Whenever I speak about money (as I did this past Sunday) I ALWAYS talk about the fact that I have one of THE most screwed up financial pasts of anyone I know. I received Christ in 1990; however, I didn’t put Him first in my finances until 1999—and I learned the hard way that until God is in control—I am out of control.
What are some of the dumb decisions that I made?
- Borrowing money for other people; after all, they said they would pay me back!
- I once financed a car for 84 months at 12% interest; after all, the guy at the dealership told me it was a great deal.
- Continuing to get a newer car and LOSING money every time I traded one in.
- Credit cards—dang, I could write a book! I got my first card “in case of an emergency,” ran it up—then got another offer (that HAD to be God, right) and transferred my balance—which allowed me to max out the original card again…at one time I think I had balances on either five or six cards.
- Finance companies…keep in mind there is a reason that there is “fine print” on the contract—it’s because they don’t want you to know that you are about to get screwed!
- Buy now, pay later—yeah, nothing like paying for furniture that is WORN OUT by the time you make the first payment.
By 1999/2000 I had racked up over $100k in debt and DIDN’T EVEN OWN A HOME!!! Please read that again—I was IN A PIT financially and had thoughts of declaring bankruptcy to get out. (By the way—more Americans will declare bankruptcy this year than graduate from college…yes, it’s a problem.)
THEN…in late 1999 and early in 2000 I came to this conclusion, “When Jesus saved me…He saved all of me…and if He can keep me from going to hell because I surrendered my life to Him then maybe He can pull me out of my financial hell if I finally surrender that area to Him as well.”
Folks…I struggled with this…I had ever excuse in the book as to why I didn’t need to tithe and give offerings—AND I WAS IN THE MINISTRY…but the Lord used several things to rock my world…
Malachi 3:6-12 - here God showed me that my finances were under a curse because He was not first…and that if I would take a step of faith that He would bless me in ways that were beyond my imagination.
Matthew 6:21 - here He showed me that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to call Jesus “Lord” and not have my checkbook reflect that fact.
Matthew 6:24 - I had to finally face the fact that being obsessed with money meant that I was not obsessed with God!
I Corinthians 16:1-2 showed me that if I would just do my part and give that the church would not need to take up “special offerings” because the tithes would more than support God’s work.
II Corinthians 9:6-15 hit me between the eyes!!! It showed me that I wasn’t giving because I didn’t trust God…and it was hypocritical of me to claim that I trusted Jesus with my eternity but then would not trust Him with my checkbook.
II Corinthians 9:15 was the NAIL in the coffin—God is a giver, a gracious giver…a generous giver, I deserved hell…but when I cried out to Him Jesus saved me!!! That is a gift!!!
I finally came to the point where I confessed to God that I had been robbing Him (Malachi 3:8-9) and repented of this. It was NOT easy because every time I wrote my tithe check I would think of other areas in which I could spend that money. BUT the Holy Spirit often reminded me, “Giving is one of the ONLY tangible ways that you can demonstrate your love for me!” God demonstrated HIS love by giving!!! (John 3:16)
That’s my story. I am one of those people who can say it was a struggle for me to get to this point…but now that I am here I can’t afford NOT to tithe!!!
Folks…it is all God’s—everything. I am merely a steward of His gifts…and if He says to put HIM FIRST (Proverbs 3:9-10) then I will do that—He hasn’t led me astray—EVER—besides, I spent many years without Him involved in my finances and got into nothing but trouble!!! I had nothing to lose.
One more thing…tithing is the first step in putting God first, but it is NOT the only step. I discovered this in 2003…that I needed to learn how to live on a budget—that I needed to make wise financial decisions, that I needed to STOP buying things on impulse, that I needed to invest…
NO ONE was teaching this…and to be honest, combine this with the fact that I began tithing and I REALLY began to see some daylight.
That is why I think everyone at NewSpring who has never attended Joe’s Financial learning experience NEEDS to be there tomorrow night (Tuesday!) IT’S FREE—and when you get there we aren’t going to try to sell you ANYTHING!!! We don’t want anything FROM you—we want something FOR YOU!!!
If I could beg each person personally—I would!!! If you want to register—here is the link! You have no excuse…we will even take care of your kids…just sign up!!!
“What if I don’t attend NewSpring, but I want to come to the class!” COME ON!!! This isn’t about NewSpring…this is about God’s kingdom!!!!
This is my story…God has done a work in me…I pray He will do the same for all of us!