And I'm not saying that young men can't, but sometimes it takes longer to get in that groove to where you, you know, Jesus said, My sheep hear me, they know my voice and they follow me. Well, that's with everything, that's with your wallet too. Like when God speaks and you hear him, not maybe audibly, but in your heart and your emotions, your mind, you recognize his voice. And if he says to do this and you you don't do it, you're being disobedient, right? And so that drives a wedge and gives a place for the enemy to get in and convince you that you're doing the right thing by not following that. But the joy always comes after the obedience. You have to be obedient to God's call and his word to experience that joy or that um fulfillment, that that next thing, that revelation, some people would say, or that open door. Um that's just the way God works. When you're obedient to him and to his calling, you trust him enough to do that, there's there's reward behind that, you know? And it's a closer walk with him.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

I think I think that's something to uh I need to even check myself daily on, right? Right? Just that that heart heart posture. And before we get off of this, give it, and we're I know we're jumping through all these throughout the next couple weeks, but what is something I know you're into this, so this is why I'm gonna throw it at you. Like, what's something you would challenge a guy with this, right? On the give it side of it. I think sometimes like we we always get scared of challenging someone in their finances. Like, we're good with faith. I can challenge you in the friends area for sure. I can talk about how you should be a better husband and family, like all these I can challenge you, but then we get to fitness and finances. I think those two Fs we get a little squirmy, right? Like, how can I tell someone that they need to give it? Right, but it's biblical, we're not making it up, like it's in it's in the Bible. What would be a challenge for a guy out there on the give it side? And you hit on a couple things, but I want you to challenge the guys that are listening to the podcast right now, what they should do on that end of it.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, so I mean, of course, we we can always go back to the Bible as our instruction, um, and there's no doubt that it's in there. Even in Malachi, would you rob God? I don't think any believer in Christ wants to do that. Their heart is not to do that, um, but also to be obedient and when God speaks. And so my advice would be even as a young man, first of all, with your finances, have you sat down and looked at them? Have you even looked at them and and devised a budget? Because that's going to determine a lot of what you do with your money, of course, is if you say, I can't afford to tithe or give, let's say let's get past the tithe, but even give a little bit to a nonprofit or to whatever whatever you're looking at. Well, you can't afford not to. I mean, the thing is, you need you need to have uh a better idea of what's coming in and what's going out in your life financially, to trust God to see that He's paying the bills, He's doing the stuff, He's taking care of your family, you're buying groceries, and He's not asking you to give all of it. So you need to determine, be responsible enough to even know what are my bills and where where am I wasting money, throwing money away on nothing that I could be given. So I think that's a good place to start, is uh, and if you need to sit down with a financial advisor and figure that out, um do it. Because if if your heart is to please God and to walk with him in all the ways, once you start doing that, you understand more about it. It's just one of those things you you take that step of faith, and then you get a a realization of this is true. What God's asking of me is is because he wants to bless me. So I would start by looking at what you have. And do you have a budget? Do you you consider the tithe at all? Do you consider above and beyond giving?

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Yeah, I think that's so Morgan to give you, I'm gonna answer your challenge a little bit and and and think think it out, and even my personal life. Morgan and I did that a couple months ago.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

We did uh we did a whole like a budget review, and it was wild to actually sit down and look at that. And I encourage like all guys to do that. And it doesn't matter if you're like my my wife handles a lot of our finances and she knows where the electric bill, because she's very detailed on that sense, and electric bill, mortgage, making sure stuff gets paid. But we sat down and looked at it, and we looked where our spending was going and what things were happening, and it was like, ah, that's not what I thought it looked like, right? Like, and and I think sometimes once you look at your bank account and you look at where money goes to, you can you it really kind of defines how your life is lived, right? Real quick of like, okay, all my money's going to, you know, maybe it's to a hobby, right? Or maybe it's to always eating out, and it's it could be gluttony to a certain extent of just always doing that, or it's always going back into my and I'm just building my storehouse up something crazy that doesn't even make sense. I'm just keeping it in my pocket, not giving it to someone else. So I think it's I I I 100% agree with you on that because I think once you actually take a real look at your finances, you can really see what how someone's life is actually playing out on a day in and day out basis just by even how you spend it in even in the giving side of it. That's something that Morgan and I have all we have always titled. We have always been, I said, I watched my parents do it, and I said, let me tell you what, I will not go against what my parents, number one, taught me, number one. But number two, I've seen God bless their life because of it.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

And I I know the the blessing that comes behind that to give it. So we need to give it because that is that is our first come first coming, it's going right out because we need to have that heart attitude. He gave it to us. God gave us these jobs, God gave us these things in our lives. We need to give it, we need to have that in our lives.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

That's so good. And you know, uh, as you think about this, it's really a good guardrail, too, because if you start um if you get on that roll, like you said, it without a budget, without knowing what you're spending and what you're spending it on, that be can become the proverbial snowball effect rolling down the hill. You just start spending more, and you start spending more, you start spending more, and you you find yourself in trouble, um, maybe with credit cards or however how that looks, and it's because you didn't have any guardrails, and now that has become more of what you worship than God. I mean, you worship things that you love and spend time with and spend money on. So the guardrail of a budget and and knowing what your finances are and knowing how much you can give away that keeps you worshiping what you really should worship, and that's God. And there's a danger in not having those guardrails in your life. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Well, I just want to thank you for coming on and talking about give it. We're gonna jump into these other ones coming up on a man's finances, and I think that's something that we just need to check. Some big takeaways that I took. What's my heart attitude towards it? Right? What's God actually trying to show me? He, like you were saying, he takes other pieces, but the what you said, the wallet's the last thing to go, right? So, what is my heart attitude? Is it a joyful response? Is it an anger response? What is it? And as I'm looking at my finances, should I be giving more away? Should I, what does it look like? And is my bank account reflecting how much I really trust God? Or is it reflecting different things in my life? So I just thank you for bringing those things up because even for myself, I'm being a little selfish in this episode. And I'm I'm down here like taking some personal notes for myself of the things you said because it's it's a daily walk, right? We fall, we get back up, we fall, get back up. So it's now look at that and be like, okay, like is my hot heart posture correct towards giving it away? And thanks again for coming on, Scott, and just talking about give it.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Yeah, man, and and just just know wherever you're at in your life with this topic, uh, you can always improve. It's not uh an endless uh desperation. You know, you can you can improve. So thanks, Colton.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Join us next week. We're gonna jump into we just talked about give it, we're gonna talk about save it next week. So thanks for joining us again on the Men of Iron Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Thanks for listening to the Men of Iron Podcast. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share. At Men of Iron, we exist to change a culture one man at a time, and we'd love to have you partner with us. So go to men of iron.org to see how you can get involved or donate at menoviron.org forward slash donate.