How Can We Wisely Handle Money According to God's Word?

Date: March 22, 2026
Series: Proverbs - Wisdom For Life
Passage: Proverbs 11:4; 24-25
Preacher: Pastor Sammy Rodriguez

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you would uh open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, as actually today we're going to be finishing our series in Proverbs as we will be celebrating uh Palm Sunday next week and Easter the following week, and then we're actually be starting a new series uh in James, where we'll be walking verse by verse uh through James, which I'm excited about, so I hope you guys are. How many of us uh in here have heard the phrase money talks? Have you heard that? Money talks. It means that money has influence, it has the power to shape decisions, reveal priorities, open doors. But if your money could talk, what would it say about you? If your money had uh lips and a mouth and can speak and it came up here, what would it say about you? If it talked about your life, the way you spent your resources, the way you steward what God has given you, what would it say? Would there be a difference in how you spend your money as a follower of Christ than how the world spends their money?

unknown 1:22

Right?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

There are over 2,000 Bible verses that speak on money. Almost half of Jesus' parables speak on money. Money is spoken about in the Bible more than faith and prayer combined. So why is money such a taboo and sensitive topic in the church today? And for many of us, it happens because we have had have had bad experiences in church with money. Maybe it was a pastor or a leader who took advantage of us with a prosperity gospel, or uh, if you give, God will give back this or that and more. Or maybe it was we didn't have or give enough, and others within the church judged us for what we were able to give. You know, I think of a kind of popular viral moment in regards to this where there was a moment in the in the service of giving, and the person on the mic actually told the ushers to close the doors. I don't know if you see it, saw this clip. Some of y'all are laughing because you've seen this. And he says, close the doors, and no one can leave until everyone gave the certain amount that they needed to give. And so, Brother Ray, can you close the doors? I'm just joking. But some of us, we it it becomes a taboo or sensitive topic because it brings hurt, because maybe we've been taken advantage of. However, as we just saw, and what I just mentioned before, it's something that's important. It's in the Word of God. So, what is the right way, the biblical way to think and talk about money? What is it? And so I think there's no better place and really where we can go to to answer this question on the topic of money than Proverbs, than the Word of God. And so here's the big question today is how can we wisely handle money according to God's word? How can we, me and you, wisely handle money according to God's word? And so we're going to go to the book of Proverbs to help us with that. So let us in this moment stand in reverence and honor of the word of God as it is being read here at Ottwild. We are grounded in the Bible. Amen. And so every time we come here on a Sunday or anytime we come here to this church, we want to hear from the Word of God. And so I've hope, I hope that you've come hungry and expectant to hear from His Word. Just a couple verses here. Proverbs 11, verse 4, and then we'll read Proverbs 11, verse 24 through 25. Starting at verse 4. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Then verse 24 through 25. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give, and only suffers one. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, we ask for your help. I ask for your help as the word is to be preached. God, that you would take me out of the way and your word would speak powerfully and mighty. It would convict and challenge and encourage to change our lives. I pray for help for every listener here. That they would take your word seriously. That this wouldn't just be another ordinary Sunday, but a day to listen to the words of the living God who wants to meet us here, and that we would take it and obey it, Lord God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Just a reminder again of the context of Proverbs. The king of Solomon is the king of Israel at this time, writing to his son, who will be the future king of Israel, and for a king to be wise and to lead his people well, they have to understand money. They have to understand it. And so it's all over the book of Proverbs talking about money. And so that's why we'll be jumping around different verses. So this question: how can we wisely handle money according to God's word? The first point is this trust the source over self. Trust the source over self. Proverbs 10, 22. The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. It says the Lord is the source. The Lord is the source of what is good, all that is good. We see James 1.17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above. The Lord provides all things. He is the source of everything. Colossians talks about that, that he is the creator as well as the sustainer of all things. So do we trust the source that is the Lord when it comes to our finances? You know, I imagine a young child who goes to their parents that gives them an allowance for the week. And the parent has provided their food, their home, their clothes, everything they have. But one day the child decides, you know what? Takes this allowance of$10 and says, you know, I don't need my parents anymore. You know, I have my own money, I have my own amount I can provide for myself. Or maybe, let's say, if they have the$10 and they end up going to the store with their parents, and maybe they end up going to a place where it's cash only. And the parent doesn't have any cash. But the child does. They have their$10 allowance. And maybe in that moment the parent asks them, I just need to borrow some of your money. And the child's thinking, like, what? Like, this is my money. This is mine to the parent in the situation or the circumstance. As I said, the parent provides everything. They wouldn't have been able to make it to the store if they didn't get in their parents' car with the parents' gas, with everything the parent has provided, bringing them into this world. Right? And in the same way we can look at that, and we do the same with God. Where God, the Lord, is the provider and the sustainer of everything. That everything that we have has been given to us. From our body to the breath and our lungs, the breathing, right now, to our eyes that can see, our ears that can hear. Everything that we have is given to Him. From the Lord. And oftentimes we trust what? We trust ourselves over the source. Proverbs 11:28. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. If we're honest, we trust our money more than the maker. We trust our paycheck more than the provider. We trust our savings more than the Savior. Where we feel secure when the numbers and our account go up and anxious when the number goes down. Our peace rises and falls with our balance instead of our belief in God. And money can be a tool in your hand, but a bad foundation for your heart. Do we trust the source? Or do we trust in ourselves? Second point is this: how can we wisely handle money according to God's word? Trust the source over self. Second, pursue righteousness over riches. Pursue righteousness over riches. Now understand that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being rich. There is nothing wrong in pursuing wealth. But the more important question in life is not, are you rich, but are you righteous? Proverbs 16:8. It says, better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. It is better to be poor or have less being righteous than do it and doing what is right before the Lord than be rich and have plenty and unrighteous. It's better to be poor and be God's friend than be rich and God's enemy. Proverbs 28:6. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. It talks about not only is it good to have less than be with God, but it's also talking about the principle of how we obtain our wealth and the compromise that can come with it. For the sake of money, sometimes we will cut corners. The world asks, how much do you have? But Proverbs asks, how did you get it? Did you take from another? Did you lie to the government or family or friends to make your pocket bigger? Were you a dealer of darkness? Selling things you shouldn't be. Doing things under the table you shouldn't be doing. Proverbs is concerned. Not how much do you have, but how did you get your wealth? That it's better to what? To pursue righteousness than to pursue riches. Proverbs 11:4. It says, Riches do not profit in the day of wrath. But righteousness delivers from death. Brothers and sisters, there is a day of judgment coming for us all. And for those of us who are in Christ, that day will be a day of grace and mercy. But those of us who are not, it will be a day of wrath. Be a day of wrath. But here's the thing. Guess what? You're not righteous. I'm not righteous. There's only one person who was righteous. And that was Jesus Christ. And he came down and he lived the perfect life that we could not live. And he died the death that we deserve. He took all the sin, the shame, the guilt, everything we did wrong and will do wrong and put it upon himself. And took the punishment we deserve. That now righteousness only comes through turning from sin and trusting in Christ's work on the cross. That's it. Only through what Christ has done can we be righteous, spotless by the blood of Jesus. Righteous riches do not profit in the day of wrath. But righteousness delivers from death. It will not matter about your bank account, about what you have. It will only matter if you are covered by the blood of Christ. Mark 8 36. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul? Today, have you trusted him? Are you righteous? Not by what you have done, but by trusting in Christ. And you will have an opportunity today, like every Sunday, to come down and be righteous by the blood of Jesus by calling out to be saved. But for those of us who are walking in righteousness, because of Christ, have you allowed the noise of the world and the pursuit of prosperity to blind you from the pursuit of righteousness and obedience to Christ? That our day-to-day isn't shaped by an American dream, but a heavenly one. That we would be rich in good works and not in worldly wealth. I love Matthew 6.33. A verse familiar to a lot of us. It really puts this first point and this second one together of trusting in that source and seeking righteousness. Matthew 6.33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. And we see that in that whole chapter, this idea of God, the source, providing for the lilies, providing for the sparrow, for the bird. He says, How much more will he provide for you? To not be like the Gentiles who were worried about what they will eat or drink or wear, but to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. What are you seeking first? Do riches have more of a priority in your life than righteousness? We have to pursue him above everything. And when we pursue him, he will take care of what we need. How can we wisely handle money according to God's word? Trust the source over spending, pursue righteousness over riches riches. And third, stewardship over spending. Stewardship over spending. As we saw from the first point, the Lord is the source of all that we have. And that being the case, he has made me and you stewards of what he has given us. That we are managers, we are supervisors over all that we have. And are you and me being a good manager of the money the Lord has entrusted to us? Proverbs 21, 5. The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance. But everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Here Solomon writes of two people, the planner and the hasty. One person who plans, which leads them to wealth, and another who fails to plan and leads them to poverty. Now this may not be the case for all of us, but for many of us, we may fall into financial crisis not due to circumstances around us, but due to our failure to plan and spend responsibly. Now I want to be honest with you today in talking about being a steward and a good steward of what God has given us. I'm not the best when it comes to this. When it comes, you can ask my wife, she's right there. To to in regards to financial planning and saving and budgeting. And actually, I'm prepared of knowing the sermon was coming in a couple weeks. Me and Mariah for a while had been talking about, okay, we need a budget and we need to do this and we need to. And it was like I knew the sermon was coming. I was like, man, I need to, I need to practice what I'm preaching before I start preaching it. And so I say this as someone who is learning, who is growing. To be a good steward, to plan. And just a practical step of being a good steward is do you have a plan? You should have a plan. You should know what you are managing over what you have to count the resources that you have and plan. Make it a plan in your life. Have a financial plan. And if you don't have a plan, you're planning to fail. And this is if you're wealthy or you're not. Doesn't matter. All of us need to be held accountable for what God has given us. And one of the ways we can use biblical wisdom in our finances is our practice in regards to debt and credit. Proverbs 22, 7. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Here Solomon talks about the borrower or the one who takes on debt. Debt isn't just a number on a statement, it's a loss of freedom. When we borrow, we give someone else control over our choices, our time, and even our peace of mind. The Bible here, it paints a picture that being in debt is like being in slavery. That you may have the illusion of freedom today, but tomorrow the payments, the interests, and the obligation rules over you. We have to be careful in regards to what we do with our resources, what we do with our spending. Proverbs 13, 11. Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. God's wisdom is simple. Save, plan, and grow steadily. That being a good steward of your money means protecting it from schemes that promise quick riches. Like gambling, betting, get rich quick scams. And we have to talk about the betting. This is becoming such a problem in our culture today. I mean, with with the students, I mean, you see it all over in the advertisements. It's not being a good steward of what we have. Right? Because it's this this is what Proverbs is saying. But whoever gathers or wealth gained hastily will dwindle. To get money quickly. It's gonna dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. The principle here is to save, to work hard and to save, to plan. Proverbs 13:7. One pretends to be rich yet has nothing. Another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. Have you ever seen someone to pretend to be rich but is poor? One of the ways those with less, what they do, is they'll spend what they have, little they have, on luxury, not because they can afford it, but because they want it. Because we like luxury. You know, I remember when I was a kid, I wanted the Nikes. I wanted the Jordans. But you know, being a family of seven on one salary of a of a pastor of a small church, we couldn't have that. So I had the Shaqs and the Anne Ones. I didn't get the Big Mac, I had to get the dollar menu. Right? But what happens to some of us, even when we grow up in this environment, when we have when in when we get into a season where we have a little bit more, we take those childhood cravings and we find more of our identity in brands rather than Christ. Where our peace comes from luxury items and not peace found in God. And there's nothing wrong with buying nice things as long as we seek guidance from the Lord. But there is when we can't afford it. Or when we root our joy and identity in it. And Christ is better. So plan, save, spend wisely, be a good steward of what you have. Maybe that's just a simple step is for you to start budgeting or to intake, okay, what what do we have? What are what has God given us? You know, I've been talking to Patrick here, I'm gonna give you a little shout out here. But one thing that, you know, in the new membership class, their family became new members a couple months ago, was talking about how they can serve, and something he's done in the past is do some classes on finances. And so we've talked about maybe sometime soon where we can do that, where one Sunday after church, that those of us who need that just help, I'll be there, trust me. I'll be in the class. I'll be the first one there, front row with my notes ready. But that's the opportunity I want you guys to look forward to when we do that. It's to be good stewards of what God has granted us and given to us. Anyone who'd be interested in that? I'm like, okay. Are you seeing this, Patrick? There's some hands. All right. Just remember when we announce in a couple weeks, alright? How do we, how can we wisely handle money according to God's word? Trust the source over spending. Second, pursue righteousness over rich riches. Uh, or source over self. Pursue righteousness over riches, stewardship over spending. Fourth, give generously over greedily. Give generously over greedily. This is the part of the message where sometimes the amens are going to become less and less now here. So we'll see. Proverbs 11, 24 through 25. One gives freely yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered. Solomon here writes of two different people, the giver and the hoarder. Solomon writes, the one who gives actually becomes richer. And the one who keeps suffers one. Right? That should be the opposite. We would assume the one who is saving or hoarding or keeping for themselves would have more. But not according to the Proverbs. The one who gives is richer. Right? There are promises in the Word of God that when we are genuine, generous with our resources, He will take care of us. Right? Not give us what we want, but give us what we need. Or He'll give us what we need. And here's the thing: He will bless us. And sometimes He won't bless us financially. Sometimes He'll bless us with health. Sometimes He'll bless us in relationships. Sometimes He will bless us however he wants to. But He says that when we give, He will take care of us. And sometimes He won't bless us on this side of the earth, but on the side of heaven. To store up our treasures there and not here. Are we giving generously to the Lord? Proverbs 3, 9 through 10. We looked at this verse briefly a couple of weeks back. It said, Honor, Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your harvest. Then your barns will be completely filled and your vats will overflow with new wine. First fruits. What does that mean? This first produce. This refers to giving God the first and the best portion of what you receive. Whether crops, whether money, anything, the blessings that we have. It's about putting God first in your life and finances. So what I want to talk about is not in this moment is giving to the church over and over. We see the example of God's people giving generously to his church for the sake of his glory and mission. Now we do this as a church. We just did this in our time, in between our time of worship, where we take tithes and offerings. And so I think it's important to have a biblical understanding of this. Because some of us, well, you might say, you know what, we don't have to do the tithe anymore, this tithe, this idea of 10% of what we have. This was in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, it was a law given to the people to obey. And now we're under the New Testament, the New Covenant. And let me tell you this. I agree with you. Some of y'all don't say amen too fast, all right? I agree with you. We are not biblically mandated to tithe. We aren't. The reason they say that is they'll use it as an excuse to give less. So let's understand the law, okay? So in the Ten Commandments, it says what? Do not commit adultery. What does the new covenant in grace say? Right? It says, Jesus says, if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you commit adultery. See what the new covenant does, what the new testament does, it doesn't make the standard lower, it increases it. Right? It says, Do not commit murder. And what does Jesus say? If you have hate in your heart, you can the standard is not decreased, it's increased. So so get this. Yes, it is not biblically mandatory. There is not a law or rule in the New Testament that says this is what you must do. But there is the higher standard of giving sacrificially in grace and love. Do you see that? It's higher. And that's what we see. If you want to go by the new covenant, if you want to go by the New Testament in Acts, they were selling everything they had. They were selling the pro their property. They were giving sacrificially in the midst of persecution. And rather, in this time where people are being imprisoned and jailed and losing their lives, they're not hoarding, they're giving. That's the example we have. So, yes, it is not. If anyone, I I don't agree with that. That the that tithe is biblically mandatory. But there is a higher standard. And I'll just tell you, with in regards to me and my wife and what we do, is that's something we aim for. Because we do aim for a tithe. Why? Because we feel like it's biblically mandatory? No, it's a principle for us. For us, it's something to go to and say, this is what we see in the Old Testament, and this is what we want to go towards too. But I would encourage you to pray to the Lord. Right? We see that. 2 Corinthians 9, 7. It says, each person should not do as he has decided in his heart. Not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And the reason why we strive for the for the tithe for me, for the minimum for me and Mariah, is because I can't trust my heart. I can't trust my heart. When I'm praying, God, how much should I give today? It's a principle that we have. But pray to the Lord. It's not saying don't. Pray to the Lord. Pray to the Lord, God, how much are you leading me to give? You are the source. That's why that was the first point. Because if we lose that, if we miss that, God, you are the source of all things. You are the provider of all things. God, how much do you want me to give? It's the first fruits. I remember I was when I was in college and I was figuring out tithing and working, talking to a pastor friend of mine. I was debating whether having automatic kind of transaction for the sake of the tithing to the church. And I remember I was like, I don't know, I just feel like I want to be able to like put it in the plate. It feels more real to me. You know, like I can feel the sacrifice of it. And he talked to me about this principle of first fruits. This idea of talking about the benefit of not even seeing it. Because it's not, it's not even that first fruit, that day, payday comes, boom. It's already, it's going where it needs to go. There's not a chance for me to forget about it or to do a little. It's this is the first fruit. It's going straight to you. And that's something to pray about, to think about, to the Lord. Here's the thing that's so important. If you don't have it in regards to giving, don't give it. If you don't have it, don't give it. But if you have been blessed by the Lord, then give back to God. Give back to God. Right? And it's through this, through what you give and to us and support in your tithes and offering that we're able to do what we do. To do our clothing drive or our benevolence provisions for so many people in the life of our church and community. To be able to now become, in the next couple weeks, you're going to hear about is the meal site that we're about to be. That will be providing meals for people. This block party that we're going to put on for the sake of people connecting to our church. That free food that we're providing, or the bounce house, or those are things that we need to purchase. Getting free rides to Uber. Let me tell you this: Uber is not paying for that. Someone's paying for that. And that's our church. To get people in this door on Easter to hear the gospel, to take away that excuse. We want to do everything we can as a church. And I want to ask you, can you do that? Can you do everything you can in regards to inviting people on Easter to get them here to church to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? I mean, countless of other things that we do. Here's the reality is us as a church here at the Springs is we are not self-sustaining. We're not a self-sustaining congregation. A lot of what we do and most of what we do is only possible through our Lutz campus and the giving of the Lutz campus. If you were to take all that away in regards to Lutz and their support, we cannot live. We cannot be here. And here's the vision I have for our church. That as our church continues to grow, not only in people coming, but in discipleship and obedience to the Lord, that this church can be self-sustaining. And you may think, how is that possible? Because of the community that we are in, because of the situation that you may be in, but I truly believe with all my heart that we can do that. Little by little, learning to be disciples of Christ, learning to give, reaching others and teaching them what it looks like to give for the sake of God's mission and reaching others. Proverbs 38 through 9. Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. He's saying, Nothing more, nothing less. Give me what I need. Lest I be fool and deny you and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of God. Our heart should be God, give me what I need. Give me just what I need. And anything you give me on top of that, help me be a good steward. Help me bless others with it. I just want to close here reading these verses in Timothy. First Timothy chapter six, because it just I won't spend long dissecting this, but I'll encourage some of you maybe to note these verses and to do a deep dive later this week because really you can summarize all these points here in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Listen to this, verses 6 through 10. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 17. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich and good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may not they may take hold of that which is truly life. Amen. Again, I'll encourage you to take some time this week, meditate on those words. How can we wisely handle money according to God's word? Trust the source over self, pursue righteousness over riches. And I'll ask the band to come up as we're closing. Third point, stewardship overspending. Give generously over greedily. How's God calling you today, church, to respond in obedience? Maybe you've been giving faithfully, but maybe where you need to respond in obedience is trust. Where there's been anxiety or worry and not trusting in the Lord and his provision. Maybe it isn't giving. Again, I'll being vulnerable with you guys. That's something that if I'm being honest, where I've fallen short in. In seasons of my life. Just saying, God, help me, help me take the steps that I need to take to be practical. Maybe it's having a conversation with your family. I encourage you. Maybe it's a spouse in the car today of okay, what are the steps that we need to take? To plan, to save, to serve, to give to our church family. Here's the thing, and I've said it before. Jesus, He doesn't want your money. He wants your heart. He wants you. And he knows something happens in our heart when we surrender. The blessing of just saying, God, here it is. I trust you. What is God calling you to do? Let's pray, dear Jesus. We just pray for this moment right now. Help us to respond to your word. God, help us to trust that you are the provider, you are the source of all things. And we don't have to trust in ourselves and our effort. But God, be here in this moment. Convict us, challenge us, give us steps to walk in obedience to you, Lord God. God help us to be a generous church. There's so much need around us in this church and in this community. God help us. And for those who cannot give, Lord God, be their joy. God bless them with your presence. Bless them to be in a place to be able to give to others, Lord God. God, I pray against the enemy in this moment. Lord God, we don't want to give out of manipulation, but out of grace. Out of whatever you call us, dear Lord Jesus, help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

unknown 43:29

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Let's go ahead and stay in church as we respond in worship and prayer. And I'd encourage some of you, as I stated before, and in regards to the pursuit of riches and righteousness. Are you righteous? Have you been trusting in your own goodness to save you and not in Christ? You can be made righteous today. If you want to come down and talk with someone, we'll explain the gospel. What it means is surrender to Jesus, and you can do that today. If you want to come down in prayer and surrender and respond in any way, you come and do that.